The Babe is the Lamb

The Babe is the Lamb © 2012, Chris MacKinnon www.chrismackinnon.com Gateway Assembly 11 Argyle Street Campbellton, NB E3N 1G3 www.gatewaycampbellton.com Cover Image: “L’innocence” by William Adolph Bouguereau

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked Phillips are from The New Testament in Modern English, Copyright © 1958, 1959, 1960 J.B. Phillips and 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957 The Macmillian Company, New York. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the author’s added emphasis.

Overview Why did Jesus have to come? What purpose was there in God taking on flesh? As it is often said, Jesus was born to die.

Understanding the coming of Jesus to Earth comes from an understanding of His sacrifice.

Jesus is called “the Lamb of God” at the opening of His ministry and again in the Book of Revelation. Learn why a sacrifice was required and what Jesus accomplished as God’s perfect Lamb.

Parts of this Study 1. The Lamb of God 2. The Shedding of Blood 3. The Perfect Sacrifice

What is Christmas? It is a question that the world should grapple with every December, yet it often goes unaddressed. By the time Christmas is upon us we are already into the demands and the rush of the season. Gifts for family members, close friends, teachers, employees, and next-door neighbors. Photos and cards. Banquets, dinners and gift exchanges.

In our homes we dig through forgotten closets and storage spaces, looking for the decorations that we put away last year.

Garlands and lights. Ornaments and tinsel. A tree is placed in a well-traveled room so everyone can enjoy the spectacle, even the couple that walks around the block every evening after supper.

At church we remind each other that “Jesus is the reason for the season.� We make it a point to make Christmas about the 1

birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of the one true God. Santa Claus is pushed aside and we reserve center stage for a small child, a baby wrapped in white cloth and lying in a feeding trough. Reindeer are replaced with shepherds and “wise” men bearing gifts. And an angel reminds us of this Child’s former home.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. [Luke 2:4-7]

Just the Beginning At Christmas we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Consider the images that come to mind when you think about or hear the Christmas story. A crowded hotel with too many guests and a frustrated front desk clerk. Equally stinky animals in a cave or a barn full of hay and a few unexpected guests. Scruffy-looking shepherds hanging out by a campfire, drifting off to sleep. Finely dressed men riding on the backs of camels laden with chests of gifts for the newborn child.

We focus on the beginning of what is sometimes called, “the 2

greatest story ever told.” We celebrate the birth of Jesus like any other birth in our families. Throw a party. Have some food. Give some gifts. Just like the new dad in the hospital hallway, we celebrate with people we are close to and the unwitting strangers standing in our path.

And when it is all done, when the cake is gone and the last gift is opened, we clean up and head for home. There is another holiday to get ready for. Vacation time to enjoy. Christmas is here and gone on our way to New Year’s, and then everything gets back to “normal.” We tend to overlook what happens next.

Within a week this family will go to the Temple to perform a cleansing ritual and a circumcision, and Jesus is prophetically spoken over by two faithful souls in the courtyard (Luke 2:2239). After the Magi visit they left in a way that takes them far from Herod, who is so jealous about the possibility of a king of the Jews that he orders the slaughter of all male children in Bethlehem under the age of two (Matthew 2:16-18). A little later we read about Jesus’ visit to the Temple at age twelve, when He gets away from the family caravan and interacts with the experts in the Law of Moses. And when they find Him Jesus reminds them that He was supposed to be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:41-50).

These events usually go without mention. Stick with the good news of Jesus’ birth, of the shocking announcement by the angels and the gifts of the wise men. Sing songs like, “Away in a 3

Manger,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Silent Night.” But do not go any further. Stay right there.

Is it any wonder that we are as shocked as Mary and Joseph to find Jesus about His Father’s business? The celebration of Jesus’ birth goes beyond the newborn baby in the manger. It goes further than the journey of the men from the East. Bethlehem is not the end of the plan for the Son of God, it is only the beginning.

It is like reading only the first chapter of a book. It is joining a marathon but only running the first few feet. It is starting a crosscountry road trip but never leaving your hometown. Jesus’ birth is just the beginning, the launch pad of all that comes next.

Jesus is the Lamb Near the end of the New Testament, Scripture delivers a picture of Jesus that is far different from the Babe that we usually have in mind during Christmas.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven … and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne …

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. . . . And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. . . . And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne 4

… stood a Lamb as though it had been slain … Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne…

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

[Revelation 4:1-2; 5:1-12]

At the end of time, when the Scroll is opened and the final steps are taken to bring about the return of Jesus to setup God’s Kingdom on the Earth, He will not be remembered as a Baby but as a Lamb.

