Behold the Lamb of God

Consider the words of the contemporary worship song you and your family may well have sung since it was first penned by my dear friend, Nicky Chiswell (and her co-author, Rob Smith) in 1990.

Behold the Lamb of God 

Verse 1

He walked on earth showing glimpses of heaven,

Demons, death, disease had no hand.

The wind and the waves were obedient before him:

Well may they say, “Who is this man?”

Chorus

Behold the Lamb of God

Who takes away our sin,

The light of the world, the Son of God!

Worthy is the Lamb to receive our praise,

And glory and honour, and power.

Verse 2

He turned not His face

From our pain and destruction,

He drank the bitter cup to the end

He who knew no sin

Took the punishment for us,

Deserted by God, man and friend.

Verse 3

On the third day

He was raised up with glory,

Reigning on high, the risen Son.

Now we have life,

A new hope, a new future,

Now we cry, ‘Come, Lord Jesus come!’

You can listen to it here!

For me, one thing is for sure. The narrative of the first Easter, be it focused on the horror of Good Friday, the desperation of the weekend that followed, or the triumph of that first Easter Sunday – this true (historically-authenticated) story all centres on one thing.  

That is, the certainty that Jesus Christ, God incarnate (God in human form living amongst the people He created), was without blame. In spite of this, He chose to take our punishment for our sins upon himself, punishment that meant death, separation from God the Father – a descent into hell.  

The final part of this story is that He was completely and utterly victorious over death – He rose from the dead and met with several hundred people before ascending to heaven.

John 3:16-18 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

It’s all about Christ – what He did as an act of obedience, because it was all part of God’s redemptive plan for all of His creation. In plain sight, in full view. We can now have a completely restored relationship with God for eternity, imperfect though we are in this earthly life, because Christ acted in this way.

CS Lewis once said: “It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion.” 

The Prince of Peace restored our eternal peace in one fell swoop with a singular act – one of abject humiliation, complete rejection and all-consuming torment. Just so we wouldn’t have to suffer that destiny ourselves. He saved us from that, once and for all.  

That, alone, is worth pausing to consider, and then responding in worship.

Shalom.