John the Baptist made a bold statement when he described Jesus Yeshua, as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This was not something he did to become popular. It was extremely counter cultural and had to be a prophetic declaration from the beliefs of his heart.
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 AMPC
What was John really saying when he spoke about Jesus as the “Lamb of God”?
Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. It is the Lord's Passover. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Passage taken from Exodus 12:3-13 ESV
Each family had to take a spotless lamb for their house and put the blood as a sign for the judgement of God to pass over them over the doors of their house. God had previously used Moses to release nine plagues on the Egyptians and after this tenth plague, the Israelites were free to leave Egypt. A lamb was killed in the place of judgement on the family. Jesus was killed in the place of sinners. When the blood of Jesus is applied to the doors of our lives and homes, we are safe from the judgement and wrath of God.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Isaiah 53:5-7 ESV
When the sacrificial lamb was put under pressure, it couldn’t cry out or make a noise. Isaiah wrote this divine revelation about a coming Messiah, showing that the Messiah would be the perfect sacrificial lamb. Hundreds of years later, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesies about a coming Messiah, including this one that when He was before His oppressors, He was silent and did not cry out.
You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 1 Peter 1:19 CJB
Jesus Christ was without blemish, so His blood is precious because He was perfect. It was not with something cheap and perishable that we have been redeemed, but it is with the imperishable blood of Jesus Christ our Messiah. Jesus was and still is the perfect lamb. His blood is precious and more valuable than gold or silver; through it we are able to live a full life.
And there between the throne and the four living creatures (beings) and among the elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin] I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit] Who have been sent [on duty far and wide] into all the earth. Revelation 5:6 AMPC
John the Revelator saw Jesus as a lamb that looks as though it had been slain as a sacrifice. In the accounts within the book of Revelation, John had many visions and revelations of heaven and things to come. At this point, he saw Jesus as a lamb that is now filled with the Father’s authority. Jesus is the perfect lamb, so He has been given the authority of the seven spirits before the throne of God.
Continuing on, John the Baptist’s declaration follows with the statement “Who takes away the sin of the world”. An alternative meaning of the word ‘takes’ is ‘bears’, or ‘to bear’.
I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received: Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted. 1 Corinthians 15:3 GW
Most important for us to know and pass on is the knowledge that; one – Jesus Christ died; two – for redemption of our sins; and three – in fulfilment of scripture. We need to establish these points of doctrine in our hearts so that firstly we will not be taken astray by other false teaching, and secondly we will know the authenticity of the word of God. Jesus fulfilled all scripture prophesy when He took on the sins of all people upon Himself on the cross.
Jesus gave his life for our sins. He set us free from this evil world. That was what our God and Father wanted. Galatians 1:4 NIRV
Jesus willing took our sins on Himself, reflecting the Father’s perfect will. God wants us to know we have peace through Jesus willingly going to the cross, rescuing us from the sins of the age. Jesus wanted to take away our sins and to obey the Father. Through this, God revealed his will and desire for us to be redeemed and our sins taken away.
The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature, and he holds everything together by his powerful command. The Son made people clean from their sins. Then he sat down at the right side of God, the Great One in heaven. Hebrews 1:3 ERV
The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority]. Hebrews 1:3 AMP
Jesus came in the exact likeness of God, the perfect copy of God’s nature. Representing God, He died on the cross providing our purification from sin. He then ascended back to the right hand of God and having finished His work, He sat down. While God has spoken through many different ways, now He wants to speak to us by His son. God wants to speak through His Son, because He is now made higher than the angels who are one form of God’s messengers. Jesus is the exact representation of God, the perfect copy. And He is the expression of God’s glory to provide us with purification from sins. He is the perfect lamb who took away all the sins of the world.
Therefore, it was essential that He had to be made like His brothers (mankind) in every respect, so that He might [by experience] become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things related to God, to make atonement (propitiation) for the people’s sins [thereby wiping away the sin, satisfying divine justice, and providing a way of reconciliation between God and mankind]. Hebrews 2:17 AMP
Jesus had to become fully human to be able to serve as our high priest and make full atonement for our sins. Jesus was fully human so that He knew each temptation and suffering that we go through. He had to become completely human to break the power of fear and death that was on humanity. When He died, He broke all the power that sin has through fear and death. Jesus was fully God and fully man to come and experience full temptation and not sin. This meant that when He went through death, death couldn’t hold Him down. He had not sinned, so He broke the fruit of sin which is death.
Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, but we see him crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death. Through God’s kindness he died on behalf of everyone. Hebrews 2:9 GW
Jesus had to step down from His position in heaven to be made lower than the heavenly beings so that He could be susceptible to partake in death so that He could do away with the power of sin, fear and death. God made man a little lower than heaven, but put everything else in subjection to man. Man is not walking fully in this. Jesus came to the earth and tasted death for all of us so that we can take back the dominion of God.
Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too. 1 John 2:2 ERV
Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for sin, both ours and the whole world. This is the revelation concerning being freed from the power of sin, God made a way for us through Jesus’ life. Jesus became the sacrifice for the atonement of sin. He placed Himself in the place of an offering for our sins so we don’t have to bring a sacrifice.
May kindness and peace be yours from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Jesus was the first to conquer death, and he is the ruler of all earthly kings. Christ loves us, and by his blood he set us free from our sins. Revelation 1:5 CEV
Because of His great love for us, Jesus Christ has freed us from our sins by the shedding of His blood. John wrote a letter to the seven churches and he reiterates to them who Jesus is. Jesus Christ is the only one who has freed us from our sins by His blood.