Behold The Lamb OF God Who Takes Away Sin

Thank you for your seeing. I ask you to open up to John chapter 1 please, the Gospel of John chapter 1. I want to encourage not just the women but the men as well. for New Path and especially at Richwood there's needed help from both men and women so if you're at all questioning that if you're gifted and can do that sort of ministry to help the women and men in need I encourage you to just go to the training if you're able to focus on the heart training and just see what it's about at the very least it's just edifying to your own soul But if you're on the fence at all, I really encourage you to make that step.

It's a really neat way to minister the gospel in a very local area. So I really want to put that on your mind as the training comes up soon. So we're in John chapter 1, and I'll read, just for context, we'll read from 19 on to the end of John the Baptist's testimony in 34. So John chapter 1, verse 19. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you?

John the Baptist confessed, and he did not deny, but he confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no.

And they said to him, who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? And he said, I am the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees, and they asked him, then why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?

John answered them, I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel. And John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who has sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

So I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. Let us pray. O God in heaven, this is truly the Son of God, set before us, Jesus Christ the Lord. He is marvelous and beautiful to behold, the exalted and glorified one, the one who has offered grace by his own blood, by his own sacrifice. Oh God, we would be fools not to look to him and believe and follow him wherever he might bring us.

So I pray, God, that we would look at your word together. Lord, there's all these different lives in this room right now. And let us all look at this one word, this one Lord, this one Jesus. And Lord, may we all respond in repentance and belief and trust and obedience to him. because he is a faithful high priest, he's a faithful Savior, he's a faithful God.

So Lord, let none of us have an unbelieving heart in this moment. May none of us, God, see the deceptions of sin and think that somehow they will provide something better than the Lamb of God. May we listen and hear, and may the Spirit be an aid to us, for we know, Lord, we need him. So I thank you for this time, and I thank you for your word. may it be open to us and may he be glorified in our hearing.

Lord, may we respond in faith. In Jesus' name, amen. So verse 29, the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him. If you remember, last week we talked about the day prior in the gospel here. The day prior we had the delegation come to John the Baptist and they ask him some questions. And the emphasis of his answer was the proper testimony to Jesus Christ.

And it was one of exaltation of Christ. And we talked about proper testimony to Jesus is found in exalting Christ, even at the expense of your own exaltation, even at the expense of everyone else's exaltation that you're testifying Christ to. So we saw John the Baptist be a faithful witness in the fact that he exalted Christ, didn't get off of that essence of his testimony, and he exalted the Lord.

But to just emphasize the exaltation of Christ, to just stop our testimony where we stop there in verse 28, to just stop at the complete exaltation of the glory that is Jesus, is to miss the full testimony to Jesus. In fact if you just have an understanding of Jesus that he an exalted one that is all glorious and all awesome and all powerful and that it then really you be missing a major component that he is not just far and cold and far off and glorious above us and that it There is more to the testimony to Jesus Christ There is we be left with this kind of an exalted person that we cannot know that is again far and cold and we cannot really grasp at all. We think of exalted people in the past and in history.

Think of Julius Caesar. His testimony about himself was, I came, I saw, and I conquered. And we think of Napoleon, right? What he said, his testimony about himself during his coronation speech. He said, I found the crown of France in the gutter. I picked it up with the tip of my sword and cleaned it and placed it on top of my own head.

Or Cortez, the conqueror of Central and South America. He said, I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold. That was a good old Catholic right there. And if we just stop with the great exaltation of Jesus Christ, we'll be met with just a cold but glorious figure. And this is what John the Baptist was laying out for us.

He is the one in which John the Baptist is just a cry. Christ is the word and it's in the wilderness filled with sinners and dead people. And yet it's the exalted one that we all need to look to. In fact, John the Baptist, remember, he said, I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals and clean his feet. And we talked about that. That's good.

Like, we need to have a Jesus that's exalted. We need to have a Christ that is beyond anything we can comprehend with his glory and awesome power. But to just leave it there would just leave a very cold and really non-relational Jesus. So again, if you only know Jesus as an exalted figure who is cold and separate from you, you do not know the true Jesus.