The image of Jesus as the Lamb was spoken about Him at the very beginning of His ministry. A voice called out to the people of God to repent of their sins and return to following God’s laws and decrees, to be His people spiritually as they were physically.

Many were baptized by this man who has since been known as John “the Baptist.” Amidst all of the others coming to John one day, Jesus also came to be baptized. … John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” [John 1:29] 5

Jesus did not come to Earth to remain a baby in a manger. He did not even live in Bethlehem for most of His life. The angels, the shepherds and the wise men, they all came and went. Jesus grew into a boy and then into a man.

He came to complete His Father’s business. That business was not the “business” that you clean up in a diaper, not classroom studies or the carpentry work that was undoubtedly part of His life. His business was not fulfilled in His teachings or His miracles. The Father’s business was the work of the Lamb.

Why we need a Lamb When John proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb he also diagnosed the reason for the Lamb’s coming: to take “away the sin of the world.” We have a glimpse of this truth in the most famous verse of Scripture.

“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.” [John 3:16]

Many people believe in the words and works of Jesus’ life, but they do not have life forever because they do not believe in the business Jesus came to complete. Jesus came to die for our sin.

Your sin, my sin, and the sin of everyone who chooses to believe in Him and His work.

Christmas is a celebration that God loved us so much that He 6

gave us His Son. But He was not just given to be a teacher and a friend. He was not just given to preach to thousands, challenge religiosity, heal the sick and raise the dead. Jesus came to die, and not just any death, but the one death that could take away our sin.

Consider how many people celebrate Christmas. What are they celebrating? Many people celebrate love, family, hope and joy. Others celebrate giving and receiving. Some just look forward to vacation and some hard-earned days of rest and relaxation. They might acknowledge the Babe in the manger, the Christ in Christmas, but they cannot truly celebrate all that His birth means.

The coming of the Lamb was so vital to God’s plan that it was put into motion long before it was necessary. In the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis we read how God created everything from the light, to the land, the beasts, birds and fish, and finally man. For an unknown amount of time Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden without incident. Then came one incredibly loaded decision, partnered with a simple act of disobedience, and sin entered the world.

Long before Adam and Eve sinned, before the land and sea were separated, before the light came from the spoken will of God, God planned for sin’s consequences. In Heaven’s throne room in Revelation 5 Jesus appeared as a Lamb that looked like it had been slain. Later in Revelation tells us that “the Lamb [was] slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

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God knew sin was coming, so He planned a way to counteract it, to cure man of the sickness that he receives from being born. A bridge was built before there was a canyon to cross. A highway was made before Point A was separated from Point B.

A bag of questions The fact that the Babe is the Lamb that was slain before the world was made tends to lead us to more questions than answers.

Why did He have to be a lamb? How does His death take away our sin? What makes Jesus’ death so special? What else does it mean for us? The rest of this study answers those questions.

For now be challenged to look at Christmas through different eyes. Look at the manger in your nativity scene and consider where the life of that little child will lead. From a stable in Bethlehem His life circles around and around, until it finally comes to an end on a hill, not too far from where it started.

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Do you have a nativity scene setup somewhere in your home?

Chances are high that you have more than one. You might have a small glass scene on your mantel, a hand painted, wooden set on a side-table, and a full-size light up version in your front yard.

There are a few elements that are in every scene, starting with the small family the story centers around. Joseph is a carpenter from Nazareth, and he traveled to Bethlehem because of a census requiring him to journey back to his family’s ancient home.

With him is his fiancÊe, Mary, usually dressed in blue and white. And then, whether in Mary’s arms or laying in a feeding trough, is the newborn Baby, Jesus.

As the scene expands you might add a few shepherds, fresh from the fields with angel voices ringing in their heads. Speaking 9

of angels, you might have one sitting in a loft or on the roof of the stable, looking down on the special scene. To another side there might be three men, dressed in fine robes with crowns on their heads, each carrying a gift for the Child. You might even have a little drummer boy in there somewhere.

Don’t forget about the animals. A few camels for the wise men. A donkey and a cow in the hay of the stable. And then, maybe behind the shepherds a bit, you find a lamb or two. They followed their masters in from the fields. Or maybe they are already in the stable. Along with all of the other sounds of the Baby crying, the shepherds awing and the cattle lowing, you hear the gentle “baa” of the sheep.

