Hosanna Restoration Church

When Jesus came walking to John that day, everyone could relate to what John said because they had personal experience with lambs and sacrifices. The same is not true for us today. We know very little about sacrifice, especially sacrificing lambs. Don’t get upset when I speak of us knowing little about sacrifice. I realize that there are some who will read this who know a lot about sacrifice, but even then we know nothing compared to what God sacrificed for us.

Recently I awoke in the night and as is my custom at those times I called on the Lord. I will be honest when I say that my usual request goes something like this. “Lord if this is you, tell me what it is about. If not, then please help me get back to sleep quickly.” I know that some jump out of bed when they wake in the night and get a pen and paper and wait for God to speak, but I usually want to sleep, unless of course the Lord says to get up.

This time the Lord brought to my mind this scripture concerning the Lamb of God. I knew the scripture, but I also knew there was more I could learn. Basically my response to the Lord was, “okay, tell me what you have in mind.” I mean usually when someone brings something up, they have a reason. So when God brings something up I am really interested in what He has to say.

He reminded me of the first lamb that Abel brought to Him. It may have also been a lamb that God first used to make covering for Adam and Eve, but we do not know that for sure. God was pleased with Abel’s choice and for years God required a perfect lamb to be sacrificed for the sins of the people. Those lambs were only a temporary fix.

God also reminded me of Abraham who brought his son Isaac as a sacrifice, but then God provided a ram instead and saved Abraham from all the pain of sacrificing his own son. No one else could give a son, because no one else had the power to raise their son from the dead. God never asks the impossible without providing the power. This was another preview of the main event that God planned from the beginning of time.

The people who were present when John pointed to the Lamb of God also had a great understanding of the pass over Lamb. They knew how important the blood of the lamb was to their ancestors on that night when they were told to kill a perfect lamb and to take that blood and put on the outside of the door way so that the death angel would pass over.

God also reminded me that there have many who performed human sacrifice, but they do not do it for others. Human sacrifice has always been for selfish personal reasons. God, on the other hand, sacrificed His son for the sins of the world. That means for everyone, everywhere. We should be most grateful for this great love. We should also realize that as His children we are most blessed. We should also realize that while His eyes are on us to care for us, they are also searching for the lost to bring them into His family. We are called to be instruments that He can use to accomplish His plans.

I encourage you to take the bread and the cup and consider the Lamb of God who died and was raised again for sins of the world. Then ask Him what your part is in His plan today.