The Lamb of God, Firstborn - John 1:29

One of the great names of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible is the Lamb. From beginning to end in the Word of God, we find Jesus Christ the Lamb. The key verse we're going to be looking at is John 1:29, when John the Baptist looked upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read the verse to you, John 1:29: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

We're going to consider four phrases from the Bible that pretty well summarize what the Word of God has to say about Jesus Christ the Lamb. The first phrase is a question. It's found in Genesis 22:7, where Isaac says, "Where is the lamb?" You know the story of Genesis 22, when God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Every statement in that verse sort of tugs at our hearts. Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, which means laughter—he's brought so much joy into your life—Isaac, whom thou lovest. And here we have Abraham taking his son Isaac, who was a young man at this time; he's often pictured as a little boy, but he was a young man at this time, taking him to sacrifice him on an altar.

Now, of course, our loving Father in heaven never asks for human sacrifices. In fact, all throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, he condemned the Jewish people for imitating their pagan neighbors by giving their children as sacrifices. It has well been said that God did not want Isaac's life; he wanted Abraham's heart. And Isaac logically asked the question, "Where is the lamb?" He says, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" This is the question that was asked throughout the Old Testament period: "Where is the lamb?" Now Abraham's answer was a good answer: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." Actually, when he placed Isaac on the altar and was about to kill him, God provided a ram that took Isaac's place. But Abraham was looking far beyond Mount Moriah; he was looking to Mount Calvary. And that's why he answered, "God will provide himself a lamb," not only for a burnt offering but for a sin offering and for a peace offering and for a trespass offering, because Jesus Christ came and fulfilled all of those Old Testament sacrifices. "Where is the lamb?"

Isaiah 53:7, of course, gives to us a wonderful answer to that question, "Where is the lamb?" because the prophet says, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Where is the lamb? That's the great question in the Old Testament. Well, the question is answered by John the Baptist in John 1:29 when he said about the Lord Jesus, "Behold the Lamb! Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." Now, this is a very important statement because just about every phrase in that statement in John 1:29 tells us something about the Lord Jesus.

For example, John says, "Behold the Lamb." Now, in the Old Testament, there had been many lambs. Every Passover, thousands of lambs were slain. In fact, at the Tabernacle and in the Temple, at least two lambs were slain every day. And then you add to this the special sacrifices that were brought by the people, and you can well imagine that millions of lambs had been slain up to that time. But here he says, "Behold the Lamb." Here is the final Lamb. Once and for all, a sacrifice is going to be made. And that's quite a contrast, isn't it? The blood of bulls and goats and lambs can never really deal with the sin problem. But John said here is one Lamb that will take care of it.

This is the Lamb of God. "Behold the Lamb of God." He was not man's lamb; he was God's lamb. He was despised and rejected of men, and he was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Now, because he was God's lamb, he was perfect. You'll recall that at the Passover time, they had to pen up their lambs and watch them to make sure that they were perfect. You could not bring to the Lord a sacrifice that was not perfect. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ was examined from every side. The demons admitted he was the Son of God. Pilate said, "I find no fault in him." Even Judas said he had betrayed innocent blood. The soldiers said, "Truly this was the Son of God." The Lord Jesus Christ was examined on every side and they discovered he was holy, harmless, undefiled. He was a lamb without spot and without blemish.

Furthermore, those animal sacrifices were not willing; they were not voluntary. No lamb ever volunteered to die. But when Jesus Christ came, he was voluntarily the sacrifice for our sins, and his blood takes away sin. There is complete and final forgiveness. Now the ram died for Isaac—there you have a sacrifice for the individual. In Exodus 12, they selected their lamb for the household. In Isaiah 53:7, we are told that the Lord Jesus Christ is God's lamb who died for the sins of his nation, for the sins of his own people. And so we have a lamb for the individual, and we have a lamb for the household, we have a lamb for the nation—ah, but here we have a lamb for the whole world.

Now there's a third statement. It's found in Revelation 5:12: "Worthy is the Lamb." When you read Revelation 5, you're up in heaven, and all of the choirs of heaven are singing. Ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, who are saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb!" And this Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ. Twenty-nine times in the Book of the Revelation he's called the Lamb. And it's not just the ordinary word for lamb; it's the word for the little pet lamb. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." Where is the lamb? That's the question of the ages. Behold the lamb! There's the answer to that question. Worthy is the lamb! That's our worshipful response. What a delight it is just to worship the Lord Jesus, to praise him because he died for us.

There's a fourth statement that summarizes this teaching about the lamb. It's found in Revelation 6:16. The lamb has opened up the seals up in heaven and judgment is coming and the kings of the earth, I read in verse 15, "and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." What a statement! Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb. Now no one ever connects a lamb with wrath. We think of a lamb in terms of meekness, humility. But here in Revelation 6, we are told that the day is going to come when unbelievers, people who have rejected Jesus Christ, are going to cry out and they're going to want to hide from the face of the Lamb. I trust that that's not true in your life. I think that many of you listening to me are not saying, "Hide us from the face of the Lamb." No, you are saying, "Worthy is the Lamb," and you are praising him.

