The Lamb of God

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

That ancient priestly system was not perfect. It was only the shadow of a perfect, eternal priesthood to be brought about by the Savior-Priest, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son. Every priest in the order of Levi knew only too well his own sin. This was the point of the breakdown. When that priest stood before God in the holiest place to present an atonement for the sins of the people, he was face-to-face as well with the reality of his own failures and shortcomings.

In our own day, we recognize what this means to us as liberated and forgiven believers. Singing the hymnody of Isaac Watts, we revel in Christ's atonement and God's forgiveness:

Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain, Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the heavenly Lamb, Takes all our sins away A sacrifice of nobler name, And richer blood than they.

The Old Testament priest knew that the ritual of sacrifice could not completely atone for sins or change man’s sinful nature. In that priestly system, God "covered" the sin until the time when Christ would come. Christ, the Lamb of God, would completely bear away the sin of the world.

Thought: All sacrifices in the Levitical system pointed ahead to the eternal sacrifice of God, the Lamb of God. Observance of the Lord's Supper points back to that sacrifice. The sins of you and me and all the world are heaped upon Him who takes all our sins away.

By A.W. Tozer, taken from "Jesus, Our Man in Glory" (Chapter 1)


Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Psalm 86-89
Old and New Testaments Together: Job 17-19 & Acts 10:1-23
Historical: Psalm 21-25
Chronological: 2 Chron. 19-23
Blended: Deut. 10-12 & Acts 3

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible