Life & Death: A Look at the Lamb and His Book

Introduction:

Illustration - Someone Once Said …

• The Lord’s Supper should be the crowning service in the church, and thus be earth’s nearest approach to heaven.—Andrew W. Blackwood*

• The link between the cross and the crown is the Table of the Lord. Do not forget, when you sit down at the Communion, that the bread and the cup point back to Christ’s accomplished work, and forward to your accomplished salvation.—A. T. Pierson [Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 520.]

Describe the makeup of the Scripture and note the scarlet thread of the Lamb of God woven from Genesis to Revelation.

Though the Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years in 66 installments by over 40 authors in three languages, it all meshes together perfectly, every part and parcel of it revolving around one theme and one person: Jesus Christ. Even Genesis—the first book of the Bible—gives us lessons about Jesus Christ. It is there that we begin a “crimson cord” of truth that stretches all the way to the final chapters of Scripture, telling us of the virtues of the Lamb of God.

Main Thought: The Lamb of God Is the Bread of Life: Have You Tasted and Seen that the Lord Is Good?

Sub-intro: The Process of the Fellowship Meal, or Communion, or the Lord's Supper, or the Lord's Table- The Bread Was Taken; Thanks Was Given; The Bread Was Broken, Then Given.

Note some timeless truths about God's Lamb:

Body:

I. The Pressing Need for God's Lamb (Gen. 3:21; 4:1-4).

Genesis 3:21 KJV 1900

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Genesis 4:1–4 KJV 1900

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

When God first placed Adam and Eve in the Garden they were so innocent and pure that even clothing was unnecessary. They were naked and not ashamed. When they sinned against God, they became self-conscious. Their thoughts flew to lust, and they became aware that the children they bore through their sexual union would be infected with a sinful nature. And so they made for themselves garments of fig leaves. But by their own efforts, they could never cover up or wash away the guilt and shame that they felt. And so the Lord killed an innocent animal and made garments for them from the skin of that animal. Arthur Pink, in his book on Genesis, says that this is the first gospel sermon, preached by God, not in words but in symbol and action. From this one simple verse, we can learn four things about salvation: (1) It is of God alone. We can never cover our guilt by our own efforts; (2) it is accomplished by the death of an innocent substitute; (3) it is accomplished by the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22); and (4) it is accomplished by the slaying of a spotless lamb. We aren’t told in Genesis 3 that the animal slain was a lamb, but the follow-up story regarding Abel’s sacrifice in chapter 4 implies it.

II. The Provision of God's Lamb (Gen. 22:8, 13-14).

Genesis 22:8 KJV 1900

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:13–14 KJV 1900

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

God demanded that Abraham offer Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah, the Mountain of the Lord. This mountain is later identified in Scripture as Mt. Zion (2 Chron. 3:1). It is possibly the very mountain on which Jesus Christ would later be crucified. There Abraham was told that God alone would provide salvation on that mountain, that He would provide the Lamb.

III. The Lamb of God Put to Death (Ex. 12:1-7, 13).

Exodus 12:1–7 KJV 1900

And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

Exodus 12:13 KJV 1900

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

The story of the Passover Lamb and the immortal words of verse 13 (“When I see the blood, I will pass over you”), is one of Scriptures most powerful “types of Christ.”

IV. The Perfection of God's Lamb (Lev. 22:21).

Leviticus 22:21 KJV 1900

And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.

Without spot or blemish.

V. The Person of God's Lamb (Isaiah 53:7; Jn. 1:29).

Isaiah 53:7 KJV 1900

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth.

Jesus laid down His life willingly of His own power (i.e. at His arrest; before Pilate; on the Cross... HE GAVE).

A. The Suffering Servant (Is. 53).

“Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: For the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his death; Because he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; For he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the strong; Because he hath poured out his soul unto death: And he was numbered with the transgressors; And he bare the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53, KJV 1900)

B. The Son of God, Jesus Our Savior (John 1:29).

John 1:29 KJV 1900

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Notice John’s dramatic way of introducing the Messiah. He doesn’t say, “Behold the King of kings and Lord of lords.” He says, “Behold The Lamb. . . .”

VI. The Proclamation of God's Lamb (Acts 8:31-35).

Acts 8:31–35 KJV 1900

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

In one of the first missionary stories in church history, Philip used Isaiah 53 to tell the official from Ethiopia about the Lamb of God.

VII. The Preciousness of God's Lamb (1 Pet. 1:18-21).

1 Peter 1:18–21 KJV 1900

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Have you trusted the Lamb for salvation?

VIII. The Praise of God's Lamb (Rev. 5:6-10).

Revelation 5:6–10 KJV 1900

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

We see the biblical song of the Lamb reach a crescendo in the Book of Revelation, with the angels of God gathered around the Lamb in rapturous worship.

Conclusion:

1. You Will Perish apart from Appropriating By Faith the Sacrifice of God's Lamb on Your Behalf.

2. Is Your Name Published in the Lamb's Book of Life?

Revelation 21:27 KJV 1900

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Last of all, the Bible ends with a warning about the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 21:27). The Lamb is keeping a book, and in it are the names of all those who come to God by faith in Him. There is no other way. This is the crimson thread that progressively unrolls throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, pulling all the books together around one master theme: God loves us, we disobeyed Him, and He redeemed us through the blood of the Lamb.

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

[This outline was adapted from: Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2002 Edition. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 88-89. Block quotations from other sources will be marked accordingly.]