THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THE LAMB

1 Peter 1:18-19 For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

In the first chapter of his gospel message, John, the apostle, speaks of another John. He was John, known as the baptist, or the baptizer. At this time, this John the Baptist was in Bethabara, beyond Jordan. In John 1:6-7, it is said of him, There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. As John was baptizing in this area, Jesus approached him. When John recognized Jesus he turned to those in his audience and proclaimed, ...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). This Lamb of God was the Light to which John the baptizer bore witness. The same, also, is Christ who shed His precious blood. He was the Lamb without blemish and without spot sacrificed for sin of the world.

Exodus 12:5 tells us about the sacrificial lamb required of the children of Israel by God - Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year... . In Leviticus 22:20 we find that any sacrifice that was not perfect, or hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable. There was no sacrifice in offering that which is not desirable or unneeded. Therefore, the lamb was to be the best of the flock and worth the highest price, for it to be an acceptable sacrifice on the part of the one seeking God's forgiveness or favor. Whatever is dear to us, is precious in our minds. The sacrificial lamb must be dear - it must be precious to its owner. For a sacrifice to be acceptable to God, it must have great value to us. Why? It is because the sacrifice being made is for something of much greater value - the forgiveness of our sins and an eternal home in heaven. The sacrifice described in our lesson text is the precious blood of Christ - the precious blood of the Lamb.

The blood shed by Jesus was, indeed, precious. It was precious to God, it was precious to Jesus, Himself, and it is precious to you and me. Can you imagine the thoughts going through the mind of a father watching the lifeblood draining from the body of a son? Can you imagine a father observing his son being forced into an agonizing death? Very few things, if any, can be dearer, more precious, than a child to a parent. Yet this is what God did. He gave up His Son, Jesus Christ, watched Him die on the cross of Calvary, and observed His precious blood being shed.

From a human standpoint, His blood was vital to Jesus. As a human being, we can understand how precious the blood of Jesus was to his own human body. Without it, physical life cannot be sustained. In His human state, the blood of Jesus was necessary and dear to Him because it sustained His physical body. Indeed, to Jesus, his blood was precious.

From a spiritual standpoint, the blood shed by Jesus is precious to you and me today. As noted in our lesson text, silver and gold are among the most valued items found here on earth. However, the value of these earthly things - these corruptible things - is worth far less than the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. The price paid for the forgiveness of our sins and for the redemption of our souls, was the most precious gift, and the greatest sacrifice ever made. It took Jesus' blood, the precious blood of the Lamb, to satisfy the promise made to mankind before the foundation of the world (Prev. Vs. 20).

God's promise, His plan of salvation, which was formed before the world began, included the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. But it also included His resurrection from death and ascension into heaven. His Heavenly Father watched his Son's sacrificial death here on earth, raised Him from the grave, and returned Him to His home in Heaven. This same Father proclaimed to the world that through Jesus Christ, His Son - through the shedding of His blood, that you and I have the opportunity for our sins to be forgiven and receive the hope of eternal life in Heaven. Give yourself to God and to the cause of Christ. Your life here on earth is a small price to pay for the benefits found in the precious blood of the Lamb!