Well, our focus tonight primarily
Introduction
will be verse 29, the work of the Redeemer on behalf of His people. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But we'll notice that verse 29 does not stand alone. There's a lot that precedes concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's a lot preceding concerning the Lord's relationship to the Father. And sort of as an outflow from this morning's sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity, I thought we would investigate a little bit further, verses 1 to 18, before we get to verse 29. So I want to look first of all at the identification of the Word in verses 1 to 18, and then secondly, the description of the work of the Savior in verse 29. Now, we're not going to go through every jot and tittle there in verses 1 to 18, but just a couple of the key points.
Again, keeping in mind what we saw this morning in terms of the one God, the divine, infinite being, and there are three subsistences or persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They all have in common the divine essence, but they are personal subsistences, and they are one God everlasting, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Word Identified: John 1:1–18
So let's look at the identification of the word, verses 1 to 18. In the first place, notice that the word is God. First of all, we ought to identify who this Word is. If we had never read John's Gospel, if we had never heard sort of theological language, if we didn't know the identity of the Word was Jesus Christ, there is sufficient information in here to tell us this.
Notice it's the Word that became flesh. So the self, same Word of verse 1. is the word of verse 14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So the incarnate Son is the word, the Lord, the second person rather, of the Trinity. And in the first place,
The Word Was with God
we see that the word was with God. Verse 1-1, It says in verse 1a, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. That shows that distinction between the Father and the Son. It shows that modalism, as I mentioned earlier, is incorrect.
It is simply false that God was the Father, became the Son, and is now the Holy Spirit, that He simply represents Himself in various modes of being. No, we see distinction among the persons of the Trinity. Specifically here, the first and the second person, where we read, the Word was with God. God here specifically is the Father.
So the Word, identified as Jesus later, is the second person of the Trinity, and He is with God. There is distinction between these persons, and this demolishes the notion of modalism or Sabellianism. The fact that the Word is with God indicates that the Word Himself is eternal. In other words, the word being with God indicates that the word is eternal, like God the Father.
Calvin says, with reference to the language of in the beginning, he says, he does not ascribe to the word a beginning of time, but says that he was from the beginning and thus rises beyond all ages. So it highlights, actually, the eternality of the Word or the Second Person of the Trinity. So we see here His relationship to the Father. He is always with Him, from everlasting to everlasting, Father and Son and the Spirit.
But we're focusing on the Father and the Son tonight. are always with one another. John Gill says this phrase denotes the existence of the Word with the Father, His relation and nearness to Him, His equality with Him, and particularly the distinction of His person from Him as well as His eternal being with Him. For He was always with Him and is and ever will be. So it's most important that we maintain the fact that there are these three persons.
There are these three subsistences. There is distinction. They are distinguished by their relative properties and their personal relations, and we need to maintain that. But
The Word Was God
notice what John goes on to say, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Again, here it's highlighting the fact that the three persons have the essence. They have deity. They are altogether God.
Not three making up the one God, but the one God existing eternally in three persons. The Word who was with the Father, distinguished from the Father, is nevertheless God. The Word and the Father have the whole divine essence, but they are distinguished by these properties. And we'll see at least one of those properties when we follow up with the fact that He's eternally begotten of the Father.
Again, Turretin says, when the Son is said to be one with the Father and yet to be a distinct person from Him, there is no contradiction. Again, I'm probably pushing my luck with another doctrinal sermon. We had some of this this morning and probably stretched some of your minds a little bit when you heard words like subsistence and, you know, the various things that I mentioned this morning. But we're going to just follow up on that because, again, it's most important.
We need to understand what's in view here. We have the word with God, distinctiveness, distinction between the first and second persons of the Trinity, but we have identification. The Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is God. They all three have the essence.
They all three have this deity. It is in common, but there is distinction among the persons. Again, Turretin. When the son is said to be one God with the father and yet to be distinct person from him, there is no contradiction.
