October 20th, 2024
From The Series: John-
So That You May Believe
Part 06 The Lamb of
God
The Gospel of John
John 1:29-34
Mountain View
Evangelical Missionary Church
We are continuing our study of
the Gospel of John this morning. Last time, we saw John the Baptist appear on
the scene and John was confronted by some Pharisees who were sent to
investigate what this man was doing in the wilderness calling people to repent
and be baptized. We saw last time, how the Jewish understanding of baptism
differed from our Christian understanding of baptism. For the Jews at the time
of Jesus, water was used for ceremonial cleanliness except in the case of new
converts to Judaism, when it was used as a ritual to initiate new believers
into the Jewish religion.
In a way, this is a very similar
use of baptism for the Catholic church. “It is a symbol of cleansing and
new life, marking the initiation of a person into the Christian faith. Through
Baptism, individuals are welcomed into the Christian community, becoming
members of the Church and children of God.”[1]
When I was 12 and had completed my catechism classes, I was baptized into
the Catholic Church. I became a member of the church through my baptism.
Last week we saw how John the
Baptist was a herald of the Lord. John went out among the people, in faith,
ahead of the arrival of a king. A king whom he didn’t even know his name at the
time. We are going to see this first meeting and examine what John was
heralding.
This morning, we are going to see
the Apostle John’s account of when Jesus met John the Baptist. The Apostle John
does not record the details of Jesus' baptism as the writers of the Synoptic
Gospels do. But John is the only Gospel writer to use the phrase “The Lamb of
God” as a title for Jesus of Nazareth. That title and the theology behind the
use of that phrase will be what we are going to concentrate on this morning.
We are going to look at why the
term Lamb was used, what significance did that have, what atonement means and a
couple of theories to explain that word, we will look at what reconciliation to
God means and what is required for that to happen, and then finally, we will
look at what should happen in the life of a believer after reconciliation.
But first, let’s get started by
reading today’s passage to understand the context of this morning’s message.
Please turn on your devices, or open your Bibles to John chapter 1, beginning
at verse 29.
If you did not bring your Bible
this morning, you should find one underneath one of the chairs in the row in
front of you. John Chapter One will be found on page 860 of the pew bible. If
you do not have a bible at home, please take that bible with you as a gift from
Mountain View Church. We feel that it is vitally important that you have easy
access to God’s Word. And God’s Word says…
READ JOHN 1:29-34
“29 The next day John
saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said,
‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I
myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he
might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this
testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to
baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and
remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I
have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
Look with me back at verse 29 if
you will, this is the verse from which we will draw the majority of this
morning’s lesson. “29 The
next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world!” As I mentioned earlier, John is the only Gospel writer to use the term
“Lamb of God” as a title for Jesus Christ. John uses it here in verse 29 and
again in verse 36 of the first chapter. The description of Jesus as the Lamb of
God belongs to the language of sacrifice which is no longer common currency
today. We see lambs and sacrifice connected multiple times in the Bible, in
both testaments.
One of the earliest uses of a lamb
and sacrifice is recorded in Genesis 22:8. This is the record of when Abraham
takes his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to be offered to Yahweh as a sacrifice. We
read in Genesis 22 the following:
“6 Abraham took the
wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself
carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac
spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac
said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will
provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on
together.
9 When they reached the place God had
told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He
bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then
he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But
the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the
boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God,
because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and
there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the
ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So
Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said,
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Some two thousand years later, another lamb,
the Lamb of God would be sacrificed on the same Mount Moriah just outside a
little city called Jerusalem, on a hill called Calvary. That’s right, Jerusalem
was built on the same holy site where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son
Isaac in obedience to His God Yahweh. The amazing thing in both these instances,
it was God who provided the sacrifice. This is a very important fact to keep in
mind.
So often, we try to earn favour with God by
thinking we must bring some sacrifice to Jesus before we are saved.
Nothing could be further from the truth. We are not called to bring a sacrifice
or make a sacrifice in our lives before we are saved. Four weeks ago we
discovered, according to the Apostle John, there are two types of people in the world:
Children of God and Children of the Devil. We are called to make a
sacrifice… after… we become children of God through the proper living of
our lives.
When it comes to our salvation, God provides
the sacrifice for us just as He did for Abraham. God the Father spared
Abraham’s son by providing a ram in the thicket, God the Father sacrificed
His Son for your salvation. Jesus was the Lamb of God.
