Behold the Lamb of God
“Behold the Lamb of God…” John 1:29
Behold is an exclamation. Similar to “LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!”
Lamb of God: Fixes the Jewish mind on the Atoning work of the
Passover Lamb of the OT
“Consider Him that endured…” Heb 12:3
Consider means to see the Sum Total. Look at all that God provides through His Son Jesus.
Endured is to bear up under pressure. It means to be resolved and unmovable
“Looking unto Jesus…” Heb 12:2
Looking is to turn away from one thing and to gaze intently on another
The idea is to look away from the agony of the race and stare at Jesus
“Who Endured the Cross…” Heb 12:2
Endured is to bear up under pressure. To remain. To Resolve to Stay.
“For the JOY that was set before Him…” Heb 12:2
Joy is cheerfulness, delight, gladness.
“Fainting” has been and still is a major weakness of the NT church. Faint means to become weary, to grow tired, to become progressively fatigued until one gives out or gives up.
“Resisted unto blood…” The scene shifts from the race to the boxing ring. The idea is “you have not shed any of your blood resisting sin…” Defending yourself. Why should you be weary? Why should you give in to a faint heart? Just look at Jesus. Consider Him. See the contradiction He endured and yet did not weaken or wear out.
Considering Jesus is the greatest motive for perseverance. This is the ONE thing that made the early Church indestructible. They Looked at and Considered Jesus. And because of this they were literally invincible. Nothing could by “any means” hurt or destroy them. They Persevered!!
In the first century and a half more than five million Christians were martyred. Slaughtered. Murdered. Slain. Butchered. The atrocities these saints suffered put the Hitler Holocaust in the shadows. The confession that caused their death is the declaration we have over this pulpit: JESUS IS LORD. To confess Jesus as Lord meant to deny the lordship of Caesar. To refuse to call Caesar lord was an invitation to martyrdom.
Stephen was stoned to death.
Philip was brutally scourged, imprisoned and finally crucified
Matthew was hacked to death with a cleaver
James at 94 was stoned and beaten to death… his head crushed with a
fullers’ club
Andrew was crucified
Matthias was stoned and then beheaded
Mark was dragged to death by a Mob through the streets of Alexandria
Peter was crucified head down
Paul had his head cut off
Jude was crucified
Bartholomew was scourged and crucified
Thomas was thrust through with a lance until he died
Luke was hanged from an olive tree
Simon was crucified
In the Light of such Determination and Commitment, the Christian Community of this century pales in comparison. To call Jesus Lord is to make Jesus Lord. To make Jesus Lord is to Do what Jesus says.
To BEHOLD Jesus. His Majesty. His Deity. His Eternity. His Glory. To see (consider) Where He WAS and to discover (consider) What HE BECAME. To Observe (consider) WHO HE IS.
What YOU say concerning Him does not determine Who He Is. What you say concerning Him determines Who He Is TO YOU.
The Pre-Existence of Jesus
Jesus existed with God before Creation. “In the beginning (arche) was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…”
Jesus did not “come to be” He has always been!! He calls Himself “Alpha and Omega” the “First and the Last”. He was with the Father in Creation: “In the beginning Gods (Elohim: a plural noun connected with a singular verb) created…” (Gen 1). “Let US make man in OUR image…” (Gen 1:26) The Gospel of John declares that Jesus is the Agent of Creation… “all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made…”
Seventeen times in the Gospel of John it is declared that Jesus was sent forth from the Father and came to the earth and that He again left the earth and went unto the Father.
Jesus in the Old Testament
Jesus was present in the OT
Jesus is described as the “Angel of the Lord and the Holy One of Israel”
He appears many times in the OT and is seen as the Captain of the Host. The Lord of Glory. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
He is the Sun of God that rises with healing in His wings.
He is the Serpent of Brass that delivers from death
He is Typified and Symbolized by the animal skins that covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve,
the Water that came from the Rock,
Manna that came from heaven,
the Ark that Noah built,
the Tabernacle in the Wilderness,
the Sacrificial Ram substituted by Abraham for Isaac,
the OT High Priesthood,
The Passover Lamb,
The Ark of the Covenant,
Jonah in the Fish,
David’s Throne,
Solomon’s Wisdom,
Job’s Redeemer,
Kinsman Redeemer in the Book of Ruth,
Hosea’s Forgiveness,
Elijah’s Ascension into heaven,
Joshua as Israel’s Deliverer
The Fourth Man in the Fiery Furnace
He was Prophesied by:
God in Gen 3 “I will put enmity between thee and the woman…”
Isaiah “For unto us a child is born…” 9:6-7; 7:14 “a virgin…”
Joel “I will restore…”
Micah “But thou, Bethlehem…” 5:2
Daniel Chapter 9 and the vision of weeks
Hosea Chapter 6 “in the third day He shall raise us up…”
Zechariah (The BRANCH)
the Psalmist Psalm 22 “My God why has thou forsaken me?”
Jesus the Incarnation of God
“When the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman..” Gal 4:4
The Interbiblical Period:
Five hundred years without a revelation from God. Dead religion. Form but no fire. Legalism and Law and condemnation and death. No miracles. No visitation from God. Sick remained sick. Lame remained lame. Burdened remained burdened.
Rome became a world power. One language became the language of the people: Greek. For the first time, revelation could be communicated on a world-wide basis. The most beautiful, flexible, expressive language the world had ever known… The PLAN OF GOD to communicate the Gospel.
Rome had conquered and united under a single government all the Mediterranean empires. Roads were built, shipping lanes developed and the stage was set for the appearance of the MESSIAH.
Phil 2:7-11:
“But made Himself of no reputation (ekenosen from Kenosis: to make empty, to make of no effect) and took upon Him the form (morphe: outward appearance) of a servant (doulos: slave) and was made (lambano: took upon Himself) in the likeness (homoioma: resemblance) of men:
And being found in fashion (schema: outward appearance. The word was used of a king who exchanges his royal robe for sackcloth) as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross…”
EMMANUEL: God with us
dickbraswell 
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