Although he has the same essence, according to which he is said to be one with the father, yet he has not the same mode of subsisting. Our Confession says they are distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations. The father is unbegotten. The son is begotten.
The spirit proceeds from the father and the son. The father has paternity. The son has affiliation. The spirit proceeds from father and son, or spiration.
Those are the things that distinguish the persons of the Godhead. Yet again, they have in common the divine essence. The three persons are distinguished by these peculiar relative properties. They share or they have the whole divine essence, yet not three essences, one essence, three persons.
That's how there is not a contradiction. Now, notice in terms of the Word, one of the things that distinguishes Him from the Father is what we call eternal generation.
Eternal Generation of the Son
Notice in verse 14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. You've all heard that language, only begotten of the Father. We see it again in verse 18, no one has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. he has declared him." Now, it's translated here as only begotten in the New King James and in the King James as well. Your Bible version may have the only son or the one and only son.
This translates a Greek word that's monogamous. Now, some have picked on the Greek-speaking fathers because they use the translation, only begotten. The word primarily does mean unique and only son or the one and only son. That is an accurate translation to be sure.
But the fathers or some theologians have used this and referred to it as only begotten. That's caused some in our day to say that the Greek-speaking fathers didn't know how to translate a word that they knew that was in their language. No, they understood that the rest of the Bible taught eternal generation of the Son. They didn't simply go to these only begotten texts in John's Gospel and Epistle, but they saw a theology of eternal generation, and they certainly used that language, only begotten, with reference to these Johannine texts.
One man, John Gill, says, I cannot see any reason to object to the use of the phrase eternal generation as applied to the Sonship of Christ, since one divine person is said to beget. Psalm 2. Today I have begotten you, and therefore must be a father. And another divine person is said to be begotten, John 1, 14 and 18, and elsewhere, and therefore must be a son.
And if a begotten son, as he is often said to be, then he must be a son by generation. Again, this is a doctrine that you need to be aware of is being pushed away from sort of the theological interpretation of the Bible. This idea of the only begotten of the Father, it's something that was very common, it was something that is very traditional, it is very classical, and it is very well established biblically, but today some suggest that we ought not to use it. But the primary emphasis in that doctrine of eternal generation is to show the distinction between the Father and the Son.
It speaks to those relative properties, those personal relations. It shows us how there is distinction between the first and the second and the third person of the Trinity when we consider this whole idea of eternally begotten. Giles says, with reference to the fathers and their use of this language, he says, it is simply to make the point that in profoundly theological context, the word monogamous may imply that what is unique about the son is his preexistence as God, yet other than God the father, something explained in terms of his eternal begetting or generation. In other words, this language is absolutely crucial if we want to maintain the reality that there is one God in substance or essence in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The language that is used here is to explain or to demonstrate or to display the relationships between the persons of the Godhead as God in Himself. And this is what the history of the church has done, and this is something that we need to continue to do as well. Consider the fact that the identification of father implies son. The idea of son implies generation.
Now, it's not a generation in time. That's why we call it eternal generation. And Gregory of Nazianzen explains. He says, the begetting of God must be honored by silence.
Lord, we know that it happens. The father eternally begets the son. But how? That's not something we can penetrate into.
Remember this morning I made the distinction between creator and creature? There are certain things as creature we're just not going to get. We know that it's true, the Father eternally begot the Son, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, but how do we efficiently or sufficiently explain that Gregory says, the begetting of God must be honored by silence. It is a great thing for you to learn that He was begotten.
But the manner of His generation, we will not admit that even angels can conceive, much less you. Shall I tell you how it was? It was in a manner known to the Father who begat and to the Son who was begotten. Anything more than this is hidden by a cloud and escapes your dim sight.
I think that's the best way to address this whole issue. Well, I don't understand. How did that happen? Well, He's God.
The relationships between the persons of the Trinity, the Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. That explains the distinction among the persons. It explains the difference in terms of the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Spirit is not the Father or the Son. But in terms of how this took place, Gregory's counsel is most wise.
We cannot peer into this, go back into eternity past, and somehow discover for ourselves the particular ins and outs of the eternal generation of the Son. That it's true, the Bible sets forth. That it must be believed, we need to embrace. And that it distinguishes for us Father, Son, and Spirit is something that is most useful in arguing against these false conceptions of the Trinity, or this denial of the Trinity, or this arrogant assertion of modalism.
Brethren, we need to make sure we think straight concerning these particulars. Now, that's probably the toughest part we had to get through tonight. The Word is God. The Word is eternally begotten of the Father.
The Incarnation of the Word
But then notice in verses 14 to 18, the Word became flesh. The incarnation is highlighted for us in verse 14. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The reason why I kind of go behind verse 29 before we get to verse 29 is something I mentioned this morning.
It's good to look at what Jesus does on the cross. Always, absolutely, positively wonderful to consider the author of our salvation. See, what John is doing is he's starting somewhere beyond the cross. He starts an eternity past to bring us to the cross.
And I think there's a world of help in this kind of an approach to what Jesus has wrought on our behalf. In other words, it's the doing and the dying of the Son of God, to be sure, on our behalf. But it has behind it this massive, glorious plan of an eternal God and Father. It has, as its sort of backdrop, the very God of eternity, who in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ has stepped into time.
He has taken on our flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Just think about this relative to verse 1 for a moment. The fact that this Word, who was in the beginning with God and was God, nevertheless comes into this world and becomes flesh.
If that doesn't blow your mind, you're not thinking properly through John's prologue. If you haven't ever stopped to consider the fact that the bread we eat and the wine we drink, almost said blood, almost devolved into potpourri there for a moment, the bread and the wine, brethren, it's there, and it's certainly relative to the cross, but it's relative to eternity past. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that Word became flesh, and He tabernacled amongst us.
That puts the cross in its larger theological context. Dare I say it's Trinitarian context, it's Christological context, and when we see that connection, it ought to make us stand in wonder and in awe and in praise and in worship. He became flesh and dwelt among us, John says, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. When John penned these things, I can only imagine there was this, you know, worshipful response as he's writing these words on the page, as he's pondering, as he's considering, as he's reflecting upon the glory that is Jesus Christ.
This one who was in the beginning with God, this one who in the beginning was God, has now stepped into our realm and has taken on our flesh and he has dwelt among us. Notice, not only that, not only His incarnation, but His covenantal headship. Again, we put the cross in the context of Trinitarian theology, we put the cross in the context of Christology, and we put the cross in the context of covenant.
The Word as Covenantal Head
Notice in verse 17, he says, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Now, I think it's intriguing that at times we might read that verse and conclude there was never any grace or truth under the Mosaic Covenant, and that there's no law under the New Covenant. No, that's not what John is saying. It's a comparative statement.
Under Moses was law. That was the primary defining characteristic of that covenant with Israel. It was law. Not that there wasn't grace.
The whole sacrificial system bespoke the grace of God Most High. You approach to Yahweh through a bloody knife and a burning altar. There was certainly grace. There were promises. concerning Messiah.
There were promises concerning His redemptive work. The faithful back then always looked forward to the coming Messiah for their salvation. David was saved by grace. Abraham was saved by grace.
Everybody in the old covenant that was saved was saved by grace. But in terms of Moses mediating a covenant, that covenant was primarily identified with law. And with Jesus mediating a covenant, that covenant is primarily identified with grace and truth. And that's the point in John 1, 17.
He's not suggesting Moses bad, Jesus good. He is not suggesting that at all. He is telling us there is this covenantal transformation that has now occurred. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.
This Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and in His life and in His ministry, He would inaugurate a new covenant, and that new covenant would be marked by grace and truth. Certainly, there is law to be sure. The people of God have the law of God as their rule or pattern for life, but nevertheless, the marked feature of new covenant theology is grace and truth. And then finally, before we leave this section behind, John 1 29,
The Word as Revelator of God
notice the revelation of God. Or we might say that Jesus is the revelator of God. You've all heard the word exegesis. Well, it's in verse 18.
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has exegeted Him. He has declared Him. Who better to make known God to the sons of men than the one who was in the beginning with God and the one who is God?
He makes known who God is. So you see, all of that leads us now to the declaration of John the Baptist in John 1 29. And
The Lamb of God: John 1:29
let's look at that in particular. First of all, we ought to appreciate John's behold. Verse 29, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold. Now, there's a whole lot of reasons why somebody would say, look, or see, or behold.
But I wonder if it doesn't dare some theological importance. as if the Baptist is suggesting the time has come, the arrival of redemption has come. In other words, what he says concerning the one he calls attention to is a most powerful and packed statement concerning the redemption of his people. So this, behold, was probably a bit more than I want you to look at that particular individual there. I want you to notice that particular individual there.
I want you to see that particular individual there. I think with all the weight of the promises of God being yea and amen in our Lord Jesus, when the Baptist saw Christ and he says, behold, there's a lot behind the scenes. All that the Old Testament prophesied, all of the prophets and the law that had specified that the Messiah would come, that he would be the sacrifice, that he would lay down his life for his people, all that now is in the eyesight of John the Baptist. Imagine if it were you.
You'd probably yell, behold to, there's the one in whom our redemption lies. There's the one in whom our freedom lies. There's the one in whom we have forgiveness of sins. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
It's a beautiful thing. The Old Testament promises have come to pass in fruition and fulfillment in the life and the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice His function.
The Function: Lamb of God
He calls him the Lamb of God. Now, certainly that's a title. We can refer to Jesus as the Lamb, but I think it sort of points to his function. This is what he does.
This is the purpose for which he came. Now, I realize that in the Old Testament sacrificial system, there were a whole host of different animals that were employed in the sacrificial system. But Lamb just sort of summarizes all of that. And when John calls Jesus the Lamb of God, it ought to suggest in all of our minds certain key moments in redemptive history in the Old Testament.
Remember that scene in Genesis chapter 22 when God tells Abraham to take your son, your only son, your monogamous, Take the son whom you love up to Mount Moriah, the future site of Temple. Take him there and sacrifice him, Abraham." So Abraham just obeys. Abraham does what God tells him to do. And Isaac, on the way to sacrifice, says, Father, we have the wood, excuse me, we have the fire, but where is the sacrifice?
And what does Abraham tell Isaac? The Lord will provide. He then ties Isaac down, he's about to bury the knife into his son, his only son, the son whom he loves, and the angel of Yahweh stops him. And after God tells him no, they look and they see a ram caught in the thicket.
This is the Lamb of God. That ram pointed forward. It was a type. It was a shadow.
It was a pointer to this Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We see the sacrificial system in Leviticus chapter 16. The whole concept of the two goats for sacrifice, the one that was actually caught and the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat, and then that second goat, the priest, takes that goat, lays his hands on the goat, more than likely pushing on it, and he confesses the sins of Israel, and then they drive that goat out into the wilderness. This is a visual representation of the expiation or removal of Israel's guilt.
So there's blood to atone, and then there's this goat sent out in the wilderness as a removal of the guilt of Israel. You see, all of this is behind John the Baptist. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Brethren, when you read New Testament passages like these, think of your Old Testament, too.
I mentioned to you, the fellow stopped by the other day and he wanted a Bible. And he said, but I only want a New Testament. I said, no, you're getting an old Bible. You need the Old Testament to make sense of the New Testament.
That's the way we are today. We just want the New Testament, especially those little ones that I can fit in my pocket. I just want that. It just brings me comfort.
It just brings me hope. It brings me encouragement. There's nothing wrong with the New Testament doing that. But brethren, so much of the New Testament is probably very difficult to understand without the Old Testament.
