Worthy is the Lamb Part One

Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendour

Paschal Lamb,

thine offering, finished once for all when thou was slain,

in its fullness undiminished

shall for evermore remain.

Alleluia!Alleluia!Alleluia!

Cleansing souls from every stain.

Cleansing souls from every stain.

Life-imparting heavenly Manna,

stricken Rock with streaming side,

heaven and earth with loud hosanna

worship thee,

the Lamb who died.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Risen, ascended, glorified!

Risen, ascended, glorified!

I wonder would you spend a little time with me as we look at the last two verses of this wonderful old hymn and contemplate and consider what it meant "to Him the Holy One to bare away our sin"?

Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. Hebrews 12v3

In v2 we are encouraged to:

Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

You see Christ's substitutionary death on the cross of Calvary was the single most important event in the history of the Adamic race.

Let's consider what it cost Jesus to become the Lamb of God who bore the sin of the world and what this earth shattering event meant for lost and dying humanity, who were subjected to the fear of death, until Jesus destroyed him who had the power of death, even the devil, Hebrews 2v14&15, through His own death, which resulted in life and immortality coming to light through the power of the Gospel. 2 Timothy 1v10.

Friends the only hope for humanity, including you and I, is to surrender ourselves to the Lamb of God and to trust in His finished work on the cross.

Religion, church going, self righteousness, high morals, knowing what the Bible says, good works etc, will not and cannot save us, from a fiery hell and eternal damnation.

In the words of the old chorus:

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

What can make me whole again

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

No other fount I know

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

What other fount do you know and are you going too?

If you are not going to the cross and trusting in the blood alone to cleanse and save you, then I'm sorry to say, that anything you do outside of God's eternal provision will not save you or be accepted by a Holy God when you stand before Him to give an account of your life and deeds.

Paul tells us in Romans 3 that, outside of God's provision and His plan of salvation, that there is none righteous no not one. v10

You and I must be born again or born from above. John 3v7.

There is no other way.

There isn't countless routes or paths to God, as many would have us believe.

Jesus clearly stated in John 14v6

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

See also John 10v1-7, Acts 4v10-12.

Jesus and Jesus alone is the Door of the sheep. That is, He is the only One who can grant us access to the Father. John10v9

In Romans 3 we are taught that the purpose of the law, (thou shalt not kill, commit adultery etc) is to give us knowledge of what constitutes sin and that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may become guilty or subject to the judgement of God.

Basically, when the sea of humanity stands before God at the Great White Throne judgement (Revelation 20v11-15) no one will be able to argue, dispute or put up a case so that they can escape God's judgement. The Law of God will condemn them. They will have no legal basis to escape their deserved sentence or be acquitted outside of the Christ's redemptive work.

Multitudes, billions of people, from every era of human history, will stand speechless on that Day.

The sentence for the self righteous church goer, will be the same as for the murderer and immoral person.

We must approach God on the basis of Christ's substitutionary death i.e. We have laid down our rebellion and self will and humbled ourselves and repented, trusting only in Jesus and what He accomplished for us at the cross, through His death, burial and resurrection.

The Lamb of God

John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God in John 1v29

Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of the type or shadow that we find in the Old Covenant sacrificial system and specifically the Passover or Paschal Lamb in Exodus 12.

God judged Egypt and it's false gods with various plagues (10 in total) but the final was to be the death of every firstborn, from the firstborn of Pharaoh (During the festival of Opet Pharaoh was transformed into a living diety, Osiris (also known as Nimrod, Apollo)) , to the firstborn of the domestic animals etc.

You see Egypt along with Babylon, Greece and Rome etc was a hot bed of esoteric and demonic/occult activity which originated with Nimrod - the one who became a great one in the earth, Hebrew a gibborim or giant - the Mystery Religions that were carried down to our day through the Mystery Schools and organisations like Freemasonry, the Illuminati, Roscrucians and is behind the Luceriferian elites efforts to bring about the conditions for the Antichrist figure to come to power. Incidentally, Nimrod was known by many different names in the various cultures but most interestingly he was known as Apollo to the Greeks which means "perdition". As a side note remember that the Antichrist is also known as the Son of Perdition. 2 Thessalonians 2v3 & Revelation 9v11

God's judgement on Egypt is not just some Sunday school story.

