Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.
John the Baptist under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). This is a very important statement. First of all, it tells us that Jesus is our Savior, because it tells us that he takes away our sins, and he does so as a lamb of sacrifice takes away sins. This is a reference to the Old Testament sacrificial system revealed to his people by God. There are a variety of sacrifices for different types of people and for different reasons.
One of the key reasons for offering sacrifice is to have one’s sins atoned for, vicariously punished, and forgiven.
The symbolism is that a sinner puts his hand on the head of a lamb or other animal, indicating it as his representative and substitute. Then the animal is slain before the Lord to make atonement for the sinner’s sins. This is a vicarious suffering that the lamb undergoes instead of the sinner who should suffer this punishment. So his sin is punished vicariously in a substitute rather than in himself, namely in the sacrificed lamb.
Of course, an animal does not have the ability to take away our sins, when we punish him as our substitute for our sins,
“for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).
Rather this is a symbolic sacrifice, but God accepts it from the Hebrews when they put their faith in what the lamb represents, namely the ultimate sacrifice that one day God would give his people that would truly take away their sins, namely the sacrifice of his own Son, incarnate as a man, on a cross for the sins of the world –
for “Christ died for our sins”
(1 Corinthians 15:3).
Christ died for our sins following the pattern of Old Testament sacrifices, which God revealed to his people as a preparation for the ultimate sacrifice of his Son that really would take away sins. This was done so that when his Son did sacrifice himself for our sins, the Jews would have a context within which they could understand what that sacrifice did. It did in reality what the lamb symbolized. Christ did in reality what the lamb did in symbol. Christ’s sacrifice of himself truly made vicarious reparation for our sins.
As the lamb symbolically suffered the sinner’s punishment that the sinner deserved to suffer for his sins to make atonement for them and reconcile him with God, so Christ in reality suffered on the cross what we deserve to suffer for our sins to make atonement for us, that is, to reconcile us with God.
ThankYou Father, for sending Your son Jesus Christ as a living sacrifice for the mankind and making a way for us to be with You in paradise.
SOL.PAULOSE,AOJ