I wonder how anybody ever makes it through the book of Hebrews without any idea of the book of Leviticus. I mean, certainly there's truths to be gleaned, and there's things that you can learn, and there's probably some benefit and encouragement when you gaze at Christ as the author of Hebrews sets him forth. But when you understand it in the larger context of the book of Leviticus, We understand it in the larger context of the Old Testament. When you see how the author there, Paul, in Hebrews, is citing text after text after text from the Old Testament, doesn't it ever provoke any of us to say, boy, these New Testament authors sure love the Old Testament.
Perhaps I should too. These New Testament authors should appeal to the Old Testament a lot. Perhaps I should, too. You see, when John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, there's a whole block of data that informs our understanding with reference to that declaration.
The passage that Cam read at the outset of worship in the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53, specifically at verse 7. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." Brethren, when the Baptist says, behold the Lamb of God, he's not making some observation without reference to this body of data. And when we consider that statement, the Lamb of God, we ought not to proceed without focusing on this blessed material as well. So the provision of atonement or the provision of a lamp by Yahweh is signified or shown us in Genesis 22, the very sacrificial system, which in many respects comes to its pinnacle in Leviticus 16.
In an excellent, excellent book by Michael Morales on the book of Leviticus, he shows how even structurally Leviticus 16 is the center of the book. And not just theologically, which it most certainly is, But even structurally, the way the book is put together leads us to see the emphasis on the Day of Atonement in the book of Leviticus. Brethren, it is what drives the Baptist's statement here. Of course, the prophesied function of the servant of the Lord, and then when we understand the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
We'll notice how he does that. I mean, we already know that because we're Christians and we're here tonight to celebrate the supper. We know it's going to come through a violent death. But they would have known that too with this identification of the Lamb of God.
The lambs that were used in the sacrificial system weren't, you know, stroked and petted. They had their throats cut, their blood poured out, their, you know, skin awful burned, and their meat fed to the priests in certain instances. So the idea of Lamb of God indicates there's going to be a violent death with reference to this one. Now, when we consider sacrifice, what is presupposed there?
It's a couple of sort of fundamental assumptions. Certainly, they're clearly explained in the Old Testament, but with reference to us here and now, those two assumptions or those two presuppositions is that God is holy and we are not. God is holy and we are not, and the only way for sinful, wretched man to approach to a holy God is through sacrifice. I mentioned Morales.
He says the Old Covenant sacrificial system, or the book of Leviticus specifically. Morales says Israel's sins must be dealt with expiated. Only a cleansed humanity may belong to Yahweh. The way to God then is through a bloody knife and a burning altar.
And that is precisely what this language is indicative of, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ is the new covenant bloody knife and burning altar. The way of access to the Father is through the Son. And lest you forget who the Son is, He was in the beginning with God.
He was in the beginning God. He became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory. We saw Him as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
It's that one who functions as the Lamb of God. It's that one who's led as a lamb to the slaughter. It's that one who goes to the cross for us men and for our salvation. You see what John is doing?
He's showing us this glorious view of who Jesus is and then telling us specifically what Jesus does. It's similar to the book of Hebrews. We get this identification of Christ in chapter one. He is superior to the prophets.
He is superior to the angels. He is the exalted of the Lord before it ever gets into his priestly work. What do the authors want us to appreciate there? That there's something behind the cross.
There's a plan and a purpose that is larger or inclusive of that particular aspect of redemption. In other words, brethren, we sit here tonight by virtue of the cross, but that cross is located at a time, at a place in the history of which God had ordained before the foundation of the world. It's not haphazard that we find ourselves here tonight. It's not luck.
It's not happenstance. It is according to the purpose and plan of a great and glorious God, a creator who made this world and all things in it, A Creator who, when He saw His creatures destroy themselves by sin, nevertheless undertook on their behalf and in the person and in the work of the second person of the Trinity, becomes flesh and saves us from our sins. Now,
The Purpose: Taking Away Sin
note His purpose. If His function is the Lamb of God, His purpose is specified in the rest of what John says. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Isn't that beautiful?
