Tag: Jesus Christ

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The Significance of Lamb Imagery in the Bible (John 1:29-30)

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional1 Comment

(29) The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (30) This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. John 1:29-30

Explain:

He had just been questioned by people sent to him by the pharisees.  The next day Jesus shows up.  He makes two statements in these verses. The first is a bold illusion to a Biblical truth.

Behold the Lamb of God…

Lamb imagery is an important them throughout the Bible.  One of the first references to a lamb in the Old Testament happens in Genesis 22.  A father, Abraham, takes his only son to offer him up for a sacrifice.  

[7] 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? [8] And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:7-8)

When Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, God the Father stops him and provides a substitute lamb.

[12] And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. [13] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (Genesis 22:12-13)

This idea of a substitute lamb is continued in the story of the Exodus.  The children of Israel, at the passover, were to kill a lamb without spot or blemish, and paint its blood on the doorposts of their house.  When the death angel would pass by their homes, they would look to the blood of lamb and pass over.  The oldest son would not die.  In a very real sense, the lamb was sacrificed in place of the son.

A lamb was killed daily for the sins of Israel as part of the daily sacrifices required by God.

Isaiah says that the suffering servant would be like a lamb lead to the slaughter.  This is offering and atonement language foretelling the substitutionary atonement that Jesus would ultimately fulfill.

John was pointing to an important truth about Jesus from the start.  Jesus was going to be that lamb of God.  Why?

which taketh away the sin of the world. 

As the lamb sacrificed would be a sufficient substitute for the sin of the nation of Israel, Jesus sacrifice would be a sufficient substitute for the sin of the whole world.

John makes a second statement in the presence of Jesus.  He alludes to what he had said recorded in the verses just beforehand.

(30) This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

What does “before me” mean?

It speaks to Jesus’ priority.  Jesus is greater than John.  Jesus is the Christ, and John prepares His way.  John knew that he was to prepare the way of the messiah.  It was the point of His whole life and ministry.

It speaks to Jesus’ pre-existence.  Jesus, being God, is eternal.  He didn’t begin at His conception.  He became incarnate as His conception.  Again, this is something that John now knew.  In this moment, he gets to declare it in the presence of Jesus Christ Himself. 

Apply:

A few points of application.

  1. I need a substitute. I cannot pay for my sin myself. Thanks be to God for giving us His Son. He did not spare him, but gave him up freely for us all. 
  2. I need to acknowledge Christ’s priority. He’s in charge. He’s the focus. He’s number 1. If I point to Him I have simply done my duty. This ought to be the focus of my life.

Response:

  1. Do you know Christ as Savior? He can be your substitute. Trust in Him today!
  2. Do you know Christ as Lord? Once you know Him as Savior, you will know Him as Lord. He’s in charge. Are you submitting to Him today?
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How Christ Reveals the Father to Us (John 1:18)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 1:18

Explanation:

The idea that “no man has seen God at any time” is pretty incredible.  Moses was one who knew this reality. At one time He asked God to see His glory.

[18] And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. [19] And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. [20] And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. [21] And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: [22] And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: [23] And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Exodus 33:18-23

God’s own testimony is that mankind cannot handle seeing Him in all His glory.  Moses encountered God in the burning bush.  The children of Israel saw God’s presence manifested in a vailed way through the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud.  They saw the shekinah glory of God as it filled the tabernacle.  Moses only saw the after effects, the back parts, of God’s presence in glory, and it changed him. Check out Exodus 34:

[29] And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. [30] And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. [31] And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. [32] And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. [33] And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. [34] But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. [35] And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Exodus 34:29-35

This is just someone who saw the effects of God’s glory, and they had to cover his face.  God is so infinitely glorious and holy that mankind, after the fall, has no hope of standing in his presence and seeing his glory.

Yet this verse tells us that though we have not seen God, now Christ in His incarnation is revealing God to us.  He is vailed in flesh.  At the transfiguration His glory was revealed.  This was Peter’s testimony.

[16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 2 Peter 1:16-18

This was also the testimony of Jesus Christ about Himself.  His claim was that He was the Son of God, equal with the Father.

“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (John 14:8-11)

The text says that He was in the bosom of the Father.  This is an intimate reality for Jesus.  He enjoyed perfect fellowship with the Father and Spirit from eternity past as a coequal with them.  Jesus’ testimony here is that God the Father has revealed Himself to the world through the person of Jesus Christ.  

The word “declared” is the word exēgeomai , from which we get words like exegete.  The idea is to expose, to clarify, to proclaim or declare.  Exegetical or expositional preaching has as it’s aim to say what the text says in a way that is faithful to it.  We are walking through the text and considering what it means.  We’re exposing the text.  John’s statement here is that God the Father is exposing what He is like by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Application:

I can have a relationship with God the Father by believing in Christ the Son and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell me once I am saved. This reality is so wonderful I ought to let it impact every part of my life. The God who created the Universe became one of us. He did it to save us. He did it to reveal Himself to us. 

