I would invite you and encourage
you to turn in your Bible this morning to the Gospel of John,
John's Gospel, chapter 1, and let's read together one verse.
John chapter 1, verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, behold the sacrifice
of God, this sacrifice of God which taketh or beareth away
the sin of the world. I want to bring you a message
this morning about the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ identified
here by God's prophet as the Lamb of God. John the Baptist's
one business of which he was totally consumed with was to
bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He said on several
occasions that he came to bear witness of the light, that all
through him might believe. He said again, John did of himself,
that he was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of
the light. He said on another occasion,
the Lord Jesus Christ must increase, I must decrease. The only reason for the coming
of John and the only purpose that John was sent for was to
identify and glorify and point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's only sacrifice for sin. John does not ask us to behold
a great teacher, although the Lord Jesus Christ certainly is
a teacher, nor does John tell us to behold a great moral leader,
though certainly that could be said of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John, the prophet of God, declares and identifies the Lord Jesus
Christ as a designated sacrifice for God. This is God's atonement
for the sin of His Church, for the sin of His elect. We read
in 1 John 4, verse 10, here in His love, not that we love God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the sacrifice for
sin, the propitiation, the atonement for sin. John the prophet knew
no other atonement but substitution, and no substitute but the Lord
Jesus Christ, this Lamb of God. Now, we know from reading the
scriptures that John sets forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the
only sacrifice. He's the Lamb of God. All through scripture, we see
the Lord Jesus Christ. All through the Old Testament,
we see lamb after lamb after lamb, the morning sacrifice,
the evening sacrifice, the Passover feast, and on the Day of Atonement. All through the Old Testament,
we see lamb after lamb after lamb, sacrificial lamb, Abel's
lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment
of all those lambs that were typical. They all typified the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who else could have provided
such a sacrifice to fulfill all Scripture but God himself? We read in Genesis 22 when Isaac
asked Abraham, My father, where is the lamb? You remember the
answer that Abraham gave back? My son God will provide himself
a lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment
of that scripture. He is the lamb of God. In the
fullness of time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Who
else could have honored God's law and his justice in precept
and penalty but the Lamb of God that God himself had provided.
We read in Galatians 3 that Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. Who else could have established
a righteousness whereby we can be justified before God? Who
else could have put away sin except the Lord Jesus Christ
by the sacrifice of himself? The point I'm trying to make
here is the scripture declares that Jesus Christ is the Lamb
of God that's provided by God. Now, who was it that sacrificed
this Lamb of God? Oftentimes, this religious world
focuses in on the instruments, but we need to look beyond the
instruments to the author of the cross, he being delivered
by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. It was
the sacrifice of God at Calvary. Yes, men nailed him to the cross
and they did what they wanted to do, but God is the author
of the cross. They did what God determined
from all eternity. This is God's sacrificial lamb. Calvary was not an accident.
God planned the cross. God presided over the cross.
Our Lord said, no man takes my life from me, I lay it down,
and God participated. It wasn't the work that men did
at Calvary that day that's our hope, it's what God was doing. You see, this is God's sacrificial
lamb. It was God who bruised him when
the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for us by imputation. We know that the Lord Jesus as
the God-man mediator, as God's lamb is spotless and without
blemish, He personally committed no sin, but yet we see the wrath
of God falling upon him because he is indeed guilty of sin by
imputation. God made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God through Christ, through Christ establishing a righteousness
by his obedience and by his death, by his redeeming blood, having
put away our sin. Jesus Christ is not only the
Lamb provided by God, but also the Lamb that is accepted of
God, that is, his sacrifice, his person and his work, his
priestly atonement, as a representative man, as a representative person,
as a mediator of his covenant people. He is the Lamb of God
that God must accept glories to accept and always accepts. This is our only hope that a
guilty sinner might have before a holy God is to be accepted
into beloved through this Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my friend,
do not try to approach God who is holy apart from this sacrifice
for sin. This is the only way we can approach
God is through a suitable mediator, who is our High Priest, with
a suitable sacrifice that satisfies God, and all this we have in
our God-Man Mediator, who is our High Priest, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now John sets forth the Lord
Jesus as the Lamb of God. We are to behold this Lamb of
God, this sacrifice of God, and this sacrifice of God is effectual. John declares, this Lamb of God
taketh away or beareth away our sin." That is, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as this designated sacrifice, appointed of God, blessed of
God, sent of God, was sent to take away sin. Our Lord not only took our sin,
but took it to Himself. Peter said He bare our sin in
His own body upon the tree. He took our sin Original and actual, all sin,
all the sin of God's people was imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great beauty and strength. And the center of the gospel
is substitution, imputation. Christ, as this Lamb of God,
the just one, he suffered for the unjust by imputation, by
substitution. All of the sin of God's elect
was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you consider the
weight of all the sin of all God's elect laid upon Christ.
No angel could bear that load. No man could handle that burden
of sin. But when it was imputed to the
Lord Jesus Christ by God's decree, he bare our sin in his own body. Not only did he take our sin,
but in taking our sin, he took it away. He taketh away our sin. He took it voluntarily out of
love. Being the willing servant of
God, he became responsible to divine justice, to answer for
our sin. He carried it away as a scapegoat
of old did under the law. John said in 1 John 3, 5, that
the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested to take away our sin now the
Lord Jesus Christ didn't attempt to take away sin he made a complete
atonement for sin and I mean by that his atonement was effectual
all for whom he stood as surety mediator and advocate those for
whom he died certainly their sin is put away will be read
in the book of Hebrews 9 Hebrews chapter 9 verse 26 that he appeared
once in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. We read in Psalm 103 talking
about the effect of Christ's atonement. Christ has removed
our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. In Isaiah
38, 17, the prophet declares that all our sin is put behind
the back of God, that it is out of sight. God said in that covenant
of grace, their sin and their iniquity, I'll remember no more. In Micah 7, 19, our sin is described
as cast into the depths of the sea. He put away sin, my friend,
by taking our sin to himself, satisfying God's law and justice
for us. He taketh away. This is a permanent
Eternal sacrifice for sin there is a continual effect the blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all Sin, it wasn't a temporary
atonement he obtained for his elect Eternal redemption he saves
us with a everlasting salvation Now, my friend, those for whom
he stood as surety, mediator, and as a representative man,
their salvation was accomplished at Calvary when he put away their
sin. Now, John says in the text here
that this Lamb taketh away the sin of the world. Now, most people
look at this and think, well, Christ made atonement for all
of the sin of all men. My friend, that is not according
to the Scripture. This word world here is in reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ dying for his elect, his church. We read in Acts chapter 20 that
he purchased the church with his own blood. We read in John
10 verse 15 that the Lord Jesus Christ as the good shepherd laid
down his life for the sheep. The sheep were in this world.
lost sheep. We read in Ephesians chapter
5 that the Lord loved the church and gave himself for it. That's
this world that is described here. It doesn't mean all of
the sin of all men, nor some of the sin of all men, but all
of the sin the Lord Jesus Christ made sufficient atonement for
all of the sin of some man, his elect, his church. We read in Matthew 1, verse 21,
that we are to call His name Jesus, identifying His office
as Savior. He shall save his people from
their sin. Now, my friend, I would ask you,
according to the Word of God, as John says here, behold this
Lamb of God. He is the only sacrificed Son
of God to put away the sin of God's people. And my prayer for
us today is that God would give us grace to look to this Lamb
of God Salvation and no other. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, the life. No man comes unto the Father
but by me, by this righteousness established, by this sacrifice
that is given.