But Abraham and Genesis is not the only place
in the Bible where a lamb and sacrifice is mentioned. The fifty-third chapter
of the Book of Isaiah is a Messianic prophecy written some 700 years before the
birth of Jesus and listen to what it says and tell me if Isaiah is referring to
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
“1 Who has believed our
message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender
shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to
attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He
was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with
pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held
him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our
suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and
afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not
open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
Isaiah 53 ends with these words, “12 Therefore I will give him a portion among
the great, n and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the
transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the
transgressors.” Let me repeat, “For he bore the
sins of the many and made intercession for the transgressors.” Who do
you think the transgressors are? They are you and me, friends. He bore, Jesus
bore, the sins of the many, our sins, He bore our sins, and He made
intercession, and is still making intercession for us. Jesus is still
interceding with the Father on our behalf.
Why is Jesus still interceding on our behalf?
Well, first new believers are coming to Jesus every day around the world who
need Jesus to plead with the Father on their behalf. Jesus asks the Father to
forgive their past sins and not hold them against His new adopted children of
God. Second, I don’t know about you, but I still need the interceding work of
Jesus on my behalf every day because I am guilty of sinning. I no longer sin
like I used to before I was saved, but, I do still sin. Thankfully not in the major
ways I used to, but I am not sinless.
This is an important concept and it is
possible to understand the biblical concept of guilt against God-whether in
terms of disobedience to divine law or, at a more profound level, in terms of defying
and wounding His love. The guilt of sin doesn’t just happen when we break one
of the commandments, the guilt of sin for believers also happens when we wound
God’s love by willfully continuing in a sin and disregarding our sinful
behaviour because we live in God’s grace.
Feelings of guilt are a tool used
by the Holy Spirit to gain and draw our attention towards our sinful actions.
But the world hates the idea of guilt. I am noticing that people today are
becoming extremely sensitive about any sort of correction in their lives.
People hate being told no, or that they are wrong. Even in the court system
today, people are quick to make excuses or rationalize away their bad choices
instead of facing the consequences of their actions. The concept of guilt for
offences committed remains, although in a diminished state. Among people, there
is a tendency to confuse feelings of guilt with the objective state of guilt.
We are in an objective state of guilt when we rebel against God. This state of
guilt, the feelings of guilt, and with it there often comes a consciousness
that guilt can be removed only by some act of restitution or evidence of
penitence or payment of a penalty.
Let me repeat that, the concept
of guilt for offences committed remains, although in a diminished state. Among
people, there is a tendency to confuse feelings of guilt with the objective
state of guilt. We are in an objective state of guilt when we rebel against
God. This state of guilt, the feelings of guilt, and with it there often comes
a consciousness that guilt can be removed only by some act of restitution or
evidence of penitence or payment of a penalty. The consciousness that guilt can
be removed only by some act of restitution or evidence of penitence or
payment of a penalty is one of the most important works of the Holy Spirit.
This awakening of our consciousness to our rebellious state against God is the
work of Grace in our lives.
This leads us to our second point
this morning, the act of atonement. Once we have become awakened to our sinful
state and the need for change in our lives, we become aware that something must
be done about our sins. This work is known as the atoning work of Christ. There
are several theories as to how Jesus does this work in detail, but this morning
we are going to only talk about the two most credible theories, in my opinion.
The first theory we will look at
is the Governmental Theory. One theology
book describes the governmental theory this way, Quote, “In the governmental
view, Jesus did not pay a penalty for human sin; instead, at the cross he made
a display of God’s displeasure with sin”[2]
end quote. In other words, while God did not have to punish anyone for
the sins of the world, God did so in order to demonstrate His justice. In my
mind, this theory does not adequately describe why Jesus had to suffer
as He did on the way to the Cross.
In our adult Bible study, we are
in the part of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus was put on trial and scourged. If you
know anything about Roman scourging, or if you have seen the movie “The Passion
of the Christ” then you will have an image of the brutality of such an act.
Follow this by the agony of death on a Roman Cross and it seems that what Jesus
endured was more than just a “display of God’s displeasure with sin”.
The second theory of atonement we
will look at is the Penal Substitution Theory. Again from Lexham’s Survey of
Theology. Quote, “Some studies have demonstrated that key elements of the penal
substitution theory are evident in the early years of church history. The word
“penal” refers to the divine penalty enacted at the cross. This penalty is more
than payment for sin to God (though it is that); it is also the site at which
God expended his wrath against human sin. God can be just and the
justifier of the ungodly because Christ was our substitute on the cross: he
paid sin’s penalty. By his sacrificial death, he cancelled the record of debt
that stood against us with its legal demands. Our sin, in this view, is imputed
to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us”[3]
End quote.