His holiness and glory helps me to see who I really am next to who He really is. I need His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. 

Response:

  1. What is your response to this depiction of the glory of God?
  2. Take some time to thank God for sending Jesus to reveal Himself to us.
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Why Jesus is Greater Than John (John 1:15)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

John 1:15

Explanation

The John in view here is not the author of the book.  This is the John referred to in vers 6.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

John 1:6

We already know that his purpose for being sent is to bare witness of Jesus.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John 1:7

What was John’s quoted witness in verse 15?

When Jesus showed up in person, he literally pointed to him in real time.  He had already told his followers about the coming of the Messiah.  He said that thought He was a prophet, a greater prophet is coming, One that is greater than a prophet.  

Here he says it by saying that Christ was “preferred before me”.  In John’s estimation, Jesus Christ is greater than Himself.  His whole ministry was to point to Jesus while preparing people for Jesus.

Why?  At the end John points to one way we can know that Jesus is greater than John.  

When John was conceived, He, like the rest of us began at conception.  Before John’s conception, He did not exist.  Yet, this is not true about Jesus.  Jesus has always existed.  He existed before John.  He existed in eternity past, before time began.

He has no beginning or end.  This is the God that we worship.

Application

John had a great mindset. Point to Jesus. Prefer and prioritize Jesus over self. Putting our own existence and self image in light of the person of Jesus Christ will always give us an accurate view of who we are and what we are to do. In that way, He is like a compass that directs. In that way He is the Light of the world. It is by Him that we can see ourselves and everything else accurately. Consider the songwriter that said:

Two wonders here that I confess

My worth and my unworthiness

My value fixed

My ransom paid

At the cross

Response

  1. Who do you need to witness to about Jesus Christ today?
  2. Are you thinking accurately of yourself, in light of the person of Jesus?
  3. How does the pre-existence and eternality of Jesus make you view Him?
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The Incarnation: Understanding John 1:14

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional1 Comment

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Explanation

And the Word

As we have learned, the Word described so far is pre-existent to creation, self-existant as uncreated, and co-existent with God. He was active in creation. He is life and light. He was proclaimed by a witness, John, who was not the light, but came to witness that light.

Now we learn something incredible about the Word.

…was made flesh

In His divinity, the Word is uncreated.  He is unmade. Here He remains uncreated, but was made like His creation. Christianity is the incarnation. Here we see the God of the universe made human. He was not created at this moment.  He is incarnated at this moment.

Jesus, in His humanity, dealt with life in all of its normalities. He was subject to hunger, thirst, pain, and being tired. He limited Himself to a human body, while never ceasing to be God.

…and dwelt among us

This is an incredible reality to be hearing from this author. The author experienced the Word in flesh. He lived with Him.

What was his commentary on this experience? Well it’s said in the rest of the verse.

“…and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”

This is expressed here parantheitcally. John says that He dwelt with the Word who was made flesh, yet he almost seems to anticipate the question, “If he was in flesh, how would you know that he wasn’t just any normal man claiming to be God?” His parenthetical statement is that they saw this incarnate Word transfigured, displaying the kind of glory that could only be God.  The glory of the Word was the same kind of glory of God.  This proved to John, and John witnessed to the idea that this Word was the incarnate Son of God.”

“full of grace and truth”

It’s amazing to me that this continues after that description. He was the same glory, the same essence, and the same God as the Father, and what made Him distinct is the combination of two attributes that are paradoxical. By paradoxical I mean that they seem to contradict at first glance, but in the end are not contradictory.

The Word was truth.  There is a veracity to who He was.  He spoke Truth. He was Truth.  He is truth. The Word was grace.  Truth seems to contradict grace, yet in Christ the combination of Truth and grace is seen through His entire ministry, and especially on the cross.  He is so Holy that He cannot violate His own holiness, truth, and perfection.  He is so loving that He willingly gives the opportunity to be made righteous and accepted by God to those who believe on Him not because of any merit on the part of the believer, but upon His merit and sacrificial death as substitute for sinful man.

What was incredible about Jesus, at least one of the multitude of things that was incredible about Him, was this combination of grace and truth.

Application

The fact that God became flesh is the essence of the Christian message.  If God doesn’t initiate His rescue plan, His mission in the world, by sending His only begotten Son, then we are doomed.

Jesus Christ was tempted with every kind of temptation we face.  Jesus Christ lived as a man, having humbled Himself to become a man.  Jesus Christ kept the law both in spirit and in the letter. Jesus Christ took the punishment that we owed.

On the cross we see both truth and grace, holiness and love.

This is how we should live.  As we are grown by the Spirit of God after we are born again, we should grow in holiness.  As we grow in holiness we see our own sinfulness more clearly.  Our need for grace becomes more apparent.  Our graciousness with others grows.  We see people as souls who will live eternally with God or separated from God.  We understand that we are to be on God’s mission, too.  We are to incarnate His mission in the world.

Response

  1. Have you responded to the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ?
  2. How can you live today as someone who is consumed by truth? by grace?