is not that I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Niber. John chapter 1, verse 29, we
read these words. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. I hope I'm speaking to someone
who has some awareness of their guilt and their sin before God. If that would be you, you wonder
how God could ever have anything to do with anyone like you. I
hope I have a message from the Lord for you. If you wonder what
can be done about my sin, How can my sin be taken away? How can I stand before God without
guilt? Behold, the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world." Now, when John said that, he
was fulfilling the preacher's mission and purpose, to point
men to the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Behold and keep looking, not
at yourself, not at your good works, not at your bad works,
not at your religious experience, not at your faith, not at your
feelings, but behold the Lamb of God. I love that story in
Numbers when the children of Israel had murmured and God sent
fiery serpents to bite them. And then Moses was instructed,
they came to Moses and said, pray to the Lord for us that
he'll take these snakes away. And Moses was called upon to
make a brazen serpent and put it up on a pole. And anybody
that simply looked to that serpent, they weren't looking to the snakes
trying to keep them away. They weren't looking at their
wounds. They simply looked to that brazen serpent. Everyone
who looked at the serpent was made whole of his disease. Behold the Lamb of God. Don't look at yourself. Don't
look at anybody else. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sins of the world." Now what's that mean? Who is
meant by the world? Well, he means Gentile as well
as Jew, every demographic. The scripture says in Revelation
5, thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation. You see, I don't
believe for a second that Jesus Christ died for everybody without
exception, because if he did, everybody without exception would
be saved. You see, his blood is saving
blood. He does not shed his blood in vain. But I also know this.
His blood is shed for anybody, no matter what their experience
is. His blood is shed for anybody who will come to Him. Anybody
that will plead for mercy. Anybody that comes to Him. His
blood is for you. Listen to this scripture. Romans
chapter 5 verse 6 says, For when we were yet without strength,
In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now, if you're without
strength, and if you're ungodly, Christ died for you. Now, if
you say, that's not me, well, I can't tell you Christ died
for you. He only died for sinners. That's who He came to save. Now,
this world, let's say elephants were on the verge of extinction. And somehow they were saved.
We would say elephants have been saved. Obviously we don't mean
all elephants without exception, but elephants have been saved.
Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. Behold the Lamb of God that takes
away the sins of the world. Now in my marginal reading there's
another word It says, Behold the Lamb of God that beareth
the sins of the world. And that is the word. Behold
the Lamb of God which beareth the sins of the world. On the
cross, Christ was a sin bearer. 1 Peter 2.24 says, Who his own
self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. 2 Corinthians
5.21 says, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Now Christ knew no sin. Christ is the only man to never
sin. He never sinned. He knew no sin. He didn't know what it was like
to be a sinner. But he who knew no sin was made
to know sin on the cross when he bare our sins in his own body
on the tree. And he experienced everything
about sin with the exception of the commission of it. He felt
all the shame and the guilt and the degradation brought on by
sin, the shame before his father. The scripture says the Lord hath
laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Now, if my sin was laid
on Christ, that means it is not on me because it can't be two
places at once. But not only did he bear them,
the scripture says he took them away. Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. Where did they go?
