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9 JESUS IS GOD'S SACRIFICIAL LAMB. Several hundred years past under the Old Testament System of animal sacrifice, but then, finally, the climactic moment arrived. John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord. And as Jesus of Nazareth approached him, John made an astounding public pronouncement that continues to reverberate throughout history, “Behold The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” There it is, the entire plan of redemption summarized in one sentence. By proclaiming Jesus as The Lamb of God, John declared Jesus to be God’s sacrifice to pay for the sins of humanity. In the language of 1 Peter 1:18-19, “. . .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.” Notice some critical observations. Jesus’ death was no accident. Jesus’ death was not a failed mission to set up an earthly kingdom. His very purpose in coming to earth was to serve as a sacrifice. And as we have already learned, a sacrifice must die. Jesus was an innocent sacrifice. If he had ever sinned, even once, then Jesus could not have been The Lamb of God. He would have then had the price of death on his own head for his own sin and could not have served as a representative for you and me. “ . . . In him there is no sin” 1 John 3:5. Therefore he died to remove our sin. Continued by book author Kenneth W. Craig