The plagues He unleashed, demonstrated His omnipotence and power over the rebel sons of God or fallen entities, which corrupted mankind and garnered the worship of men. Behind every idol and graven image was a fallen entity that was worshipped as a god.

The greatest of God's judgements was the last, the death of the firstborn but God had provided a way for the people of Israel to escape the death angel, the blood of a slain lamb.

This lamb was a type and shadow of the true Lamb who was to pay the ultimate price so that He could be our substitute and pay or penalty just as the passover lamb paid the penalty and became the substitute for the firstborn children in the camp of Israel.

Let's look at this type in more detail. Remember what is hidden in the Old Testament is revealed in the New. The shadow in the Old can only be truly understood by the substance in the New Testament and ultimately the Bible is the revelation of one Man the Man Christ Jesus. He is on every page, in every line.

He is the Branch who heals the bitter waters at Marah and makes them sweet (Exodus 15v23-25 and Jeremiah23v5) , the stricken Rock which provided water in the wilderness Exodus 17, John 7v37-39 and 1 Corinthians 10v4, the Manna Exodus 16 revealed as the Bread of Life in John 6 and through all the different types of characters, Joseph foreshadows Him as the Suffering Servant, Moses the Prophet who the Lord will raise up and as David the Shepherd and Victorious King to name but a few.

But it's specifically the Passover Lamb we want to look at in this message.

Firstly we read in v2 that the month in which the Passover took place was to be the beginning of months or the first month on the Jewish calendar (called Nisan).

This speaks of the new beginning and freedom from slavery and bondage that they would experience as a result of the sustitutionary and all sufficient death of the Lamb. Freedom from Pharaoh and his evil and cruel bondage.

Christ's sustitutionary and all sufficient death and finished work on Calvary freed all who would believe and trust in Him from the power and rule of darkness. Colossians 1v13, Hebrews 2v14

In the 10th day of the month (10 represents God's divine order e.g. 10 commandments and this order was established through the slain lamb) each house was to take a lamb or if the number of people in a house was too little then they could share a lamb with a neighbour as long as it was big enough for both houses.

Note each house had to have a lamb v3 "a lamb for a house".

It wasn't enough that your neighbour had a lamb and it's sacrifice and blood to cover their house, you had to take personal responsibility to ensure that your house too was covered.

Just because your father or mother or wife etc is redeemed and blood washed is not enough. You must have experienced the cleansing flow of Christ's redeeming and precious flow for yourself. Just because you are a Protestant or any other religion is not sufficient.

Nothing less than a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God, who bore and paid the penalty for your sin, will save your never dying soul and reconcile to and bring you into right standing with God the Father.

v5&6 tells us that it was to be a male lamb of the first year without blemish which was to be killed on the 14th day of Nisan in the evening (Hebrew: between the 2 evenings).

This was fulfilled to the letter in the person of God's only begotten and beautiful Son.

In 1 Peter 1v18-21 we read:

18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Oh what a mighty declaration!

We weren't redeemed (ransomed, bought back) with silver or gold but by something far more precious, effectual and powerful!

The precious blood of Christ, who was the sinless, spotless and unblemished Lamb of God thus fulfilling Exodus 12v5.

There is so much truth in these few verses that we could spend countless time dissecting and examining them.

But what I want to emphasise is that Jesus was without sin, even though He was tempted in all areas like us Hebrews 4v15. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens Hallelujah! Hebrews 7v26

Brother, sister I encourage you to read the Book of Hebrews in which the Holy Ghost reveals so many facets of our Lord's character and ministry.

Peter gave this testimony of Jesus.

1 Peter 2v22-25

22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. See also Isaiah 53

Secondly I want you to notice that Jesus was fore ordained to be the Lamb of God even before the foundation of the world.

Imagine! Let that sink in.

God had a plan in place and had already supplied the Lamb needed to pay the penalty for our sin not just before we were ever conceived in our mother's womb but before the the world was even formed or created and it's foundations were laid.

Now, I have to be honest with you, I am not a young earth creationist. I believe that eons of time passed and a great deal took place, before God renovated the earth, that had been destroyed by a cataclysmic judgement and formed Adam from the dust of the earth. Genesis 1v1&2 and 2v7. I will elaborate more on this in a follow up message as we don't have the time to do so now.