You ever just think, wow, my sin has been taken away? I don't ever think about that. Well, you should. You really should.
You really should consider the fact that my sins are forgiven. I mean, do you ever just have those days when it's bad and there's trials and there's sorrows and there's hardships and there's difficulties, you get bad news after bad news after bad news? Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven. Doesn't that sort of center a man and a woman?
Doesn't it sort of bring balance and restore equilibrium? I mean, as bad as Trudeau may be, as bad as Obama was, as bad as the rulers of this age are, my sins are forgiven. Doesn't that encourage you? Does that make you happy?
Does that make you want to dance and sing? Well, you can't dance and sing because you're a Christian. You know what I mean. David danced before the Ark of the Covenant.
You do it like David in the privacy of your own, oh no, knock yourself out. Whirl about and praise God. Butler preached that we can dance. No, no, no, no, don't do that.
He takes away our sin. Has anybody ever said, what's so good about Christianity? Well, the fact that my sin has been taken away. What's so good about your religion?
My sins are forgiven. What's so good about being a believer in Jesus Christ? He atoned for my sin. He's the bloody knife and the smoking altar by which I approach to Yahweh of Israel.
That's good news. He takes away the sin of the world. The sins of His people are taken up by Him. They are blotted out by Him.
They are taken away by Him. This is done in His crosswork. the way that lamb was taken out of the flock, brought to the temple, the owner cut its neck, presented it over to the priest, who then engaged in the sacrificial process. That is what our Savior went through on our behalf so that we may be saved. That's what it means to have your sins taken away.
The Scope: The World
Notice the scope. He says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now before the Arminians, jump and dance and sing and whirl about before the Ark of the Covenant. Whirl, as used by John, doesn't mean every single human being without exception.
World, as used by John, means people without distinction. And the primary emphasis in John's gospel, it's not just Jews, but Gentiles. In fact, go back to the prologue and look at verse 10. You have the word world there used in three different ways.
It's the same Greek word, he was in the world. That must mean planet Earth. and the world was made through him. But verse 3 has already told us he made all things. So he didn't just make Earth, he made Mercury and Venus and Neptune and Pluto, he made the solar systems and the galaxies, and he made all that stuff.
So when John says he was in the world, that means he was on planet Earth. The world was made through him, that means the entire cosmos, and the world did not know him. That's used in an ethical sense. We use the word world in that way as well.
Oh, you're being worldly. You're of the world. Well, that's certainly how it's meant there at the end of verse 10. So whenever you're a Bible reader and you come across the word world, it doesn't mean every single human being without exception.
And especially when you look at John's gospel and there's this theology of inclusion of Gentiles in the redemptive plan of God. Notice in John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. It's qualified who are the benefactors of this redemptive work, the ones who believe in Him. within the world, from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, but they are the ones who believe. They are Jews and Gentiles.
Notice in 4.42, after Jesus' dealings with the Samaritans, we see in verse 42, then they said to the woman, now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard him, and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. Those of us who have been engaged in the study of the former prophets will know that Samaritans were terrible human beings. Now, I would say so are Canadians and so are Americans and so are all of us. So don't think I have a, you know, a racist bent against Samaritans.
But, you know, when you go back into the kings and you see what happened in Samaria when it was resettled after the conquest and various persons from different people groups were placed in that land and they started multiplying their idols. Samaria at the time of our Lord Jesus Christ and Samaritans were looked down upon. That's why for Jesus to meet with this Samaritan woman at the well and point her to himself is absolutely incredible. But the idea is, is that he is not only the savior of the Jews, but he is the savior of the world.
Caiaphas gets this right in John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Verse 49, this isn't a plot targeting the destruction of our Lord Jesus. Caiaphas gets right theology.
