WE, HIS SHEEP
MORNING DEVOTION - The Lamb of God
MORNING DEVOTION – The Lamb of God
If you do some study on lambs and what they meant in the Old Testament, you will find that during the Exodus, Hebrew families were instructed to sacrifice an unblemished, innocent, year-old lamb and paint its blood on the doorposts. The blood signalled the Angel of Death to “pass over” their home, sparing them from judgment (Exodus 12:3-13).
A substitute for sin was also practised in the Old Testament as a temporary covering for sin. It meant that an innocent animal had taken the place of the guilty person, and the guilty person went free. You will find this in Leviticus and Exodus.
Silence and submission are shown when the prophet Isaiah foretold that the coming Messiah would be oppressed and afflicted, yet submit quietly without complaint: “He did not open His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
So we see the mercy of God all through the Old Testament, and we see the foretelling of the ultimate sacrifice that would take the sins of the whole world once and for all. And this Lamb was the Lamb of God — the Lamb God sent for us, His only begotten Son (John 3:16).
Our beloved Jesus became the perfect sacrifice: innocent, a substitute for our sin, and He did this in silence and submission. The verse of Scripture that says “and He didn’t open His mouth” is always so dear to my heart. By precious Holy Spirit revelation, I could see that one complaint, one change to this full sacrifice for His own comfort, would have meant it was not a perfect sacrifice. He had to have perfect love, perfect surrender, perfect trust in the Father, perfect obedience, and perfect faith that the Father would raise Him up — which He did.
This perfect love is overwhelming. This love that draws us in under His perfect grace and mercy and covers us in His own blood. When I think of covering us, I see my Beloved as a perfect gentleman. Our hearts naked before God, and this perfect, beautiful, gentle Jesus putting a cloak of His blood around us to cover us.
According to Genesis 3:21, God made garments from animal hide for Adam and Eve, because once they sinned they realised they were naked. God said to them, “Who told you that you were naked?” Of course He knew, but no doubt God wanted them to answer Him. How stunningly perfect and beautiful, and so gracious and merciful of God, to then send His own Son to become the new garments of righteousness for us. We are clothed in His righteousness — the very blood from His perfect body.
My love story with Jesus began in Hosea, and I was able to see what a love story this actually is for all of us. In the book of Hosea we see God tell Hosea the prophet to marry a prostitute… why? Because He was showing us how we are just like this prostitute who cheated on Hosea — even after he had taken her as his wife and loved her, and still, even after she left him. God then told Hosea to go and purchase her back off the streets; she had been beaten and was being sold as a slave. He paid more for her than anyone else would pay, and took her home and lovingly tended her wounds, forgiving her and holding her as his own.
He is our Beloved and we are His, and His banner over us is love (Song of Solomon 2:4). This innocent Lamb of God who sacrificed Himself for us and clothed us in a cloak of righteousness — His own blood — and forgives us and takes us as His own and tends our wounds with love and care. How can we not love Him? He is worthy. He is indeed worthy of our praise and adoration.
So today I encourage you to meditate on this. And this evening I encourage you to watch the movie below. It is a beautiful movie about God’s love for us.
PRAYER
Father, we thank You for the Lamb of God and for Your love for us. We worship and adore You, Jesus. Father, today I pray that Holy Spirit would give a deep and lasting revelation of God’s amazing love for us. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.