Sunday, December 4, 2016

2nd Sunday of Advent: Jesus is the Lamb of God

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!"
John 1:29
  
Here's the background.  The Israelites (God's People) were slaves in Egypt.  God sent Moses to ask Pharaoh to allow ALL the people to be freed (there were more than a million Israelites enslaved).  Pharaoh repeatedly said no.  Therefore, God sent plagues to Egypt to punish Pharaoh and the Egyptians for their disobedience.  On the night that the Israelite Nation left Egypt, God had commanded Moses to instruct the Israelites to take a lamb's blood and spread it on the doorposts of their house.  When God passed through the land of Egypt for the 10th and final plague of killing all first born sons, He would pass over the houses with lamb blood on the door frames.  God didn't punish or inflict judgement on His people.  Instead He passed over them! (Exodus 12)

Jesus is the Ultimate Lamb because He was Perfect and Blameless.  His Blood on our doorposts of life is way more valuable than any animal lamb.  Isn't this a beautiful picture?  The simplicity of the foreshadowing of Jesus a mere 62 chapters into the Bible.  We are now able to be passed over because Jesus' Blood covers us!

I think this is a reason to celebrate in the coming days.  Normally we talk about Jesus as the Lamb of God during Easter when He was crucified, but at His birth, He was just as much of God's Lamb as on Calvary 33 years later.  Jesus was born knowing all this would happen and yet He still continued to live a life that we will never be able to.  He was filled with the Joy of the Lord no matter His circumstances.  This is a wonderful example for our lives, although it can be difficult to implement at times. 

Have you applied the Blood of Jesus to the doorposts of your life?  What would happen if you did?

With His Love,

A

PS Isn't beautiful that some of the first people to see Jesus the Lamb of God in this world were Shepherds?!

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