Or even a seasoned believer can slip in and out of their walk with Christ, of doing their good works to a Savior who is good and kind and merciful and filled with love and compassion. And the works they do can be filled with life and joy. But we can slip out of that to where really all we're doing is just doing our good works to one that we know is exalted.

And it's cold good works. And it's tiring good works. And it leaves us dry and it leaves us tired. But this is why we need the full testimony of John the Baptist here. The full testimony from the day prior with the delegation to the text we have before us. It's the full testimony of the exalted figure that he is witnessing to.

And he says it here in our text. He says, the next day Jesus coming toward him. Now, knowing the context of what's going on here, Jesus, several days before this, began his ministry with his baptism. He had already been baptized by John. We'll get to that in a moment. He had already been baptized by John.

He went into the wilderness after his baptism to be tempted by Satan and came out victorious. Satan went away for the time. And on his way back to the Baptist, the Baptist is bearing witness to the delegation about his exaltation. and upon seeing him return the next day, you might think he would cry out, with all this exaltation talk, with all this, he is not worthy of my even least endeavor, he says, we would think that he might cry out, behold, the exalted lion of the tribe of Judah, the awesome one, there he is, glorious.

But instead, we get an interesting confession or testimony. He says, behold, mark this, the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God. Again, contrast that in your mind. Meditate on the previous verses, and you would see it's the exalted one. Awesome.

You would think now he's going to talk about this king, this general, this Napoleonic figure, this Cortez figure, this great king and conqueror, right? The Lion of Judah. Instead, we get this strange testimony that shifts now of saying, behold, the Lamb of God. You know, my kids have a favorite for everything. There's like favorites for everything. They have a favorite color, a favorite game, a favorite number, a favorite movie, right?

And they always ask me what my favorite things are. I don't have anything that's a favorite. I just don't. I don't have a favorite color. I don't have a favorite movie. I don't have anything.

I'm very boring, I guess. But they have a favorite everything. And their favorite animal is never a lamb. In fact, I would argue that a boy's favorite animal, you'll never hear him say, I just love lambs. I love lambs. What do you hear?

I love lions. I love tigers. I love bears. Oh, my. I love things I'll eat and devour and conquer. Right?

I love the power. And so for John the Baptist to go from this exalted one that we focused on last week to now a lamb, that should be a strange. But it's a full-body testimony we're getting here of who Jesus is. The fact of the matter is that lambs are known to be submissive, docile, weak. They're known not to be aggressive, not to be strong, not to get their own way at the expense of others.

But instead, they're known to be, again, submissive, docile, weak. That's what lambs are known for. And it's this kind of contrast that we get with Jesus that creates an interesting figure we have here. That he would be so exalted, so awesome, God in flesh, and all that goes with that, that our minds cannot fully comprehend. And then he'd be called a lamb.

In fact, we get this kind of weird coming together of two different things yet coming beautifully together in Jesus. In Revelation 5, we see this. Go ahead and flip there. Go ahead and flip that in Revelation 5. We see this there, the same kind of principle that John the Baptist is pointing out here. Revelation 5 verse 1 to open the scroll or look into it.

And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered. Right? There's that exaltedness. When we're not worthy, even unstrap his sandals and clean his feet-ness.

He's conquered so that he can open the scroll and it's seven seals. And then the visual kind of pans from that to then the line of the tribe of Judah itself. And again, you're expecting a Julius Caesar, a Cortez, a Napoleon, someone who looks awesome. But what is interesting, it says, and between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a...

You think it's going to climax lamb? standing as though it had been slain with seven horns, with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits that God sent out to the earth. You're supposed to see that. That the exalted, awesome, powerful Christ shows his power of conquering and exaltation and being a lamb of God and sacrificing himself and being docile and submissive and serving.

This is a strange term of events that should cause us to worship each day of our lives, that the exalted one would reveal his exaltation to be a lamb for his people. This is what we're getting from John the Baptist here, right? The exalted one yesterday is revealed in being the lamb of God before us today. Behold the lamb of God, going back to John chapter 1, verse 29. notice he says who takes away the sin this is what a lamb does who takes away the sin certainly exalted people in history have taken away from people to add to their exaltation this lamb of God takes away and that's nothing different exalted people all the time use their exaltation to take things away from people all the time Caesar took lands to add to the glory of Rome.

