MONDAY August 14th
1 Peter 1:17–19
‘And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.’
We are turning to the same verses again in our devotion today and to the latter part ‘like that of a lamb without blemish or spot’ which we will consider again in our next devotion
It was John the Baptist who when he saw Jesus coming toward him cried out ‘“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”’ John 1:29 and again in verse 36 ‘“Behold, the Lamb of God!”’
The one who is the good shepherd was also a sheep? Yes, he was the Lamb of God and he came into this world to be the one who would take away sin. And as a lamb or more particularly as THE Lamb, he was without blemish or spot, that is he was perfect in every single way.
The picture of Jesus as the Lamb comes from the Old Testament and firstly from Genesis 22 when God had challenged Abraham to take Isaac, his only son up to the mountain and to sacrifice him and we read there ‘And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.’
At the very moment when Abraham lifted his knife to carry out the instruction from God, he heard the voice of the angel of the Lord ‘But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided”’ (verses 11–14).
This is a beautiful picture of what Christ became for us, he is the Lamb whom God has provided to take our place, as our substitute to be the sacrifice for our sin.
We were all sinners, we all needed saving, we all needed a Saviour and God provided the way of salvation by sending his Son. In Genesis 22, the angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham at the exact moment, we would say, bang on time, and we are reminded in Galatians 4:4 that at exactly the right moment, again bang on time, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, he sent him to be the Lamb who would be the propitiation for our sin. ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’, have you come to Jesus and received the cleansing that is available for each one of us, as we come to be washed in the precious blood which he shed on our behalf as the Lamb of God.