The Online Bible Class presents
RISE UP O MEN OF GOD!
Burt Groves
Who is this Jesus? The prophet John described Him, “…the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!’" (John 1:29 ASV). Jesus explained Himself simply and profoundly to rebellious Jews as the self-existent One. “...Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). On seven other occasions Jesus employed the verb of being to help seekers understand. Consequently, disciples of Jesus learned that He is the “bread of life” (6:48), “light of the world” (8:12), “door of the sheep” (10:7), “good shepherd” (10:11), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6), and “the true vine” (15:1). Each of these analogies brightens one’s understanding of the nature and mission of Christ Jesus. No man has spoken such profound truth with such simple words.
The Old Testament prophet of Christ presented the glorious Lord as the One who took the shame of all sinners upon Himself in his portrayal of the suffering Servant agonizing on the cross (Isaiah 53). He declared the absence of physical appeal in the lowly Nazarene. “For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). But what He accomplished was beyond the best that good men can do. No wonder the apocalypse describes the lamb as “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah,” (Revelation 5:5).
He suffered, for us and for all the world, what we deserve to suffer for our sins. Consider God’s revelation to the prophet about 700 years before Christ in Isaiah 53:4-6:
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
If one could live a century always doing good, if he could give millions to aid thousands benevolently, all that good could not take away one sin. “And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear: knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ:” (1 Peter 1:17-19). Knowing that God’s Lamb willingly paid the price for erasing our sins should fill us with praise for the loving Father, who calls us out of selfishness, the Holy Spirit who sanctifies, and the Savior who became God’s Lamb for all sinners.
The Passover Lamb
As the blood of the Passover lambs delivered the nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12), the blood of Jesus, our Passover, saves us from the slavery of sin. “...For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ:” (1 Corinthians 5:7). But the lambs of the Jews became food for their owners without an awareness that they were to be sacrificed. Jesus knew that He was to be the victim of envious Jewish leaders (Matthew 27:18), cowardly Pilate (27:24), ignorant Roman officers (1 Corinthians 2:8), and all sinners who would ultimately trust and obey the Savior (15:3).
Jesus hated the sins that caused His shameful death (Hebrews 12:2), but loved the sinners who were lost and unable to save themselves except through the Savior (7:25). One sees not only His humanity as He prayed for deliverance from execution, but also His holiness as He fully yielded to the Father’s will. “And he went forward a little, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).
The Lamb and the Shepherd are one. The Passover lamb’s blood saved the Jew, but the blood of God’s Lamb both redeems sinners (Titus 2:14) and purchased His church. “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). Sinners redeemed in Christ compose His body which is His church. “And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).
The evil world seeks to entice saints to become one with it in its ways, but the faithful know that God’s sheep cannot retain their identity while indulging in the ways of the world (1 John 2:15-17). Coming out of the world at conversion, one must stay out of the world by following the good Shepherd. As His sheep, following Him, one will never fall. Notice the conditions of spiritual security. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
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"RISE UP O MEN OF GOD!" is a part of the Online Bible Class sponsored by the St. George Church of Christ, St. George, Utah. Visit our Web Site and view the Bible study opportunities that are offered!