Cortez took gold to add to his glorious pocketbook. Jesus takes something from you for his exaltation. But it's not something that bankrupts or hurts you, but something that makes you rich. He takes your sins. Again, strange term of events. Your sin in both standing and practice makes you poor before God. separated and alienated from the God who made you, who's all good and glorious and wonderful.

Jesus came as a lamb to take that sin away from you so you could be rich with God. You are, and I say this over and over again, you are miserable because you are separated from God. That is your misery. And Jesus, the exalted one, reveals his exaltation to be a lamb to take that sin away from you. This is what we see in Isaiah 53, 6 through 10. We heard it read just earlier by Jason.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one of us to his own way. Imagine the imagery there. You've seen a little toddler when they don't know where their parents are at. They are freaked out. They could be in the safest home, but when they don't know where their parents are at, they feel like they're about to just, the whole life's going to end.

Think about the terror and the panic. And then understand that that's how we are when we're separated from God. We are miserable creatures. Don't expect to be happy when you're separated from God. It's a miserable existence. He goes on to say in Isaiah 53, And the Lord has laid on him the exalted one, the one we're not worthy of.

He laid on him the iniquity, the sin of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that has led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before it shears is silent so he opened not his mouth yet he had all power as the exalted one to end their lives like that i can't snap good on it like that and he doesn't because he came to reveal his exaltation and being a lamb for you to take from you your greatest plague your sin the lamb is a motif in scripture that is one who's pure and can take the defilement from people and give them something better. That's a common motif in the Old Testament in the scriptures as it culminates to the Lamb of God is a pure and undefiled thing that can take defilement away from the person whom it's covering or referring to.

So like, for instance, Abraham, when we see a lamb with Abraham, he told Isaac on going up the mountain, God would provide a lamb so that Isaac wouldn't be destroyed. And what does God provide? A sheep, right? Isaac survives or lives because of the sheep or the lamb. Or you think about each family in Israel used what? A lamb to survive the final plague in Egypt, right?

You had the final plague in Egypt, the great Passover event, where the destroyer was going to come and destroy all the firstborn. And what saved the Israelites was a lamb. It took away God's wrath and enabled them to survive and live and actually have their freedom out of Egypt. Or you think of the daily sacrifices every day in Israel life in the Promised Land They sacrificed lambs so that the wrath or the anger of God would be taken away and that they would then be able to live in the land despite their sin You see, their unblemished, spotless lamb covered their ugly sin.

Their aggressive rebellion against God was covered by the docile and submissive death of the lamb. the lamb stood as a willing servant to have its throat slit so that the sinner's sin could be taken away from them but as the writer to the hebrew says this in the old testament had no power of itself but only as the power was found and only as it pointed ahead to the lamb of god and the exalted jesus who was the unblemished and spotless the son of god the true god and true flesh came in peace and service to the sinners and submission to the Father, who stood willingly to be condemned for the people and have his back slashed and hung on a tree. He is the Lamb of God. The exaltation of Jesus while he walked this earth was not to be served and not to take away our goods to be rich, but rather to serve and to take away our sins so we could be rich, is what Jesus is for us. so this is the testimony of John the Baptist this exalted one he is the one who is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin but notice he goes on to say he takes away the sin of the world the exalted one is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so notice as the Lamb motif is developed in the Old Testament the benefactories the benefactors the benefactors, benefactors, grow in scope.

So as the lamb motif gets developed in the Old Testament, which we just went through, those who benefit from it, that's better, grows in scope. So it went from individual, Isaac, right, an individual, was helped by the lamb, and then it went to a whole family in the Passover. That one lamb helped the family that ate of the lamb to not get taken out by the angel, the destroyer, the Passover.

So it went from individual to family. And then it went to one nation, right? The nation of Israel would sacrifice two lambs a day in order to get God's wrath away from them so they could stay in the land. So it went to the nation. And then it culminates finally in the final fulfillment of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. From individual, family, nation, world, the scope kept on getting bigger all the way up to the fulfillment of he takes away the sin of the world.

There is no one outside the scope of the Lamb's saving power. There's no one outside the scope of his saving power. He saves people from every walk of life, every creed, every nation, the world. So when we think about the exalted Christ of last week, of the text of last week, think about that that power is revealed and is saving power to all the world. you are never outside the reach of the exalted one of the universe.

If you just think of Jesus as the exalted one that needs to be obeyed, you're missing the point. He is the exalted one who uses his power to save the world. No one's outside of his reach. The exalted people of history have an exaltation that matches their reach. Let me say that one more time. The exalted people of history have an exaltation that matches their reach.

Caesar had an empire that covered the known world. Exalted. Napoleon had the French empire that spread throughout Europe, which is all they could ever do because the French aren't that cool. The sun never set on the British empire. Jesus, as the Lamb of God, covers the whole world. The sun never sets on the empire of grace.

This was the exalted Jesus, that no one is worthy to take off his sandal and clean his feet. The one that is worthy and used his worthiness to take off his shoes and clean the feet of the world. If your exaltation of Jesus does not finish in his powerful work of grace for you, even you, you are serving and worshiping the wrong Jesus. This is the finishing testimony of John the Baptist.

Let us celebrate the exalted Christ. And as we said, there are people that do not exalt Christ. They make him a wimpy little thing. He is everything. He is truly God. He is awesome.

And he uses that power to save even the wretched sinner across the whole globe. John the Baptist goes on with this testimony in verse 30. He says, this is he of whom I said. Remember the day prior, right? he's been saying this but he said it to the delegation the day prior after me comes a man who ranks before me because he was before me this is the one i'm talking about this is the one that i said that even though i came first he is way more exalted than me i'm not worthy of him here he is right here coming towards me the lamb of god now you can imagine again jesus just was coming from the wilderness where he didn't eat for 40 days.

Jesus, again, did not look like Napoleon on a big horse. He did not look like Julius Caesar. He looked like a peasant, as it was, let alone he hadn't been eaten in 40 days. So he would have looked not quite like the exalted figure they would have heard about the prior day. He would not look like the one that they were imagining as he now declares, here he is, the Lamb of God.

He says, this is him. This is who I've been talking about. And they look and they'd be like, him? Are you sure? Are you sure you're talking about him? It reminds me of meeting Tim for the first time.

Tim is well known in the area. And I kept on hearing about his name, Tim Pasma, Tim Pasma, being a pastor at Radnor. Kept on hearing about him over and over again. He's great. He's awesome. He's wonderful.

Finally, I get to meet him, and I go and I look, he's wearing suspenders, I'm like, him? He's like the epitome of a country pastor. Him, are you sure? But Jesus reveals this unexpected power, right? This unexpected beauty, just like Tim. Now I don't like it whenever his suspenders are covered, like right now.

I like that to be revealed. See, I've got to wear a suit jacket in order for people to listen to me. He wears suspenders, you know. I think this is what John the Baptist is getting at in verse 30. Here he is. He's right here.

This is the one I'm talking about. And they would have looked at him and been like, him? Really? This is the exalted one that you're talking about? Yes, it's him. He is the Lamb of God.

And he goes on to say in verse 31, he says, I myself did not know him. And you look at your text, I myself did not know him. But for this purpose, I came baptized in the water that he would be revealed. Almost like John the Baptist is saying, don't worry, I didn't know Jesus either. I didn't know him either. Now, John the Baptist in some way knew who Jesus was, right?

He knew to some degree who Jesus was. You remember the story of him kicking in his mother's womb when his mother heard Mary, the voice of Mary. um remember at at um at the baptism of jesus in matthew 3 13 and 14 this baptism of jesus would have happened a while before where we're at in the text but remember then jesus came from galilee to the jordan to john to be baptized by him john would have prevented him saying i need to be baptized by you and do you come to me so here's john the baptist knew to some degree who jesus was it was his own cousin after all but to the full sure and perfect testimony that the baptist was declaring now took special revelation as we'll see in a moment this is a a i didn't know him to the full capacity of who this person is and he's saying and i came baptizing to reveal that this jesus is the one i'm testifying to it's him this baptism was not simply to shape up because the exalted one is passing by and he'll be angry if you don't get it together but it is turned from away from your sins for the lamb of god who takes away your sin is coming and by and his grace is beyond anything you can know and understand without his revelation so we see here that john he says i didn't know him either that it was a mystery to me as well to the full reality of it but i came baptized and to reveal who he is he is the one in which as you are turning away from your sin and turn it away from the iniquities. He's the one that will take it upon himself and forgive.