It seems to me, that penal
substitution is a more complete explanation for what Christ endured on the
Cross for us. The Cross was not a demonstration, but rather a method of
payment. John MacArthur explains imputation this way, “Imputation speaks of a legal reckoning. To
impute guilt to someone is to assign guilt to that person’s account. Likewise,
to impute righteousness is to reckon the person righteous. The guilt or
righteousness thus imputed is a wholly objective reality; it exists totally
apart from the person to whom it is imputed. In other words, a person to whom
guilt is imputed is not thereby actually made guilty in the real sense. But he
is accounted as guilty in a legal sense. It is a reckoning, not an actual
remaking of the person’s character.
The guilt of sinners was imputed to Christ. He
was not in any sense actually tainted with guilt. He was merely reckoned as
guilty before the court of heaven, and the penalty of all that guilt was
executed against Him. Sin was imputed, not imparted, to Him.
This is a remarkable statement: “[God] made Him
who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf.” It cannot mean that Christ became
a sinner. It cannot mean that He committed any sin, that His character was
defiled, or that He bore our sin in any sense other than by legal imputation.”[4]
This thought of imputation is summed up
perfectly by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “21 God
made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.” There is a double imputation going on here at the
cross, Jesus becomes our sin, and we become as righteous as He is. Not
literally, as John MacArthur explained, but from a legal standpoint. Only in
this way can God’s wrath be completely satisfied while not compromising God’s
attribute of Justice. In this way, God can be Merciful towards sinners, while
remaining Just and Holy.
This leads us to our third point this morning,
“Reconciliation requires both sides”.
Reconciliation is possible only
if there is a willingness on both sides to repair the relationship. This is
done on God's side by his provision in the Lamb of God and the evidence
of his willingness to forgive. On the human side provision is made by an
appropriate offering and the willingness to engage with and submit to the
Creator of the Universe. The wonder of the Gospel is that God himself provides
the offering which humankind itself cannot provide. Just as God did for
Abraham, The Father provides the sacrifice that is required from us to be
reconciled to Him. The Lamb of God was His very own Son.
I know that I speak of sin and
God’s wrath more than other preachers, but there are a couple of reasons for
this. The first is that I feel that too many pastors fail to mention sin at all
because it is something that makes us feel uncomfortable. I mentioned earlier
that it seems that people today are becoming extremely sensitive about any sort
of correction in their lives. People hate being told no, or that they are
wrong. I think that is why many pastors are failing to mention sin or hell in
their messages because people are getting upset at the reminders. Friend, let
me ask you this, “If you are without sin, why would you need a Saviour? If
there is no hell and everyone is going to heaven, why would you need a Saviour?
If everyone was already saved, why would we need to preach the Gospel?”
I choose to mention sin and hell
as often as I do because I do not want you to neglect your need for a Saviour.
You can’t fix your relationship with God on your own, by your works or
merit. That’s why you need a Saviour. That’s why you need Jesus. That’s why I
need to remind you often of this, because the Bible describes us as sheep and
sheep need a shepherd, and thankfully we all have a Master Shepherd in Jesus
Christ.
We need a willingness to
listen to the Holy Spirit, to accept the gift of Grace being offered to us. We need
to bend our knees and bow our heads to acknowledge the terrible price that was
paid for our redemption back to the Father. We need to honour the value
of the gift of Grace by changing our lives in such a way that we conform to the
ways of Jesus.
This brings us to our final point
of the message before we partake of the Lord’s Supper. After reconciliation
comes conformity. What do I mean by that?
After reconciliation comes
conformity. As Christians, are we willing to live a life where we work in
conjunction with the Holy Spirit to live a life conformed to Christ? A life
where our outward aspects match our inward relationship to Jesus Christ. A
relationship established through faith in the completed redeeming work of Jesus
Christ. Not living a life based on works, but a life based
on the idea of God conforming the believer to the likeness of Christ through
the process of renewal and regeneration brought about by the Holy Spirit.
This conforming work in our lives
is another important work of the Holy Spirit. I feel sometimes today’s believer
takes the works of the Holy Spirit for granted. Too many churches today treat
the Holy Spirit as some sort of mystical power that only shows up through
speaking in tongues and laying on of hands for healing. The Spirit indwells
us and therefore is with us every second of every day. The Spirit intercedes for
us with the Son and the Father. The Spirit helps us to read and understand
God’s Word and the Spirit speaks God’s truth into our lives. The Spirit also
guides us and prompts us to live a holy life. A life becoming of one who calls
themselves a Christian. Not a perfect life, but a life of steady improvement.