John 11, 49, and one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish. Now this he did not say on his own authority, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. It's pretty good theology from a God-hating rebel. But you see, the wrath of God or the wrath of man praises God.
And then, of course, in John 12, 32, Jesus said, and I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself. Go back for just a moment in verse 20. It says, Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.
You see, we've got Greeks, we've got Gentiles, we've got persons flocking to Israel's Messiah. And I think one of the best sort of definitions or explanations of John's use of world is in John's book called Revelation. Where in chapter 5, he says in verse 9, they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood. out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth." So the word world does not mean every single human being without exception, but it means persons without distinction. Jews, Gentiles, one Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And so when John makes that declaration, when he announces the arrival of Messiah in verse 29, behold, the Lamb of God, that's His function, and His specific purpose is to take away the sin of the world. But this is not the first time that we meet Jesus in the gospel according to John. That prologue traces back into the history of the second person of the Trinity, that he was with God, that he was God, that he became flesh, and he dwelt among us. He is the covenantal head of the new covenant.
He is the revelator of God, according to verse 18, and he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Application: The Cross in Trinitarian Context
Well, brethren, I hope that that puts the whole scope of the work of the Redeemer in that larger theological context. Again, we can focus on the cross, and we must focus on the cross, but we ought to focus on the Trinitarian life of God We ought to think of who the person of our Lord Jesus Christ is. One man, John Webster, says, the hidden life of God, precisely its inaccessibility and completeness, is the ground of creaturely well-being. Essentially, what he's saying is that who God is in Himself is the ground of creaturely well-being.
He says, it is because of the divine processions and the missions which rest upon them that there is a creature and a servant of God to come to the creature's aid and a spirit to bestow life. I quite like that, putting the work of Christ into its larger Trinitarian context. As well, the person of Christ in terms of overarching Christology. It's almost impossible to preach a sermon on these themes and not quote the Nicene Creed.
The Nicene Creed tells us that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God. begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven. and sits on the right hand of the Father, and he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end." Now, you gotta see that these Nicene Creed writers didn't make this stuff up. They reflect a movement that we see here in John's prologue. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and that Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
That Word goes on to be identified in terms of his function as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. It's good to see the work of Christ in its larger theological context. It's good to see the work of Christ in its larger covenantal context. This is why Paul says that all the promises of God are yea and amen in Jesus.
When we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we are proclaiming His death. Let's define the His. Let's marvel at the His. Let's worship the His.
Let's glorify the His. Let's praise Him and honor Him and adore Him, because when we see that He left that to come into this to save us, it ought to cause us to worship and praise. John Calvin said, it was also imperative that he who was to become our Redeemer be true God and true man. It was his task to swallow up death.
Who but life could do this? It was his task to conquer sin. Who but very righteousness could do this? It was his task to rout the powers of world and air.
Who but a power higher than world and air could do this? Now, where does life or righteousness or lordship and authority of heaven lie but with God alone? Therefore, our most merciful God, when He willed that we be redeemed, made Himself our mediator in the person of His only begotten Son. Praise Almighty God for that glorious truth and may we eat tonight and drink tonight proclaiming His death, giving some concentrated focus as to who His is or who He is in that statement.
He is the eternal Son of God, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven to save us. Guilty, vile, helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for how John teaches in John 1. not only that he functions as the Lamb of God with the purpose of taking away the sin of the world, but from whence he comes, how we thank you for the inner life of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and how we thank you that you have dealt so graciously with your creature, your sinning creature, how we thank you for redemption through his blood, how we thank you that we have access to the Father by the Son or through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, and may these things truly encourage our hearts. And may you help us to recall the fact that the purpose defined, at least in this text, is that he takes away the sin of the world. May you encourage us with this truth, not just tonight, but each and every day.
May we find time to reflect upon the goodness of God, the glory of the gospel in the sense or in the fact that we have been forgiven of our sins. We thank you and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.