So he goes on into this testimony. It's interesting. In verses 32 and 33, it's an unexpected salvation. It's an unexpected Jesus, right? Without the full revelation, the sure revelation of it, we would never believe and understand. And so here John the Baptist says he was the exalted one.

He's the Lamb of God, and here he is, and that's him. And he says, don't worry, I didn't know either, but I was given perfect, sure testimony that you can know and have confidence in. And this is what John's kind of his aim of his book is about. He's saying that not only am I testifying to who Jesus is, but it's a sure testimony that you can know for sure and have life in his name.

And this is where he gets to in John 1 32 and 33 that the sure testimony that this unexpected one this exalted one truly is the Savior the one who is the Lamb who bore our sins Look at verses 32 and 33. John bore witness. I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he.

So here's John the Baptist saying, I didn't know him to the full reality either. But he's saying that a special revelation was given to me by God saying that you'll see the Spirit come down and remain on the one who is the Messiah, the promised one of all. And he's referring to when he baptized Jesus several days before. You remember, we remember in the other Gospels that he doesn't get to the baptism himself here.

But we know in the other Gospels that when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit came down like a dove and rested on Jesus, establishing the beginning of his ministry. And he's saying that I was told before that, that when that happens, when I see that happen, that is the sure testimony that he is truly the Messiah. So the unexpected Savior of the world has a sure testimony.

It's a perfect testimony. John the writer is not just interested to tell you about this Son of God so you can have life, but he's interested in giving you the sure testimony to who Jesus is so you can be sure of it. And here, John the Baptist had a sure testimony from the Father himself. Notice he says, the Spirit descended from heaven like a dove. The Spirit descended from heaven like a dove in your text there in verse 32.

The Spirit descended from heaven like a dove. the Spirit will take on a shape for the sake of the person to be able to witness it, right? The Spirit is invisible. You can't see the Spirit. But he took on the form of a dove so that John the Baptist could see the Spirit coming down upon Jesus to have the sure testimony. And it's interesting, the Spirit is, this isn't the only time he takes on a form that someone can see.

Remember in Acts, he took on the form of a tongue, right? Whenever a Spirit came upon the church in Pentecost, he came down like a tongue. And so the question is, why a tongue, why a dove? Well, a tongue in Acts is because he was empowering the church to go and proclaim the gospel of Jesus, to speak. And here, it's a testimony to who Jesus is. Just like a dove, just like a lamb, docile, peaceful, pure in certain ways, right?

So it's a testimony to who Jesus is. He takes on the form of a dove to reflect how Jesus came as a lamb in purity, gentleness, and graciousness. His exalted one would be a lamb. would be peaceful. Notice John the Baptist says, the Spirit remained on him. And he says it twice in those two verses, if you notice, right? The Spirit descended from heaven like a dove and remained on him.

And he goes on to say in verse 33, I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain. So there's an emphasis that's being said here that the Spirit remained on this Messiah, on this Jesus. In the Old Testament, the Spirit may empower a king for a time. we think of Saul, right?

For a time he was empowered by the Spirit. Even David, after his terrible sin, he cries out, please don't let the Spirit depart from me. But the Spirit remains on Christ, the true Messiah, the true anointed one. The task that Jesus had before was ensured by the Spirit of power and would not depart from him. So, with this display as John the Baptist baptized Jesus he had the infallible testimony of the triune God thus making his testimony sure He says, I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, the one that you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

So again, there's just like this movement going on with this testimony. The exalted one unexpectedly revealed in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin. And he says that you can be sure of this, even though it's kind of hard for us to kind of grab that and bring it together. Because it is sure testimony because of the infallible testimony he had from the Father with the Spirit. and notice he goes on to say and finishing up his testimony this is he who baptizes with the holy spirit so notice he's been baptizing with water and he says and this is the one who baptizes with the holy spirits not only does this exalted one come as a lamb to die for the sin of the world to make it possible that is salvation but he also then in his exalted status at the right hand of the Father sends the Holy Spirit to apply his work to his people.

