John the Baptist said of Jesus, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). He was referring to Jesus as the holy, atoning sacrifice for sinners.
But why did humanity need an atoning sacrifice? Because in the words of Isaiah, Each of us has turned to his own way (Isa. 53:6). The problem in the world is that humanity has rebelled against God. This is universal, no exceptions. All have turned away from God, have violated His truth, His mercy, His moral law, have attempted to live as autonomous beings as if there is no God. As a result of this sinful rebellion, all humanity has become separated from God.
The result is the universal condition known as death: For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). God did not create death. Death is the result of sin which separates humanity from God, the Source of our life and being. Just as a branch, separated from the vine withers and dies, so a human being, separated from God by sin, will die.
God clearly warned the first man, Adam, that if he chose to rebel against God’s revealed will — if he sinned, death would enter the perfection of Eden (Genesis 2:16,17). Though neither Adam nor Eve died physically on the day they first sinned, death entered every aspect of their world. Death entered their relationship with God. Perfect fellowship with God was broken as they now saw God as Someone to fear and so they ran from God, hid from God, were separated from God by guilt and shame.
Death entered their own emotional being. Prior to their sin they were conscious of self without any corrupting qualities but now they perceived themselves through the distorted eye of fear, shame and guilt. This initiated the disintegration, the breakdown of human personality.
Death entered their relationship with each other. Whereas Adam and Eve had once been joined in perfect union, Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh (Gen. 2:23), now relationship was marred by accusation and distrust (Gen. 3:12). This initial breakdown of human society would result, within one generation, in corruption, violence and murder. In fact, the first city was built by the first murderer, Cain, the first son of the first fallen man and woman.
Death entered creation. Humanity no longer had dominion as the wise, compassionate caretaker-gardener over creation and so creation began to break down. Death entered the physical being of Adam and Eve, though it took centuries for their bodies to die, due to the magnificence of God’s design.
The problem on earth is not that God is cruel, uninvolved or unloving but that humanity fell from relationship with God. The disintegration and disaster in nature, in human society and in the soul of humanity is the result of sin.
Because God is holy, He is grieved and offended by our sin and must judge sin and sinner. Yet God in His mercy does not desire that we perish under the weight of sin and divine judgment. In fact, as soon as Adam and Eve fell from grace, God came to them, called to them, covered them and before they were expelled from the garden, God promised a someday Deliverer (Gen. 3:15).
The disciples of Jesus and all of Israel were expecting that Deliverer, a Messiah who would drive out the hated Romans and establish the kingdom of God. They could not imagine Messiah dying on a Roman cross. They thought, “If Jesus is truly the Messiah, He will conquer our enemies.” The followers of Jesus were bewildered by His death and their kingdom expectations were crushed. But if Jesus had ushered in the kingdom of God without first reconciling sinners to God, then no one could have entered His kingdom, separated as they were from the God of the kingdom.
The enemy was not the Roman army or the policies of the Roman government. The enemy was not the corrupt Jewish religious officials. The enemy was sin. The issue Jesus came to deal with was a world separated from God by sin and dominated by the death and disintegration which sin produces.
Humanity’s Helplessness
While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom 5:16). How is it that we are helpless to save ourselves? Because in our separation from God, the Source of all life, humanity is spiritually dead, dominated by powers of darkness and unable to perceive spiritual truth.
The Apostle Paul reveals, And you were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). Separated from God by our sin, we have no capacity to know God, we are spiritually dead.
Furthermore, in our separation from God, humanity is vulnerable to and dominated by the demonic powers that rule this world as Paul reveals, And you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:1,2). Powers of darkness — demons — incarnate their perverse values into human institutions, religions, philosophies, educational systems, culture and the arts. We in turn are shaped by and conformed to these values which further inflame our disposition to sin and further separate us from God.
In our fallen state we are spiritually blind, unable to discern the truth of our sin and unable to discern the truth that God desires to deliver us from our sin. Again Paul reveals, And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4).
In this state of separation from God, dominated by powers of darkness, blind to the truth of our lostness and the truth of God’s saving grace, we are helpless to save ourselves. Even if we could perceive our lost condition, we cannot redeem ourselves. The Psalmist reminds us: No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of his soul is costly and he should cease trying forever, that he should live on eternally, that he should not see decay (Psalm 49:7-9).
By implication, we cannot give enough offerings to pay for anyone’s sin, including our own. We cannot do enough righteous works or perform enough religious rituals to undo the consequences of our sin. We cannot overcome our death. We cannot unravel the entangling cords of darkness. We cannot save ourselves. We are in need of a Savior.
God’s Solution
Centuries before the birth of Christ, Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah, But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isaiah 53:5,6).
On the cross of Jesus Christ, God reconciled the world to Himself by placing our sin, and His judgment of sin, on Jesus: But now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ... having been offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:26,28).
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them ... He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:19,21).
