A DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT by Barbara Latter
Recently in a worship service we sang the old, familiar hymn, Just As I Am. Each stanza ends with the phrase, “O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
I love the title Lamb of God. It was given to Jesus by John the Baptist. When John saw Jesus approaching, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 36 ESV).
There are only two verses that refer to Jesus in this way. Scholars think it may be that the apostle John chose to include them in his gospel to illustrate Jesus’s sacrificial offering His dual mission of:
- The shedding of His blood for our salvation
- His subsequent conquest of all evil powers.
Throughout scripture we see the significance of blood. In the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, God instructed the Israelites in the rules for animal sacrifice and made clear to them that life is in the blood.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Leviticus 17:11 (ESV)
Nearly every sacrifice included the sprinkling or smearing of blood on the altar or within the tabernacle. These Old Testament sacrifices point us forward to final sacrifice, the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
“He (Christ) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Hebrews 9:12 (ESV)
Jesus completed the first part of His mission by providing forgiveness for our sins. What a precious gift, that the Lamb of God invites us to come to Him and be washed clean of our sinful self. We receive salvation through His sacrificial shedding of blood on our behalf.
The second part of Jesus’s mission is defeating the evil powers in this world. Reading further in the New Testament, we find this will happen once and for all at the very end of time. In the Book of Revelation we find this stunning illustration of the destruction of Satan and his angels.
“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”
Revelation 12:9-11, ESV, emphasis mine)
Until that day, we can rely on the blood of the Lamb of God to help us navigate the evils we face.
I am reminded of a recent Facebook post in which a North Carolina woman related how one of her sheep was bitten by a rattlesnake. Although the sheep swelled up and was in significant pain for several days, she continued eating, drinking, and climbing the hills. The rancher wasn’t worried because she knew sheep blood contains antibodies that combat poisonous snake bites. In fact, sheep’s blood is used in the production of anti-venoms that neutralize the effects of snake toxin.
We may not have snake anti-venom in our blood, but through the blood of the Lamb we have power! Even though we are saved to righteousness in Christ, we remain susceptible to spiritual “snakebites.” The serpent, Satan, is the enemy of our souls. He is everywhere and in every way tempting us to sin. But Satan is defeated when we call on the power of the blood of the Lamb to keep us from sinning.
How freeing it is for us to be able to say-- whether for salvation or for help in time of temptation: “Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come!”