And this baptism of the Spirit not only causes you to stand as forgiven before the Father, but enables you to walk in repentance that John the Baptist is calling you to. So Jesus, in his exaltation, didn't just simply come to make salvation possible for you, but he sends his Spirit to baptize you with it to make salvation sure for you. and that salvation that is brought by the Holy Spirit doesn't just make you stand right before God in your standing, although that is what he does, but he also enables you to walk in that repentance, in that turn away from sin, in that cleansing that you have won by Christ. So Jesus doesn't simply just make you stand righteous before God the Father, but he also enables you to walk righteously before the Father, which is exactly what John the Baptist was revealing in water baptism, that you would turn away from sin and that you would walk righteously before God.

So he's saying Jesus has done the work that I'm pointing to. Jesus is the one who is the Lamb of God who dies for sinners. Jesus is the one who sends the Spirit to baptize you fully in the Spirit so you can stand and walk righteously as I'm calling on Israel to do right now. Water baptism is the physical evidence that the spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus and his work has taken place.

So this Lamb of God took away sins and he also gives the Spirit to ensure that your sins would be forgiven and you would walk righteously. 1 John 3, 5 says, You know that he appeared, that is Jesus, in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. This is the whole purpose that Jesus in his exaltation came. But he not only did that, but he goes on to say in 1 John 3, 8, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

The reason why the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. So he not only enables you to stand righteously, but also to practice that righteousness in keeping with the baptism that John the Baptist was baptizing people with. So he says in verse 34, he says, I have seen and I have borne witness, back in John 1, 34, I have seen this, it's a sure testimony, I know this This is who Jesus is And I come to bore witness that this truly is the Son of God This is the Son of God that is being declared before you right now The one that has all exaltation, all power, all glory.

And for this reason alone is to be worshiped above all things. And yet the way he is revealed to us is as a lamb who came to take away your greatest plague, your greatest problem and ensure the success of it by giving of his spirit to baptize you with his spirit. Not only this, he allows you to stand as forgiven before the Father, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit enables you to walk this life that is pleasing before the Father.

So if you find yourself, the full testimony of Jesus is before you here. This is what we need to declare to ourselves and to others around us that this Jesus is exalted, that you are not worthy of him, that even the most minor thing that you can think of, you're not even worthy to do that for him. But in his exaltation, he loves his people to become the lamb of God to die for sinners.

And he sends his spirit to ensure the victory for you, to ensure you to walk in righteousness. This is the Son of God. And we talked about how what life is. Well, this is life. to believe upon the Lamb of God who takes away sins and causes you to have life with the Father, to walk in that righteousness. This is what the Lamb of God has done. Let us pray and give thanks to him.

Thank you, Father, for this gift we have in Jesus. Oh, Lord, I pray that we would have a full understanding of who Jesus is. There are people who need to be told and emphasize the exaltation of Christ. They treat him as a little thing. They treat themselves as something that's higher than him. And they need to be told of who the true God of the universe is.

I think of those people who understand this exalted God. And they consider that they need to render obedience to him and walk in repentance. But they don't do it as their obedience going to the Lamb of God. The one who kindly condescended. and was docile and submissive. And he died for his people. Oh God, would we have a full rounded view of who Jesus is.

Whenever we're walking on one edge of the ditch or the other, we would be reminded that he's the exalted one that has shown such love to his people. God, what a faithful salvation we have. What a wonderful salvation that it is sure to be finished. Not only did he make salvation possible, to take away sins, to die on the cross, but he also sends his spirit to baptize his people to ensure that the work would be done.

So God, what a great life we have before us as Christians. We know that the work will be done because Jesus Christ is that powerful, that exalted, and he loves us that much. So may we have both of these going within our heart to cause worship to him, to encourage us to obey him, but encourage us to know that we are obeying the one who has loved us and done the work for us.

May these things be happening to us so our worship and service to him would be one of joyful obedience, strengthened by his grace. We thank you and praise you that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And may we live in light of that today. In Jesus' name, amen.