It would not be a surprise to find sheep near the birth of Jesus since sheep were an important element of Jewish life for hundreds of years. Wool was obviously important for clothing since polyester had not caught on just yet. And who could resist a lamb chop, leg of lamb or roast mutton from time to time?

Still, the role of sheep went much deeper than physical need and opportunity. They were key players in the spiritual life of God’s people. So when John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), it was a statement loaded with meaning.

The Entrance of Sin You probably know the story of Adam and Eve (see Genesis 10

1:26-3:24). After God spent six days creating the universe and our world, and then filling this world with life in the air, on the land and on the sea, God turned to put His hand to His greatest creation. With special care and attention God formed the first human from the dust of the earth. Then God did something that is not recorded with any other living element of Creation, He breathed life into the man.

We do not know how long Adam lived on his own. It is long enough to name all of the animals. It is also long enough for Adam to realize that he is different and become lonely. In His love and provision God makes a woman for Adam from one of his own ribs, and the first couple come together at the hands of the perfect Matchmaker.

Days continue on without record. Maybe months, or years, or eons of time pass before Adam and Eve’s story takes a terrible turn. There is a serpent in the Garden, “more cunning” than any other creature. His goal is to bring down God’s beloved man and woman, and he succeeds. … And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

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Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked... [Genesis 3:1-7]

When God comes to see them, as He has done every day, they are hiding from Him. Of course, He knew what they had done.

But in order to bring them back in right relationship they would have to admit it freely. Not knowing what might befall them, for nothing like sin had ever entered Creation before, they tell God what they have done.

Three judgments are passed down from the Throne of God. God’s swiftest judgment comes on the serpent. He is cursed, fallen, and forever at war with the seed of Adam and Eve. Eve, well, she will know a pain like no other: childbirth. And Adam, he will have to toil for his livelihood. Not just work, but toil.

The remedy for sin The next part of the story is the nice bow at the end that 12

wraps it all up for everyone, but tells a powerful truth between its lines.

Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. [Genesis 3:21]

Something profound happens in this verse that it is not described for us. God covered the nakedness of Adam of Eve. But God did not go down to the local Wal-Mart or Burlington Coat Factory to get them some new clothes. He provided “tunics of skin.� Where does skin come from? A living animal that is no longer living.

That means that God had to kill an animal to cover the sins of Adam and Eve. The Garden must have filled with horror! All Adam and Eve knew about the Garden and its creatures was harmony, living together, helping them grow and thrive. But for God to cover their sin the life of another had to be taken.

The principle that is put to work for the first time in Genesis 3 is described for us in the Book of Hebrews. ‌ the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. [Hebrews 9:22]

We all have sins. It is the ugliest, but one of the plainest truths of the Bible: we are all sinners. That sin separates us from God and condemns us to eternal punishment. The only means of life is 13

through forgiveness of sin, and that forgiveness requires a payment of blood. God explains why when He spoke about the preciousness of blood.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”

[Leviticus 17:11]

In Leviticus God went to great lengths to show the people of Israel how blood is used to purify and sanctify. It takes away our sins. It makes objects dedicated to God holy. It is a seal of dedication upon those given to serve God and His people. It is special, and it is necessary.

The significance of a lamb The Law of Moses detailed the sin offering as a bull. Jesus is not known as the bull of God but as the Lamb of God. What is so special about a lamb that separates it from what God Himself prescribed as the offering for sin?

Long before God gave the Law through Moses to the people of Israel, a lamb was the traditional animal used in burnt offerings. The second sacrifice mentioned in Scripture comes when Abel brought an offering to God. He was “a keeper of sheep” and offered one of the firstborn of his sheep to God (Genesis 4:2-4). Abraham was known for building altars to God 14

in the places he made his camp, suggesting that he also gave animal offerings to God. When his son Isaac was born and God tested Abraham’s faith, Isaac expected a lamb for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-8).

The greatest role of the lamb was played just a few weeks before the Law was given on Mount Sinai. God sent Moses to deliver the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, but Pharaoh’s heart was reluctant to let them go. Therefore God sent plagues on Egypt, not just to punish them for mistreating His people, but to show Himself greater than the false gods that Egypt served.

