Behold the Lamb of God / by Walter L. Wilson B y t h e s e five words, found in John 1:36, your attention is called to this on ly sacrifice for sins that God w ill accept. There is much competition in this matter, for the world and its m any religions offer many other substitutes for the salvation of the soul. John the Baptist was sent to save every soul from look ing to the wrong source of salvation for forgiveness. The Devil knew that men would need some kind of sacrifice for their sins and therefore he has devised many schemes and plans with which to deceive hungry and hunting hearts. Another religion will call to you, saying, “ I offer you laws and ordinances, rules and regulations, pre scribed b y the founders o f our church. If you will obey these carefully and seek to carry out all the instructions which we give you, then you have a chance of obtaining peace with God.” The answer from God’s servant is, “ Behold the Lamb of God.” Still another religion will say to you, “ In order, to gain God’s favor you must sacrifice. Sacrifice your time and your talents. Sacrifice your money. Sacrifice your energies, your gifts and abilities. Give all these to us and we shall see that you receive forgiveness.” God’s answer is, “ Behold the Lamb o f God.”
One religion will say to you, “ Behold the wonderful scheme which I offer you in m y church. I f you will just believe what I teach, follow m y doctrines, practice m y ceremonies, you will obtain the salvation o f God.” The answer of the Scripture is, “ Behold the Lamb of God.” feed on God’s Word. Indeed our text speaks also of those who “have tasted the good word of God.” When we feed on the written Word we feed on the living Word and we thus eat His flesh and drink His blood as He taught. We are to desire the sincere milk of the Word “ if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” We taste the powers of the next world in prayer, in the fellowship of God’s people and when we are filled with the Spirit. In all these ways we begin to enjoy the next world before we reach it and experience a foretaste of glory while still in this ruined creation and in our dying bodies. How few Christians avail themselves of what is made available to them here and now! Some seem to think we must wait to get to heaven before we begin to enjoy the powers of the age to come. We shall enter into the fulness of that joy then but we can get a good start now. We can begin at least to taste here what shall be an eternal feast there. We said at the outset that the natural world is under a curse. Many Christians do not know that God plans to restore that ruined world. We have foregleams of it in Isaiah 11 with its glorious picture of the lion and lamb lying down together, the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child leading them. We believe that will be fulfilled literally. Our day is coming, the restitu tion of all things, when the sons of God shall come into their own and even nature shall be restored. Paul writes of the earnest expectation of the creature waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. Dr. Phillips has the whole creation “ ON TIPTOE” awaiting that new day. I would not let fancy run wild here but I am a lover- of the woods and many a time out in the sylvan solitudes, I have felt in the song of a bird, the whisper of a breeze, the loveliness of earth and sky, something that speaks of a time to come when even the woods and waters will be redeemed from the bondage of corruption. Who has not been aware, sometimes at sunset, of a wistfulness as though nature were longing for a better day? We stand between two worlds, a Paradise that was lost and a Para dise to come and we sense what poets have tried to utter, the earnest expectation of all creation waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. At all such times we taste of the age to come. Three times I read in my Bible of a finished work of God. The Creator looked over a completed creation and rested (Gen. 2 :1 ,2 ). But that creation was wrecked by sin and God sent His Son to make a way of redemption. On the cross He cried, “ It is finished” (John 19:30). At the very end of the New Testament God looks over the new heaven and earth and says, “ It is done” (Rev. 21:6).
Beloved, let me urge you to look on ly to Christ Jesus who died at Calvary and lives in glory. His person and His work alone can save your soul. A ll that was lost in the first creation I win in the last creation and more besides, because of the finished work on Calvary. We are but shells of what we once were and we are only shadows of what we shall become. “ I am not now what once I was, I have tasted of the powers of the age to come. And I am convinced that there is far more available for us here and now than most of us ever dream. True, we are still living in a wrecked world and tabernacling in these dying bodies but the Spirit Who raised our Lord from the dead will not only quicken our mortal bodies then but can empower these bodies and minds we now possess. It is amazing how much we can do when spiritually well oiled and free from the friction of fear and worry. The medical world is recognizing more and more the power of faith. The church lags here when she ought to lead. Sometimes God heals in miraculous ways and always He gives grace to live by His resources instead of by our reserves. Just because some go to extremes on these matters is no reason why the rest of us should not taste the powers of the age to come in the physical and mental and spiritual equipment we now have. He Who is able to make all grace to abound so that we always having all-sufficiency in all things may abound unto every good work, . . . He is able to empower us in body, mind and spirit to do all He wants us to do as long as He wants us to do it. And that is a lot more of grace than most of us ever dare to claim. All the powers of the age to come are in Jesus Christ. By Him all things consist. As we taste and see that the Lord is good and as we find Him precious, let us do more than taste! Let us make Him our bread, our meat, our drink. Let us feed on Him and partake of all His benefits. He is our Sustenance as well as our Saviour. I have read of a poor little tenement child in a hospital. She had never known what it was like to have enough food. When the nurse brought her a tall glass of rich milk she looked at it wonderingly and asked, “ How deep may I drink?” Some of us seem afraid to take deep draughts of what God has provided for us in Christ. Let us not fear to feed on the powers of the age to come as fully as faith will allow. Better than all earth’s wonder drugs, its stimulants and its tranquilizers, is to experience daily a “ foretaste of glory.” Nor am I what I want to be; But what I am I am by grace And when I see Him face to face, I shall be like Him perfectly.”
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