Wherever that place is that is described as far as the east
is from the west. That's where they went. The word
is also translated removed. carried, put away. 1 John 3,
5 says He was manifested to take away our sins. And in Him is
no sins. Now here's the question I want
to ask you. Did He do it? Did He take them away? Yes, He did. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sins of the world. I think of the great day of atonement
when the high priest put His hands on the head of the scapegoat. And the sins were typically transferred,
the sins of Israel through the priest, were typically transferred
from the priest to the scapegoat. And the scapegoat was led to
a land not inhabited, the scripture says. And they never saw it again. The sins of all who believe are
taken away. The sin bearer has put them away. Now I want us to consider this
thing of behold the Lamb of God. who takes away the sins of the
world. In Revelation chapter 13, verse
8, we read of the Lamb that was slain, the Lamb that was slain
before the foundation of the world. Now, I know that we can't
really understand eternity, but there is such a thing as eternity,
where there's no past, there's no future. Everything is in the
eternal now. I know that because God is eternal. He inhabits eternity. He never
began to be, He'll never end. Now, do I understand that? Of
course I don't. I just believe it. Somebody says, well, how
do you know there's an eternity? Well, how do you know there's a God? I
know God is. I just know He is. And I know He's eternal. And
Christ Jesus was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. The Lamb having been slain. You
see, everything God does is eternal. And Christ was the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. Do you know before there
was ever a sinner? there was a Savior. And all of
God's people have always been viewed in the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him." Now, Christ, before time
began, was the Lamb slain. You see, he was slain in time
because he was slain in eternity. Now this is something, like I
said, that can't be understood, just believed. The Bible says
he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now
behold the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now,
first time blood was shed, you know when it was? Our first parents
sinned against God and hurled our race into spiritual death. They ran from God's presence.
They tried to hide their shame with the aprons of fig leaves
they made for themselves. And the voice of God came walking
in the cool of the evening toward them. Who's the voice of God?
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God. The voice of God came
walking, the scripture says, in the cool of the evening and
said, Adam, where art thou? He knew where Adam was. He's
God. But he's having Adam see what's happened to him. Adam,
where art thou? And at that time, Adam did what
everybody does. He shifts the blame. when he's
accused of sin, the woman you gave me, she gave me of the fruit,
and I did eat. That's what everybody does. Nobody
wants to take personal responsibility for their sin. He shifted the
blame, but God preached the gospel to him anyway. He talked about
that seed of woman that will bruise the serpent's head. That's
talking about the virgin birth of Christ that will crush Satan. And you know when blood was first
shed? It wasn't when Cain murdered
Abel in the next chapter in Genesis chapter 4. It was when the Lord
Jesus Christ slew a lamb right in front of our first parents.
How horrified must they have been when they saw blood shed? And He made coats of skins and
covered them, which typified the coming Lamb of God who would
shed His blood and give us a covering for our shame, even His very
own righteousness. Now in Genesis chapter 4, the
first story after the fall of our parents, we read of two boys,
both the sons of Adam and Eve, and their names were Cain and
Abel. And these two men brought sacrifices
to God. They saw the need to bring a
sacrifice. Both of them did. Cain brought
the fruit of the ground. He was a farmer, and he was very
proud of his efforts. And I can see him laying these
things before the Lord to be offered up, thinking, surely
God will be pleased with this. This is my best. God will be
pleased with this. Abel brought something completely
different. He brought a slain lamb. And you know what the scripture
says? The scripture says that God had
respect to Abel and his offering, his sacrifice. The great God
had respect to that, but to Cain and his offering, he had not
respect. God disregarded it. He saw nothing
in it that he could be pleased with. He had no respect for it. There's two awesome things for
God to respect someone because of the offering. And that's how
everybody that's in Christ is viewed by God, respected. because
of the blood sacrifice. You see, the sacrifice, the Lamb
of God, it wasn't that physical blood at that time that did anything
for either one of them. It's what the blood typified
of the coming Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world
that was coming to be slain in time. The only way sin can be
taken away is by the blood of the Lamb. Now, Cain got upset
with Abel. Really, it wasn't Abel he was
upset with. He was upset with God. Why don't you respect my
sacrifice? I've done my best. He and Abel
got to talking about it, and I guarantee you, they were talking
