Lamb of God

Editor's note: Jesus came to save sinners, unable to save themselves.The human race is under the curse of death for the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Because God is holy and perfectly just, He cannot abide sin and unrighteousness. Thus, mankind became alienated from God. Yet in his love and mercy, God announced his plan to redeem his chosen people through a savior to come, by which our alienation could be rectified. We learn in Scripture that "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins."  In the Old Testament, God set up a means for the Israelites to have their sins forgiven through a sacrificial system involving the shedding of lambs' and other animals' blood. This was only a foreshadowing of the real and perfect sacrifice to come: the Son of God who would one day come and lay down his life, shedding his own blood for all God's people. The allusions to Christ as a sacrificial lamb are poignantly expressed particularly in John 1 and Isaiah 53, as well as in other passages, presented below.