A life changed by God in
you, not a life lived on a merry-go-round where you keep repeating the same
mistakes time after time because you refuse to submit all of your life to Jesus
Christ. A life conformed to Christ by Christ through the work of
the Holy Spirit in your life. A life worthy of the sacrifice made by your
Saviour. A life shaped by God, not by culture. A life lived guided by
the Word of God, rather than by fashion, celebrities, government leaders, or popular
opinion.
One way we allow God to shape our
lives is through the regular observance of the Lord’s Supper.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
This is how we are called upon to observe and remember what
Jesus did for His followers. It is the ordinance known as the Lord’s Supper. It
is known as an ordinary means of Grace which carries with it the understanding
that the observation and regular practice of the Lord’s Supper serves as a
reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus did for us on the Cross, and we should
reflect on that regularly and purposefully as a means of growing closer in our
walk with Jesus.
Before we do, I just want to take a minute to remind us that
this observance is reserved for believers only. Paul warns us in First
Corinthians chapter eleven in verses 27 to 29. Paul wrote the following, “For
whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of
the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and
drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of
Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.”
The unworthy manner is… if you are not a true Believer and
follower of Jesus Christ.
Will you join me in a moment of prayer:
PRAY
Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for who you
are and what you have done for us. As Creator, you have determined how we
should live and how we are to come to you. This plan was foreordained before
the foundation of the world was laid. Through your word we learn the following
things: your Son, Jesus Christ was chosen before the creation of the world but
was revealed in these last times for our sake; that no man can redeem
the life of another, no one can pay the ransom of another. We also learn that
though Jesus was in very nature God, he did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking
the very nature of a servant, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to
death-even death on a cross! None, but your Son Jesus Christ could be a
suitable sacrifice on our behalf. Only the fully man, fully God, could be the
perfect and blameless, substitute that could take our place. We thank You for
that perfect plan and the perfect obedience of Your Son. We ask that you use
the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts and minds as we observe this ordinance
that you have instructed us to do in remembrance of you. We pray these things
in the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I will now ask those giving out the elements to come forward
and hand them out. While that is happening, I will ask that you wait until all
the elements have been distributed and then I will lead us to partake together.
While you are waiting, please use it as a time of reflection to ponder what the
sacrifice of Jesus means to you.
WAIT FOR THE ELEMENTS TO BE PASSED OUT.
Back to First Corinthians for further instruction, Paul
writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord
Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in
remembrance of me.” This is not the actual body of Christ as some teach, but
merely a representation of it. Let us partake together.
Paul continues, “In the same way, after supper he took the
cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you
drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this
cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Again, this is not the
actual blood of Christ as some teach, but merely a representation of it. Let us
partake together.
CONCLUSION
For our conclusion this morning I
would like to leave you with this quote by R. Kent Hughes from his commentary
on the Gospel of John, “Christianity
is a bloody religion—the blood of Christ cleanses us of all sin! This
reality must be primary in our witness and in our thinking! Yes,
Christ came to give abundant life. Yes, Christ worked miracles, and he
can work miracles in our lives today. But these are benefits of the gospel, not the gospel itself. The gospel
centers upon Christ as the sin-bearer—“the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world!” Most of us understand what John is saying. However, our
salvation does not depend on our formulation of the doctrine of the
Atonement, but on our experience of it! Is he our Lamb? Do we really
believe he died for us? If we keep
the wonder of the Atonement before us, we will be different people!
The Lamb is our eternal message. Abraham and
Isaac prophesied his
sacrifice. The Passover applied
the principles of his sacrifice. Isaiah 53 personified his sacrifice. John 1 identified the sacrifice. And it is magnified in Revelation 5:9–14. The sacrificial death of
Christ—this is the essence of our message.[5]
Doxology:
Let me close once again with this
doxology:
24 “The Lord
bless you and keep you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on
you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord turn his
face toward you and give you peace."
Go in peace, you are dismissed.
Please join us downstairs for coffee
and treats.
Pastor
Paul’s Points:
1) The Lamb of God.
2) Theories
of Atonement:
·
Governmental
Theory
·
Penal
Substitution
3) Reconciliation requires both sides.
4) After reconciliation comes
conformity.
Questions
to meditate on this week:
A) Do you understand “Atonement”?
B) Which theory of atonement speaks to
you?
C) Have you completed your part to be
reconciled to God?
[1]
https://parracatholic.org/celebrate/baptism/#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20symbol%20of,Church%20and%20children%20of%20God.
[2]
Mark Olivero, “Theories of Atonement,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark
Ward et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
John F. MacArthur, The Freedom and
Power of Forgiveness, electronic ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Books, 1998), 25.
[5]
R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May
Believe, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999),
46.
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