about the sacrifice. Cain was saying, why is it that your sacrifice
was accepted and mine's not? And Abel said, well, because
you brought the wrong sacrifice. Cain, we can't be saved by our
works. The only way we can be saved is by that coming blood
of the Lamb of God, God's Son, coming as a representative for
us. He had faith. He was looking to Christ only,
the one who was to come. And they got in a fight about
it, and Cain killed him. He said, blood, I'll show you
blood, and he killed him. And Abel became the first Christian
martyr, and he died over the issue of the blood of the Lamb
of God. Now let me give you another Old
Testament story. It's found in Genesis chapter
22. I think this is one of the most poignant passages in all
the Word of God. We read in Genesis 22 beginning
in verse 1, and it came to pass after these things that God did
to him to Abraham. And said unto him, Abraham, and
he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thy only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest. and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and he took
two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he claimed
the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the
place of which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place afar off. He saw the
place where he was going to have to put to death his own son in
obedience to God's command. And Abraham said unto the young
men, verse 5, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and come again to you. Now, did you catch
that? He said, we're going to go where
God told us to do, and we're going to worship, and me and
him both will be back here. Now, how's that if he's going
to kill him? Well, Hebrews 11 tells us that
he knew that even if he killed him, God would raise him from
the dead because God promised that the Lamb of God, the Son
of God was going to come through his seed, and he believed that
God would raise him from the dead. He said, I and the latter
will go off to that mountain and worship, and we're going
to come back. Now, he had already killed him in his mind. He purposed,
I'm going to do what God says. I might not understand it, but
I'm going to do it, because God said it. And so we read in verse
6, And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid
it upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand
and a knife, and they both went up together. Now I want you to
think of Isaac carrying the wood up a hill for his own sacrifice.
Did somebody else do that? The Lord Jesus bore his own cross
up Calvary's mountain for the sacrifice of himself. Behold,
the Lamb of God. Now let's read in verse seven.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, My father.
And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire
and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Do you know, every time I hear
a message, this is what I ask. Where's the lamb? Where's the
lamb in that message? Where is the lamb of God? That's
what I want to hear of, the lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. Now, Isaac says, we've got the
wood, we've got the fire. He didn't know he was supposed
to be the sacrifice yet. We've got the wood, we've got the fire,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Verse eight,
and Abraham said, my son, God, will provide himself a lamb for
a burnt offering. So they went both of them together.
Now there's, you can't provide anything that
God would accept, but God provides the lamb. For God to do something for me
or you, He had to do something for Himself. God will provide
for Himself a lamb. You see, for God to be just,
He's got to punish my sin. He's got to punish your sin.
So how can God be just and yet justify somebody like me or you?
He had to do something for Himself. He provided the lamb. to put
away the sin so He can embrace sinners. And God shall provide
Himself as the Lamb Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is God the
Lamb. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God's
providing. God shall provide Himself as
the Lamb. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ is God. It's only
as He is God that He can take away the sins of the world. If
He was merely a man, He could do nothing for us. God shall
provide Himself as the Lamb for the burnt offering. Another scene,
God is going to destroy all the firstborn in Egypt, but the children
of Israel are going to be delivered. And what were they to do? They
were to take a lamb of the first year of the flock without blemish.
It had to be a spotless lamb. And they were to slay that lamb
and they were to roast it with fire and eat that lamb. And they
were to take the blood of the lamb and put it over the doorpost,
the lintel of the door. And God said, I'm gonna pass
through the land of Egypt. I'm gonna destroy all the firstborn.
But he said in Exodus chapter 13, verse 12, chapter 12, verse
13, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. I love that verse
of Scripture. He didn't say when I see your
faith. He didn't say when I see your good works. He didn't say
when I see your sincerity. He said when I see the blood.
What was God looking for? He was looking for the blood.
Who had to see it? He didn't say, when you see the
blood. He said, when I see the blood. And what did he say? He
said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, everybody
in those houses with the blood over the door, they were safe.