After nine plagues of disease, destruction and darkness, the worst plague would bring about the freedom of Israel. In one night, God Himself would go out and strike the firstborn of Egypt, “from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals” (Exodus 11:5).

In order to show the homes of the people of Israel, God declared the sacrifice of a Passover lamb. All Israel was to prepare their lambs and slaughter them on the same day, cook it by fire and eat it. They must take “some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”

And when the Lord passes through Egypt, where He sees the blood on the doorframe, He will pass over them, and they will live (Exodus 12:1-13).

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God’s Passover Lamb Jesus, the Child born in a stable of Bethlehem, died as God’s precious Passover Lamb for the sin of men. Each year Jewish men of age had to travel to Jerusalem for three great feasts, one of which was the Passover.

This is what drew Jesus to Jerusalem the week of His death.

On the night of Jesus’ betrayal the Disciples were looking for a place where they could celebrate the Passover (Luke 22:7-13).

What we know as Good Friday, the day that Jesus died, was the Day of Preparation for the Passover (John 19:14, 31).

For all gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the lambs must be killed and readied for cooking before sundown, the beginning of the Sabbath. While Jesus hung on the cross outside the city walls, inside the walls of the Temple lambs were slain.

How does the Son of God fulfill the role of the sacrificial lamb? What takes the son of a carpenter and makes Him into a Passover sacrifice for all of mankind? Does His sacrifice mean something that the others did not?

These are questions we have left to answer. For God’s Passover Lamb was indeed very special. His uniqueness provides a unique sacrifice unlike any other. He opens the door that no earthly lamb could.

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One of the most relieving moments of the Christmas season is when we finally purchase the last gift on our list. We might pick up a few odds and ends as we think of stray goodies and give in to a few impulse buys, but everything and everyone we have on our list is crossed off. The pressure is off. Now we can enjoy the rest of the season.

The most stressful moments for many is not out at the shopping mall the last Saturday before Christmas, not waiting in line for Black Friday deals, and not even sitting at the Christmas dinner table next to your aunt with the moustache that wants to give you all kinds of kisses because she has not seen in you such a long time.

This moment does not even come in the month of December.

It is in January when the bank and credit card statements arrive in 17

the mail. We floated for five or six weeks on credit, and now the creditors start looking for what is due them.

They helped you buy that brand new video game system, the big screen television, the computers, cell phones, music players, elaborate dinners and decorations. Those bills keep coming until they are paid off, hopefully in time for next year.

Living on credit A majority of our life is lived on credit. The clean clothes in your closet are on credit. Eventually they will run out and laundry will have to be done. Unfortunately it never seems to last as long as we would like it to. Your rent or mortgage, television, internet, telephone and electric bills have to be paid each month.

After you fill up your car with gas you can only go so far before you have to do it again.

What happens when we do not address the regular bills that fill our lives? We lose our home because the bank or the landlord is losing money. The power goes out. You cannot check your Facebook because your internet is cancelled. Out on the highway you run out of gas and find yourself stranded because you did not pay your cell phone or auto club bills.

The people of Israel’s relationship with God continued on credit. It affected their holiness, forgiveness for their sins, ritual cleanliness, even whether or not they could even go near one another. This credit revolved around the system of sacrifices and offerings that God gave in the Law of Moses.

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There are five offerings detailed in the opening chapters of Leviticus, four of which involve the sacrifice of an animal.

Depending on the individual’s financial ability their sacrifice may be a bull, goat, sheep, or of turtledoves or pigeons. The whole burnt offering was offered every day. Removing the ashes of the previous burnt offering and beginning the new one was a priest’s duty each morning. Another burnt offering is the peace offering, offered as a sign of thanksgiving to God. These sacrifices were burned with fire and were “a sweet aroma” to the Lord.

In the case of accidental sin one could offer a sin offering.

There were different elements depending if the offering was for the all of Israel, the ruler or officials within the nation, or for one of the “common people.” Finally there was the trespass offering (as in the NKJV) for rash oaths or being ritually unclean. With the completion of these sacrifices the sins committed would be forgiven.

The most important sacrifices for Israel were part of the Day of Atonement, detailed in Leviticus 16. Yes, it was good to please God with sacrifices each day, for thanksgiving, and even to take away accidental or ritual sin. But there must be a way to address the sins of all, to keep God’s people holy and separate.

