By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi

There are many things seeking the attention of people on earth. Many innocently or naively are drawn away by what or who they focus their attentions on. John the Baptist, at the onset of his ministry, saw that the people of Israel were focusing on the wrong personalities and things. He, therefore, wasted no time in pointing their attention to the one personality they should focus on: the Lamb of God. At this time, when the world is observing Easter, the Lord wants us too, to look away from every other personality; to turn our back to the past and the present, and “Behold, the Lamb of God.”

There is no doubt as to the identity of the One who is the Lamb of God. The Old Testament had prophesied about Him. He is no other then the Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God, “which taketh away the sin of the world.” There are no two lambs of God. The scriptures revealed that Jesus, the only Lamb acceptable to Almighty God as sacrifice for the sins of mankind, is unique and universal.

The coming of Jesus Christ to the world was not an afterthought. It had been foreordained from “the foundation of the world” that He would bear the sins of humanity, as the sacrificial Lamb, our substitute.

Abraham responded prophetically that “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” when Isaac demanded for one. He knew that God would not take away his son from him because through Isaac all the families of the earth would receive the blessings of salvation – reconciliation with God and redemption. The Lord would provide Himself the Lamb of God by giving us His only begotten Son. This was fulfilled when “Christ diedforus” while we were yet sinners and should have died for our sins. More so, we are “justified by his blood.”

As our Substitute, Jesus bears the wrath we both inherited and brought upon ourselves as a result of our sins, and in the event, all who believe are set free from the consequences of their transgressions. Jesus is the spotless Lamb, who became our sacrifice.

The children of Israel, when they were to come out of Egypt and journey to the Promised Land, were told to offer a “lamb… without blemish” for their sacrifices to be acceptable to the Lord. That lamb represented Christ who is our Passover. Through His “precious blood… as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” He takes away our sins. Only such a sacrifice could be accepted in the sight of God. The essence of His sacrifice is to “purge out” the old lifestyle of sin from us. Therefore, it will be self-deception if anyone claims to have partaken of the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice, but still manifest traits of sinfulness.

Christ became our Saviour when He took away our pain, sorrow and the consequences of sins that would have condemned us in eternity. The smiting and eternal judgment that should have come upon us were laid on Him. Although, He did no sin, “he was wounded for our transgressions, …bruised for our iniquities: (and) the chastisement of our peace was upon him.” Consequently, we can now have fellowship with God. However, the salvation Christ purchased for us as a result of that smiting is not to make us still active in sinning and yielding to temptations, but that we should be “dead to sins (and) live unto righteousness.”

• Further reading (King James Version): John 1:29,36. Revelation 13:8; 17:14. Genesis 22:7,8; Romans 5:8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and Exodus 12:3-5, among others .