They were secure. Now, I bet somebody thought,
well, what about so-and-so in that house? I mean, he's extra
bad. Do you think God's going to spare him? If he was in the
house with the blood over the door, yes. God said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. You know, in the Old Testament,
there was a morning and an evening sacrifice every single day. You began the day with the blood
of the lamb, and you ended the day with the blood of the lamb. I think of Isaiah chapter 53,
where we read of the lamb who opened not his mouth, and is
brought as a lamb before the slaughter, so he open not his
mouth." I think of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, not
opening his mouth, not defending himself. Now, if I've not done
something and I'm accused of it, you know what I'm going to
do? I'm going to defend myself. I'm going to say, I didn't do
it. You know, people take plea bargains, for instance. They
say, well, I'm not guilty of that, but I'm afraid of getting
punished. Therefore, I'll go ahead and admit to some measure of
guilt in order to make my sentence less. No, if I didn't do it,
I'm not. I repeat, I'm not going to say
I did. I'm not. I'm going to defend myself. Now, when our
Lord was brought before Pilate, he didn't defend himself. He
didn't open his mouth. Why? Why didn't he defend himself?
Because he was guilty. The sins of God's people became
his sins. And he was guilty. And he was
getting exactly what he had coming. Behold, the Lamb of Isaiah 53,
who opened not his mouth and didn't try to defend himself.
Now when John said, Behold the Lamb of God, he's talking about
all those slain lambs point to this Lamb. I love to think of
this. The Lord coming up to him and
John the Baptist saying to everybody who could listen, Behold, here's
God's Lamb. Here's the Lamb of God. Here's
the Lamb of God's providing. This is the Lamb that was typified
when to our first parents when the Lord appeared to them and
slew that beast. This is the lamb that was a substitute
for Isaac. This is the lamb where God said,
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. This is the lamb of
God. Behold the lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Now, would to God that you and
I look away from yourself right
now by the grace of God. Behold the lamb of God's providing,
God the lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Now, when I
think of the lamb nailed to the cross, he cried, my God, my God, why
has thou forsaken me? Do you know if the Father really
did forsake Him? He did forsake Him, because at that time, the
Lamb of God was taking away sin. He was bearing sin, and He deserved
to be forsaken at that time, because He got what I deserve. I deserve to be forsaken by God. My sin became His and God forsook
Him. God turned His back on Him. God
showed Him no mercy or no pity because He was the sin bearer.
The justice of God must be honored. Do you know Christ would rather
die than let God's justice go unfulfilled and dishonored? Behold
the Lamb of God. But I don't want you to only
think of him saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? Think of him saying, bowing his head and saying, it is finished. Those are the most glorious words
ever spoken. It is finished. Sin has been put away. Sin has
been taken away. All of salvation is completed. You see, I'm saved not by my
doing, but by the doing of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said,
it is finished. Peter said, you know that you
were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold. received from your vain conversation,
which you received by tradition from your fathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but is now manifest to you. I'd like to read one last
scripture regarding this lamb. John has had a vision in heaven
in the book of Revelation. And he says in Revelation chapter
5 verse 1, Now this pictures all of God's
purposes and all of God's decrees. It's written on the front and
back, filled up, you can't add anything to it, and it's sealed
with seven seals. God's purposes, God's decrees,
the Lamb's book of life, slain from the foundation of the world,
And then John says in verse 2, And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, in earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. Moses, can you open it? No. What
about Paul, the chief apostle? Can you open it? No. John, the
beloved disciple that laid his hand on the bosom of the Lord
Jesus, lays his head on the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ, can
he open it? No, I can't open it. No man was found worthy to
open, not even Abraham, who was called the friend of God. No
man was found worthy to open it. And John says, and I wept
much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the
book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root
of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. Now, he's called the lion of
the tribe of Judah in Genesis chapter 49. This is another name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has prevailed. He's able to
open the book. And I beheld, and he was looking
for a lion, and I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne,
and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood
a lamb. as it had been slain." And this
is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not talking about
a lamb with wool and horns. This is talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ with His physical scars still on His body. Behold, there stood a lamb, as
it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven spirits of God, sent forth unto all the earth. And
he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that
sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four
beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb,
having every one of them. harps and golden vials full of
odors which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new
song saying thou are worthy to take the book and to open the
seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred tongue people and nation and
that's when they began the great song worthy is the land Behold,
oh God give us grace to do this. Behold the Lamb of God has taken
away the sin of the world. To request a copy of the sermon
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