Lord, God, the Lamb of God, the Father’s Son, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, You Who did take away the sins of the world.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29
The Nicene Creed was drafted at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325 A.D. and completed in its final and current form at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381 A.D. The Creed is the succinct and definitive statement of what we believe. It defines our belief in each person of the Holy Trinity, though most of the Creed is centered around the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. In similar fashion, the Doxology has several lines that are also focused on Jesus Christ.
We’ve already discussed how the Holy Trinity was responsible for the creation of the world. Humanity was created to be in communion with God. We were not created to die, or for destruction. God placed man in the Garden of Eden, Paradise, where mankind lived in this perfect union with God. There was one provision, that man would not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequence of this would be death, separation from God. God did not put this provision in as a cruel test. Rather, He put it there as a gift of free will. God’s love and will would not (and still is not) imposed on anyone. We are free to accept God and we are free to reject Him. Curiosity, temptation, ingratitude, and probably a combination caused mankind to do the thing that God has said not to do, and this resulted in the expulsion of mankind from Paradise.
The Fall of mankind caused sin and death to enter into the world. It put man at odds with God. Sin continually threatens our relationship with God. After the Fall, God had a plan for the redemption of fallen humanity. It would take “the fullness of time” (Ephesians 1:10, Galatians 4:4) for the plan to unfold. In order to provide some order in the relationship between God and man, and in order to provide both direction and hope, God made covenants and set the Law to help humanity.
Events and concepts would be part of the preparation of the world to be redeemed, and redemption would ultimately come in the person of Jesus Christ. However, the world would need to be made ready. Throughout the Old Testament, there are prophecies and stories that prefigure Christ. Meaning, there are between 225 and 450 (the number varies according to Bible scholars) prophecies and stories that are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. These happened over centuries so that humanity would come to understand that a Messiah, a deliverer was coming who would save humanity and lead it back to Paradise. All these things would be done centered around one person, so that when that person came and these things happened, people would be sure that this was the promised Messiah.
One story from the Old Testament that every Jewish person would know was the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham and his wife Sarah had waited a long time without children, and finally in old age they had Isaac through a miracle of God. In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham obeys and trusts in God and take his son to sacrifice him on an altar. At the last moment, an angel stops Abraham from killing his son. And a ram is provided for the sacrifice. (For those who don’t know animals, a ram is a male sheep, a ewe is a female sheep and lambs are baby sheep).
This story of Abraham and Isaac sets in motion two concepts—first, that a father could sacrifice his own son. This sets the stage for God the Father sacrificing His own Son, Jesus Christ. It also set in motion the concept of sacrifice to God, in this case a ram was sacrificed, and in other cases throughout the Old Testament, lambs were sacrificed. The sacrifice of the lamb is most prominent at the first Passover, when the blood of a lamb was placed on the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites so that when the angel of death “passed over” Egypt and killed the first born of Egypt, the Israelites would be spared by the blood of the lamb.
People know these stories and the tradition of Passover was kept from generation to generation. John the Baptist was the Forerunner of Christ, in other words, he was the prophet who immediately preceded the coming of the Messiah. He was also spoken about in the Old Testament as the one who would reveal the coming of the Lord. He had a group of disciples, followers, that were loyal to him and trusting in his word. In John 1:29, we read that when he was walking with his disciples and saw Jesus, he revealed Jesus to them as “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Thus, Jesus is revealed as the promised Messiah, the Lord, God, the Lamb of God, the Son of the Father, who was being sent to take away the sin of the world. And He becomes the Passover lamb, sacrificed once for all, for the redemption of the sins of the world.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Help me to understand, trust and believe that You are the one who takes away the sin of the world. You are the one who can forgive my sins. You are the one who sacrificed Your life for me. You are the one that opened up again the gates to Paradise. Help me to sacrifice my life for You by dedicating this day and every day to You. Open for me the gates to Paradise one day. Amen.
A study of the Old Testament will reveal so many things were fulfilled in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. We have a choice to believe or not, whether Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. May He have mercy on us!