Everything in the Book of Revelation ties in with the Lamb. The throne is the throne of the Lamb. The temple is the temple of the Lamb. The light in the city is the Lamb; the Lamb is the light thereof. The marriage is the marriage of the Lamb. And the book that has the names of the saved people in it is the Lamb's Book. My friend, have you trusted the Lamb of God who takes away sin? Now if you have not, right now you can. Just ask him by faith to save you, because he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Did you know that seven times in the New Testament the title "Firstborn" is applied to the Lord Jesus? Now to us who are Gentiles, Firstborn doesn't mean a great deal, but it meant a great deal to the Jews, because the firstborn son had very special rights and privileges. However, the point I want to make is this: that in the New Testament, Firstborn does not necessarily mean born first. Now in the case of the Lord Jesus, he was Mary's firstborn son. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. According to Mark 6:3, Mary and Joseph had children after our Lord Jesus was born; they lived as husband and wife. But our Lord was born in a very special way. Joseph was his foster father, not his literal father. Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus and he was literally her firstborn.

But you see, the term Firstborn in the Bible carries with it the idea of superiority and priority. Whoever is firstborn is designated the very special one. In Psalm 89:27, God said that he would make Solomon his firstborn. Now Solomon was not David's firstborn, because he wasn't born first. But God selected Solomon and said, "I will make him my firstborn." The firstborn is the one who gets the inheritance. In Exodus 4:22, God designated the people of Israel as his firstborn. So if you'll think of Firstborn as meaning priority, superiority, the highest of the high, we have no problem applying this title to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, when you take all of these references to the Firstborn that apply to Jesus, you understand four different aspects of his person and his work. I'm going to ask you to look at these references if you will, please. Colossians 1:15: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Then in Colossians 1:18: "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." Romans 8:29: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." And then Hebrews 1:6: "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten or the firstborn into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."

Now let's consider these four references and learn what it means that Jesus Christ is the Firstborn. First of all, he is the firstborn of all creation, Colossians 1:15. The theme of Colossians, the whole book, is the preeminence of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:18: "that in all things he Jesus Christ might have the preeminence." Colossians 3:11: "but Christ is all, and in all." Now in Colossians 1, we see the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation. Colossians 1:12: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Colossians 1:14: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." So our Lord is preeminent in salvation. He's also preeminent in creation. Colossians 1:16 tells me: "For by him were all things created." Now if that's the case, then he himself was not created. There are those who want us to believe that Jesus Christ was a created being, the highest of the created beings, but he himself is not eternal God. But Colossians 1:16 says: "For by him were all things created." Therefore, he himself is not a created thing.

Now what does it mean to be the firstborn of all creation? Well, it means to be the highest of everything in creation. Remember now, Firstborn carries with it the idea of priority, superiority, the highest of the high, the one who is going to share in the inheritance. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to everything in creation because he existed prior to creation. All things were made by him. All things were created by him. All things were created for him. And all things hold together by his power. This makes him the highest of the high in all of creation. He is the firstborn of all creation. And I look forward to that day when Jesus is going to come again and all of creation will be delivered from the mess that we have made. And we're going to have beauty and harmony; we're going to have glory and blessing because the firstborn of all creation, Jesus Christ, will be reigning supremely.

Now Colossians 1:18 tells me that he is not only the firstborn of all creation, but he is the firstbegotten or the firstborn from the dead. This same title is used in Revelation 1:5. Now, of course, this does not mean that Jesus Christ was the first one raised from the dead, because we know he was not. Back in the Old Testament, there were people who were raised from the dead. We have the record that Jesus raised at least three people from the dead and possibly more. How then is he called the firstborn from the dead? Once again, he is the highest of those who have been raised from the dead. He is the greatest; he stands supremely above everyone else. Well, in what respect? Well, in this respect: our Lord Jesus Christ knew he was going to be raised from the dead; he announced it, he prophesied it. Not only that, he raised himself from the dead. He said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again. No man taketh my life from me." Now secondly, he was raised from the dead by his own power, never to die again. Lazarus died again. Jairus's daughter died again. So did the son of the widow of Nain. Everyone that was raised from the dead died again, but not the Lord Jesus. He had the power to lay down his life, he had the power to take it up again, and now he lives by the power of an endless life. Being raised from the dead, he is now reigning in heaven and death cannot reach him. And so he is the firstborn from among the dead, the highest and the greatest, because he raised himself, he raised himself never to die again, and he raised himself that he might be able to raise others.

Romans 8:29 gives us a third reference to Jesus Christ the Firstborn: he is the firstborn among many brethren. Notice this, please. Romans 8:29: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." You see, our Lord Jesus Christ does not want to keep all these blessings to himself. Someone has said that God loves his Son so much he wants everybody else to be just like him. You and I are going to one day experience this. We shall see him and we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. You see, if you know Jesus as your Savior, you are one of his many brethren. And Jesus tells us that one day we shall see him, and we are going to be like him, for he is the firstborn among many brethren. That means what he is, we one day shall be. The church is called in Hebrews 12:23 the church of the firstborn. And so if you belong to Jesus Christ, you belong to the church of the firstborn. That means the highest, those who are the most privileged, those who are going to share in his glory. He is the firstborn among many brethren, and one day we are going to be like him.

Well, when is that going to happen? We turn to Hebrews 1:6. He is talking here about our Lord's coming: "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten or the firstborn into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." When he brings the firstbegotten into the world, he says, "and let all the angels of God worship him." I think that this applies to when our Lord Jesus Christ shall return for his church. When he came the first time to this earth, the angels did worship him, but he came in humility. Ah, but when he comes again, he's going to come in glory. When he came the first time, born in Bethlehem, he came in weakness—a little baby—but he's going to come in power. Well, Jesus Christ is God's firstborn, and he's the one who's going to inherit. He's the one who's going to have all of the glory and all of the blessing, and I trust that you know him as your Savior.