Jesus, the Lamb of God Introduction: John 1:29 ““The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” There is a cartoon with a guy standing at the pearly gates newly arrived there fully decked out in his skydiving gear with his unused parachute still strapped to his back holding what looks like his ripcord in his hand. Standing next to him is an angel pointing to his parachute saying, “No see, this is your ripcord. That’s just a loose thread.” My brother-in-law has taken up sky-diving and now has over 200 jumps under his belt. He visited us over Easter and I asked him if they had had any accidents or near death experiences in the last number of years at their jump zone in Regina. He said there was only one he could recall. A beginner jumped out of the plane, his parachute deployed as it was supposed to but this person was convinced that it was entangled and only partially unfurled and that it wasn’t going to get him safely to the ground. So the beginner took a knife and cut the parachute away trusting his reserve chute to bring him down safely to the ground which it did. You can imagine that moment of decision and cutting away his parachute. Packing a parachute is something that must be done methodically and with precision folding to ensure it deploys properly. If we are not careful we pack our lives full of experiences, pursuits and pleasures. We carefully and methodically arrange, posture, and control for like a parachute to a skydiver we are trusting in earthly things for life. We need to cut this parachute away, thought it seems we are cutting away our very lives and arrange and posture ourselves in such a way that Jesus remains in the center and we are trusting Him with our lives. It is my prayer this morning that you will be strengthened to do this. It is a silly feeling to walk into a sliding screen door. I have done this. I was looking where I was going but I was looking right past the screen to what I could see on the other side and missed seeing the screen. I pray this morning that you actually see Jesus and not merely the good things that are inherent on the other side of trusting in Him. It is Jesus I want you to see and it is Jesus that you will miss if you are focused only on the good things He can give you. I want us to be overwhelmed, to be convicted deeply, to be moved in the depth of our beings with the greatness and awesome glory of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. I want to start by showing you the centrality of Jesus, the Lamb of God in all that we experience in this life including suffering and that suffering in our world only makes sense when we understand the suffering of Jesus, the Lamb of God as the, borrowing a phrase from John Piper, greatest demonstration of the glory of the grace of God in all creation. So let’s begin. John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word[Jesus] and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” John is affirming here at the outset of his gospel that before time began, before all that we see around us came into existence Jesus was. Jesus was not created but existed before creation. He calls Jesus the Word because Jesus has made known God’s mind to us, as a man’s word or speech makes known his thoughts, as much as he pleases to let us know. As it says in Hebrews 1:2 “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,…” God reveals Himself to us through the character of Jesus Christ, His priorities, His words spoken, His actions, His death and resurrection. Philippians 2:6-11 Jesus “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Not because Jesus created the amazing universe in which we live but because Jesus was slain God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name because Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, is the greatest demonstration of the glory of the grace of God in all creation. Revelation 5:6 “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders…” Revelation 5:9“And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Revelation 5:11-12 “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” The centerpiece of all heavenly worship Jesus, the Lamb that was slain. The culmination of all of history. The one act that will be worshipped through out eternity. It is the greatest demonstration of the glory of the grace of God in all creation. This will and must never be forgotten. John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” The sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God on the cross, is the event by which everything in our world before it and after it can be explained. Revelation 13:8 “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” The book of life was established before the creation of the world. The plan, the strategy for the glory of God’s grace to be revealed. The slaying of Jesus was planned before the creation of the world. Everything leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus and everything after it is explained by the slaying of Jesus the Lamb of God. Adam and Eve sinned and ate of the forbidden fruit. Their eyes were opened to good and evil and sin entered the world. And with sin came suffering. Why did God allow sin to subject all of creation to frustration. That all of creation cannot fulfill its purpose to give glory to God? Why did God allow suffering in the world? Because He had a plan before creation to send Jesus the Lamb of God into a world of sin and suffering that He might display the glory of the grace of God through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ to take away the sins of the world. That God allow sin and suffering in the world He created only makes sense as we understand God’s plan to give us the greatest demonstration of the glory of God’s grace through the suffering and death of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. We are not the center. God is the center and everything evolves around God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ and so our suffering takes on new meaning. 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Our sufferings are the sufferings of Christ in that ultimately they are allowed for the sake of the salvation plan through Jesus Christ. We live in a world of suffering because God is zealous for His glory. Suffering had to be present in order for Jesus to suffer and die and demonstrate the glory of God’s grace. Our suffering is not our own in that it was allowed in this world to torment us. We should not be surprised with our suffering but rather to rejoice that we can partner with Jesus in His suffering and bring glory to God through our suffering as Jesus did. 1 Peter 2:20-23 “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."[a] 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. We are now to live as Christ lived in this world of suffering. We are to be like Jesus the Lamb of God. Jesus left us an example “that we should follow in His steps.” We bring the greatest glory to God by not retaliating when insults are hurled at us, making no threats when caused to suffer and rather entrusting ourselves to God who judges justly. Conclusion: John 1:29 ““The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John the Baptist makes a prophetic statement no doubt having meditated on Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter….” " the Lamb of God,…” There was a young man who worked in a slaughter house, putting to death cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys; you name it he did it. One day there was an exceptional animal that was penned in the slaughter barn. A Lamb. "Usually," he would just slit the throat of the beast and it would fall to the ground but he had never killed a lamb. He would usually have to chase down the animal to be killed. They were all very skiddish; probably because of the smell of death and blood. But you know, this little lamb just walked right up to him and nudged his hand with his head. He stuck to his routine and grabbed under the chin of the lamb, put the knife to his throat, and pulled hard and swift. The cut was deep, severing it’s throat, blood spraying everywhere. He let go of the animal and it staggered as if it were drunk. With it’s blood all over his hands, he dropped the knife in disbelief, as the next scene that he saw changed his life completely, as a Christian. The lamb did not fall to it’s knees whisping for breath. This little lamb staggered back to him and nudged his bloody hand for the second time with his nose and started to lick the blood from his hands! When Jesus was being slaughtered He prayed for those crucifying Him, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” He forgave the thief beside Him. He cared for his mother and the disciple he loved. John uses the Lamb as a symbol of Christ and it communicates Christ’s self-denial, His eternal innocence, His meekness, fixed intention and purpose to be slaughtered. As one commentator writes: “It combines in one descriptive term the concepts of innocence, voluntary sacrifice, substitutionary atonement, effective obedience and redemptive power…” “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The thought of Jesus, the Lamb of God exposes my focus on self-preservation, my careful, guarded, and quantified obedience, and my aversion to suffering and pain at almost any cost. It reminds me not to presume on God. He will never wink at my sin. There is simply no room for pride and selfish gain. There indeed is no fence on which to sit playing luke-warm Christian. As someone has said, “Religion is hanging around the cross, Christianity is hanging on the cross.” 1 Peter 1:17-21 “Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” Song: Be the Center