However this makes the statement in 2 Peter 2v20 even more amazing. Imagine eons of time passing, God has created the angelic beings, the heavens and the earth, the vast universe and countless galaxies like our own Milky Way but before He laid the foundations of the world He first ensured that He had a plan and strategy in place to thwart Satan's plan to destroy the Adamic race and a Lamb to bare our sin.

Foreordained before the foundation of the world but revealed in these last times for me and you. At the right time in human history God sent forth His Son born of a woman, born under the law, for the sole purpose of redeeming those who were under the law and in bondage to sin and death and adopting us into His family. Galatians 4v4&5

Almost 2000 years have passed since Jesus walked the shores of Galilee, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. Almost 2000 years since He suffered the acrimony and humiliation of hanging naked on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem in our room and stead.

But it was at the right and exact time in our history and on God's prophetic time clock and I believe we are that generation that will see the consummation of all things and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Going back to Exodus 12 we see that the blood of the Lamb was to be applied to the door posts and lentil of each house.

This was the guarantee, that when the death angel passed through Egypt to unleash God's judgement against every firstborn, that they would be saved and spared.

The blood of the Lamb saved them from certain death and judgement.

Why? Because the Lamb had paid the price and taken their place and His blood was efficacious and effectual in saving them from God's judgement.

The blood of Christ alone can save you and I from the judgement of God and eternal damnation.

The Lamb of God took our place and became our substitute. As the Lamb He endured the fierce fire of God's judgement upon sin as typified in the Passover lamb being roasted with fire and eaten along with bitter herbs.

A Crossless & Bloodless Gospel

This is what makes the cross so abhorrent to the sensibilities of so many in our society. The brutality, violence, blood shed and sheer of the cross has turned so many in Christianity to preach a crossless and bloodless gospel.

However, a seeker friendly gospel, that does not challenge the listener with the claims of the Christ, on the basis of His suffering and sacrifice no matter how inhumane and brutal it may be, is not good news and will not bring those who hear to true saving faith in Christ.

A gospel that denies and tones down the message of Calvary and does not preach Christ crucified, is an affront to God and Christ's sacrifice and results in countless people being deceived.

Paul said I determined to nothing among you except Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 2v2. This and this alone is the power of God and the remedy to every ill in our society. See 1 Corinthians 1v17-25.

Above is a symbol which has been adopted to represent peace.

However, look more closely and you will see what the so called peace that the world system under the control of Satan wants actually means.

The symbol is occult and Satanic in origin and message and represents an inverted or up side down cross with the cross bar broken.

The peace that man in his fallen stare wants is a crossless, Satanic peace.

The work of Calvary totally rejected by the children of disobedience.

We will go about to establish peace in our own way and by our own strength the deceived and deluded masses say, little knowing that they do so, under the control of Satan and the powers of darkness. Ephesians 2v1&2.

The result is anything but peace - a false peace - which ends in total destruction and hopelessness when the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night

1 Thessalonians 5v1-3

You see what a crossless, bloodless gospel achieves.

Only the Prince of Peace, can and will bring lasting and everlasting peace to this planet but it will be on His terms not ours!

Peace without the cross and the precious blood of Christ is unachievable.

Man's efforts have resulted in the League of Nations and United Nations - Luciferian and Satanic organisations - which reject the sovereignty and claims of Christ and overseen only more wars, death and destruction conceived in man's evil and unregenerated heart.

However, for those who acknowledge the cross, as the only way to peace, as Rennhard Bonnke used to say, the cross turns man's minus into a plus. Even in its shape and construction, it speaks of a new beginning and a new start for those who humble themselves before it.

I would also like to point out the fact that the blood was only to be applied to the 2 side posts and lentil of the door frame and not to the threshold.

This is not by chance. You see in giving this command God was saying you are not walk or trample on the blood. It's too precious and cost so much to shed that it is to be treated with utter respect and reverence.

The salvation of the people of Israel on that fatal night was guaranteed by the blood of the slain lamb.

12¶For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

13And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Notice, God was executing judgement against the gods of Egypt not just Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. His firstborn would become a living god when he ascended the throne. The occult and Satanic culture of Egypt was judged with terrifying power, signs and wonders culminating in the last of the 10 plagues.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1v18

18¶For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Let's join with the heavenly throng in declaring in this our day

12Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

In Part 2 we will look at more types of the Lamb in the Old Testament and what Christ's death achieved for those who believe.