Christian Living

To Us, a Lamb is Given

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
12/24/21
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“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) My elder brother once pointed out that if one can wrap their mind around these first ten words of the Bible, then nothing that follows is impossible for one to believe. The truth of this statement has profound far-reaching that can bring all men to salvation from the wrath of God who hates sin. In the beginning, a man walked with God and fellowshipped with Him, Creator to the creature. Then by falling to the tempter’s lie, mankind fell to sin, and the world and everywhere sin has traveled is fractured. Evil had entered into the heart of mankind, and they have been enslaved to a sinful nature.

God is love and is the righteous judge of His creation. He is holy in that He is separate from His creation and cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore the fellowship was broken, and man and God could not dwell together. Mankind is not only a slave to their sinful nature but also to the penalty of their sin, which is death. Mankind sins throughout life in this world, and the only death worthy of taking that sin away is a perfect life. A holy life, a righteous life, a life without spot or blemish. Man is not capable, as he is born with an inherent sin-nature, he is not able to even keep the Ten Commandments of God’s law, and life eternal in God’s Sabbath is hopeless for mankind.

In the pre-cross time, God’s chosen people could find salvation through faith in God’s revelation. If God said it, then His words are true, and in faith, they lived in that truth. As mankind is prone to do, their faith became more of a tradition, more of the process than its purpose. But since Genesis 3:15, it has always been the full purpose of God to restore man to a right relationship with Him. Only God Himself is a worthy sacrifice to pay the world’s sin debt in that plan. After many years of failed obedience to God’s Word, God sent Himself as a man to satisfy the judgment of sin. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) At this time of the year, we set aside the thoughts of worldly desires and remember the love of our God, who sent His grace to redeem us.

Mankind cannot understand the sacrifice of something that holds no personal value to them. Sacrifice is personal, as God loves mankind, but mankind as a whole has forsaken Him. So God taught His chosen people the personal meaning of sacrificing something with an intimate relationship. “Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.” (Exodus 12:5-6) In the days that they kept their choice lamb, they no doubt named it, fed it, and the children played with it. Then they had to sacrifice it and place its blood on the door to their home so the death angel would Passover them. It must have been painful for the family, for the adults a loss of a valuable sheep, and for the children, the loss of a loved pet.

Throughout the years, many of the prophets of God spoke of a Messiah that would come and save His people. Many of the people failed to grasp the salvation it was to give. Their thoughts were on their physical needs and not their spiritual needs. The physical will remain in this world, but the spiritual will transcend to the spiritual realm above. Yet the Prophets wrote the words that may have seemed too marvelous to them. As the Prophet, Isaiah wrote of the Lamb of God. “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

For many years the Jewish people waited for their Messiah to come. When the time was full and proper in the plan and purpose of God, the prophecy of Micah came to pass in the town of Bethlehem of Judah. “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” (Micah 5:2) Thirty years from the first Christmas morning, when the lowly shepherds gave Him praise and worship, Jesus appeared on the bank of the Jordan River to be baptized in God’s ministry of salvation to His people.

The Prophet John the Baptist recognized Him and affixed the title that only the Son of God is worthy to receive, the Lamb of God. “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Jesus, the newborn King who came for the express purpose to save His people. Lived His righteous life and accomplished His sacrificial work on the Roman cross to shed His blood. His precious blood that we can place on the door of our heart and escape the death angel. His own would not receive Him, but you can because He is ever knocking at the door of your heart, calling your name, listen.

It is no small thing. It is the greatest thing that our Creator would sacrifice Himself for us that through faith in His Word, His promises, and by His example, we can find eternal life in His Kingdom. He created us, and now He has bought us by His own blood, that we can be restored to a right relationship with God the Father Almighty forevermore. A price that none of us could pay, a work that none of us could perform, and a free offer that none of us should refuse. Redemption and our salvation by a spiritual rebirth to pureness lost so many thousands of years ago available by the power of His blood. “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

As you joyfully unwrap your gifts this Christmas Day, those gifts are precious to you because of the giver’s love towards you. We know the truth that in the time to come, those gifts will fade in use, will break in time, and will fail except for the fond memory. I beg you to take the time before you receive those gifts to pause and reflect on the eternal gift given on this very day near two thousand years ago, the gift of the Lamb of God.

As sure as God promised the Messiah would come, He will return for His own. He came and won the victory, and soon the battle will be over. His saints will be with Him and will remain in the Sabbath forever. That one day of eternity filled with Love, Peace, Joy, Praise, and Worship for the love of God who has sustained us. No longer the Church militant but now the Church Triumphant. “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)

We will no longer live in a world as we are, darkened by the sin that has fractured creation and caused us to be orphans within it. Satan will no longer exist amongst us, and evil thoughts no longer will be in our minds, fear will be as it always was reverence, love will be for our Heavenly Father and our Sisters and Brothers. “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him.” (Revelation 22:3). Are you a bond-servant of the King?

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, December 24, 2019