A bull was offered for the high priest and his family. A goat was killed for the sins of the people. Its blood was applied within the Tabernacle to purify it because of the uncleanness and sin of the people, and also to the altar for its atonement. A second goat was brought, the scapegoat, and the high priest confessed the sins 19

of the people over it and then it was set loose to take the people’s sin far from them.

The better sacrifice Daily sacrifices. Personal sacrifices for accidental sin and uncleanness. And one holy day each year to remove and send away the sins of God’s people. This was the spiritual line of credit that the people of Israel lived on, the essence of the covenant God made with the people of Israel. But God had designed a better covenant, a better system, a New Testament.

The Book of Hebrews helps us understand the connection between the old system and the work of Jesus as the Lamb of God. He was appointed by God to be a new high priest, and as the eternal Son of God He could serve as high priest forever (Hebrews 7:20-24). The objects and Tabernacle that were made

by Moses were given to Him by God as earthly copies of the true Tabernacle in Heaven, which Jesus alone had access to offer the blood of His sacrifice (Hebrews 9:6-11). But the real power of the new system was in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.

It was not with goats' or calves' blood but with his own blood that he entered once and for all into the holy of holies, having won for us men eternal reconciliation with God. And if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a burnt heifer were, when sprinkled on the unholy, sufficient to make the body pure, then how much more will the blood of Christ himself, who in his eternal spirit offered himself 20

to God as the perfect sacrifice, purify your souls from the deeds of death, that you may serve the living God! [Hebrews 9:12-14 Phillips]

In each of the offerings from Leviticus – the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the trespass offering – the sacrifice was supposed to be without blemish. It had to be whole, healthy and clean. A blind sacrifice would not do. Neither would a lame, sick or weak offering. It had to be pure, perfect, without blemish. But the blood of these animals was still imperfect.

The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. [Hebrews 10:1-4 NLT]

What gives the sacrifice of Jesus its power? It is first because He was without blemish, perfectly without sin. He was able to sin but conquered temptation to remain pure.

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For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weak-nesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. [Hebrews 4:15 NIV]

The only acceptable way Earthly sacrifices in an earthly Tabernacle were never enough to truly remove sin. They were at best a temporary solution, used until the fullness of time that would bring the perfect solution.

Remember that Jesus is the Lamb of God, “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). God’s plan was always the perfect sacrifice of His Son, but for a time used an imperfect system to show all the world that salvation was found in Him alone.

A greater sacrifice must be offered that was worthy of the Heavenly tabernacle. An offering from the Earth could not be accepted in Heaven. Only an offering from Heaven was suitable.

Yet there must be some representation for the party that is benefiting from the offering. That leaves only one possible candidate, the God-man, Jesus Christ.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

[Colossians 1:19-20 NET]

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For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus … [1 Timothy 2:5]

He existed as the eternal Son of God before He was born as a Baby in the stable of Bethlehem. There He only added to Himself all that is human. From the first moment in Mary’s womb Jesus lived as one body full of two worlds, Heaven and Earth. In the frailty of humanity was the fullness of the only true God. The perfect sacrifice does more than just make possible a Heavenly offering, it makes that one offering complete.

For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often … He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself … Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many… [Hebrews 9:24-28]

Looking ahead at Christmastime Have you ever noticed the difference between a funeral for someone who knows Christ and someone that rejects Him? The latter is usually quite formal, filled with sadness and grief, and you almost feel as if a huge weight has been slung to your shoulders. But for those who know Christ there is the strange presence of laughter, of joy in a life known and loved, and hope for a wonderful reunion.

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Heaven celebrated the birth of Jesus with a new star in the sky and the visit of an angelic choir. In the middle of it all, did an angel turn to the Father and ask, “Are you sure you want to celebrate this? His birth is His death sentence?”

Instead of a tear in His eye, God might have turned to that angel with a smile. “But His death,” He would say, “is their doorway to everlasting life with me.”

Far from a smelly stable in a crowded little town, far from the swaddling cloths and the gentle caress of a mother, from the night the Babe was born, the Lamb gave His life so that all of the world might live. He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice in place of a system that was imperfect.

There was never a moment when He did not know what He was born for. He was born to complete His Father’s business.

When Jesus took His first steps, they were steps towards the cross. When He spoke His first words they were in preparation for His final cry, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

When you get to Christmas, and you see the Babe lying in the manger, remember that the Babe is the Lamb of God. Celebrate His birth, be thankful for His life, and rejoice for the peace and goodwill promised to men are the result of His death. Jesus is the reason for the season, but we are the reason He came.

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