Behold the Lamb!
“Behold the Lamb of God Which taketh away the sin of the world! John 1:29
See!! Behold!! Lo!! Look!! An utterance of one who wishes that something should not be neglected or ignored by another.
Lamb.
Not just a lamb, but a Sacrificial Lamb. A “sin-bearing” lamb.
Of God. Lit. “The Lamb provided by God…”
Taketh away. (1) to raise or lift up (2) to bear or carry (3) to remove or take away.
Sin of the world.
When we Behold Him we become Like Him. The more we Behold Him the more we become like Him. I want to be like Jesus. I want this church to be like Jesus. I want you to be like Jesus. I believe all who hear me today sincerely desire to be like Jesus. He is our Pattern. No man or movement can replace Jesus as our Example and as our Pattern. Our lives are to conform to Him. Our ways are to conform to His Ways. Our desires and ambitions are to conform to His. Our Will must be His Will.
This message is birthed to bring us to a higher Revelation of Him. We have learned about His Acts and His Ways… it is now time for us to Behold His Glory!! And when we do: “but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed (transformed) into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord…” II Cor. 3:18
Most are tired of the rigors or religion. Many are frustrated with the shallowness and emptiness of Methods, formulas, and quick-fix programs. Some have become disillusioned and disappointed by the merchandising and man-management of the Gospel. Preachers have become Spiritual Super Stars and Ministries have become Kingdoms that cater to the carnal. Where are the Prophets? Where are the Elijahs and the John the Baptists? Where are the Pauls and the Silas and the Stephens and the Mary Magdlines? Where is the Simple and Straight forward presentation of Gospel of Christ which is the Power of God unto Deliverance? We can worship ministries. We can worship methods. We can worship ministers. We can worship music. We can worship Praise. We can even worship worship. I want to Worship Jesus. I want to Behold Him and His glory. “And we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father…” John 1:14. Let’s minimize the methods and maximize the Master. Let’s look to Jesus!!
I. LET’S CONSIDER HIM AS EQUAL WITH THE FATHER.
His is glorious in His Pre-existence. He was, is, and forever will be equal to and Eternal with the Father. “Let us make man in our image…” Gen. 1:26 “In the beginning God (Elohim) Created…” Gen. 1:1. ELOHIM is a plural Noun used with a singular verb and this name indicates the Trinity at Work in Creation.
There was a Divine Counsel in Heaven regarding Creation. It was a cooperative Effort involving the Sovereign Will of each Member of the Godhead. Jesus was there. The Holy Ghost was there. God the Father was there. Let us see Jesus clothed in the Splendor and Glory of the Omni powerful God. He shares co-equally with Him in all things. He is Omniscient and Omnipresent as well as Omnipotent. He is not a “babe born in a stable and wrapped in rags”… He is God. He is the Eternal LOGOS. He is the Creative Agent of all that came into being as God Spoke: “Let there be…” Jesus is the Force and the Power behind Creation. John tells us that “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him…” John 1:10. He is LIGHT. He is POWER. He is ENERGY. He is AUTHORITY. Heaven is His Domain and the earth is His footstool!! By Him and through Him all this consists (hold together). “Without Him was not anything made that was made…” John 1:3)
For us to BEHOLD His Glory, we have to graduate from our “Bible Story” concept of Jesus… “Meek and mild…” as a “Helpless child…” Our early concept of Jesus has for the most part remained unchanged. We have greater revelation therefore we must leave the “principles” and move on into the “Perfection” of our knowledge about Jesus.
Some see Him as broken, bleeding, and dead… impaled on a cross… the victim of hatred and religious prejudice. Some can only behold a Dead Jesus. They see the Crown of Thorns and the Bleeding Side and the Beaten Back. They are moved to pity Him and feel sorry for Him. They have developed a concept of His Human Limitations and see Him as weak and helpless.
The Jesus of the Bible is ALL-POWERFUL. He is Deity Personified. He is the Face of God. He is Majestic, He is Awesome, He is Full of Power. He is Originator, Creator and Sustainer… He is the All in All… the Great I AM!!
II. LET’S CONSIDER HIM AS A PERFECT MAN
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His Glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
“(Jesus) Who existing in the Form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross…” Phil. 2:6-8
Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel…” Isa. 7:13
The KENOSIS of Jesus is a Foundation Truth many have failed to grasp. KENOSIS or “self-emptying” simply declares that Jesus willingly “emptied” Himself of His God Characteristics and condescended to the stature and state of a man… a human being… born of a woman… and came to earth to live and die as part of God’s Plan to Redeem Man from Adam’s failure. Jesus laid down and left in heaven certain characteristics and privileges He exercised as God. He willingly emptied Himself of His God Form… His God Power… His God Knowledge… His Eternal Life. He became subject to sickness, disease, death, failure, sin and any and all human liabilities and limitations imposed by Adam’s sin and failure. The Scripture tells us that He “was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin…” (Heb. 4:15)
We must BEHOLD JESUS as a PERFECT MAN. Therefore ALL the miracles that Jesus performed while He was on earth were performed by a Human Being Full of the Holy Ghost and Power!! What He did… we can do!! What He accomplished as a Man… we can accomplish as men and women full of the Holy Ghost and Power!! He spoke to storms and they stopped!! He spit and made mud from it. put it on blind eyes and they were opened!! He confronted demon powers and they feared and trembled and begged for mercy!! He touched crippled and broken bodies and they were made whole. He spoke healing to the sick and diseased and they were healed. He forgave sinners and had mercy on the guilty. He loved the unlovable and had compassion on the masses. He raised the dead… cleansed lepers… resisted the devil… opened graves… interrupted funerals and restored the dead to their families!! He made wine out of water… friends out of enemies… peace out of confusion and torment… joy out of sadness and Heaven out of hell!! And then He told us that: “greater works than these shall ye do; because I go unto my Father…” John 14:12.
Jesus is our Example. Jesus is our Pattern. Jesus is the guarantee that we can Overcome the devil and take dominion over the powers of darkness. What He did… we can do. We must BEHOLD JESUS as A PERFECT MAN!!
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…”
“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things and by Him all things consist…” Col 1:16-17.
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 “LOOK AND BE SAVED!”
He is Typified and Symbolized by the animal skins that covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve,
the ROCK that was smitten and produced life-giving Water,
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 kingly 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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