The Bible does not say that God did not count our sins. It says that He did not count our sins against us. Our sins were placed on Jesus, who became a sin offering on our behalf. A holy God cannot ignore our sin and a merciful God does not desire that we perish forever under the weight of sin and judgment. So at the cross an incredible exchange took place, ordained by God. All the evil consequences due to humanity because of our sin came upon Jesus so that all the good due to Jesus through His sinless existence might come upon us.
The death of Jesus on the cross was not an accident, not something forced upon Him nor something God had not foreseen. Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation off the world (Revelation 13:8, I Peter 1:20). From the beginning of the universe God decided to do this. When God made human creatures and gave us a free will, He knew we would sin. Somewhere in the ancient councils of eternity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit agreed and decreed that the Second Person of the Trinity would be born in human form, that Jesus would be the Lamb slain for the sins of the world and that His sacrifice would obtain everlasting salvation for all who believe.
When people ask, “Why doesn’t God remove evil from the world?”, they reveal that they don’t understand the root cause of evil. Evil is the result of morally free creatures using their freedom to disobey God, to do evil rather than good. God could eliminate evil by removing human freedom but then we would no longer be human. Rather than stand by passively and watch us mutilate our humanity through sin, and rather than remove our freedom, thereby extinguishing our humanity, God was born in human form so that He could bear our sin and His judgment against our sin and take upon Himself the death which our sin created.
The cross of Jesus is the God-ordained event in which Jesus as our High Priest offered Himself as the holy Sacrificed Lamb slain in the place of sinners, the holy Substitute. He is now able to offer us mercy instead of judgment, forgiveness instead of justice, eternal life instead of eternal death. All who place their faith in Jesus Christ experience God’s gift of salvation.
Who needs this salvation?
The Apostle Paul reminds us, For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:5,6).
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18).
Who needs God’s gift of salvation? Those who are under the righteous wrath, the holy judgment of God. Against whom is God’s anger directed? Against all who have been unrighteous and ungodly. Who are they? Everyone, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). That is all humanity beginning with Adam and Eve and extending to each of us.
All humanity is in need of salvation.
It is necessary to understand the reality of God’s righteous anger against sin because if we do not grasp this truth, that we all stand condemned before God, then we will not take hold of the gift of salvation. Why would I want to be saved if there is nothing to be saved from? Why would I ask an offended God to forgive me if I am unaware or unwilling to accept the truth that I have sinned, that God is offended and I need to be forgiven? How could I appreciate or value the immensity of God’s grace if I do not appreciate the immensity of the penalty which my sin incurs — condemnation by God, death and everlasting separation from God?
The anger of God is not like the anger of people which is an expression of imperfect personalities and unstable emotions tainted by sin. God’s wrath, like all of His actions and attributes, is expressed in perfect harmony with all His other actions and attributes. God loves perfectly and exercises perfect mercy. God’s righteous anger at sin is perfect and His expression of this anger is also perfect and in perfect harmony with His mercy.
God’s wrath is the perfect expression of holiness, love and wisdom violated. How could a holy God not be angry with that which violates His holiness? How could a loving God not be angry at that which violates His love and destroys the objects of His love? How could a wise Creator not be angry at the sin which violates the perfect wisdom of His creative design?
Further, God is not unfair or unrighteous in pouring out His wrath on the unrighteous and ungodly because no one is ignorant of the truth that God exists. God is not hiding the truth about Himself or humanity. The majesty of creation and our inner sense of moral law reveal the existence of God (see Romans 1:18-32). This is not saving revelation — as we have said, the fallen human soul is blind to the truth of our fallenness and God’s desires to save us. But there is enough revelation available to enable us to realize the existence of God.
God has promised that whoever acts on the light of this general revelation that He exists, and who responds to His seeking, awakening grace, will discover a God who reveals Himself to us, who will continue to awaken us to the truth about Himself, the truth about our lost condition and the truth of His redeeming grace. Some people have more light than others but when we act on the light we have, God will reveal Himself to us, as He promised: You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart (Jere. 29:13).
The problem is not that God has hidden the truth of His existence. The problem is that ungodly people suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). To suppress something is to attempt to keep it from being revealed.
After Adam’s fall and from Adam onward, human beings are born with a disposition to sin. Since human beings are sinners by nature and do not wish to be confronted with the truth of God’s existence and our separation from Him, it is the nature of sinners to suppress the truth, deny it, evade it, try to keep it from being revealed. The problem is not lack of evidence but the sin-inspired desire to resist and avoid the truth. The problem is not lack of light but that sinful humanity prefers to suppress the light and embrace the darkness:
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:19,20).
Why do people resist and suppress the truth? Because truth shines light into hearts and exposes sin. People love their sin and therefore love the darkness that covers sin and hate the light that reveals it.
Why do we, in our natural state, refuse to honor or glorify God? Because then we would be acknowledging God’s existence. If we acknowledge that there is a God, then we must acknowledge God’s moral law and our failure to keep it.
Yet God, in His mercy, has offered salvation to every person who will allow Him to turn us from the darkness of sinful choices. In His kindness, the Lord pursues us, awakens us from spiritual death, removes the veil from our eyes and shines light into the souls of all who will receive His awakening grace.
God’s light reveals God’s solution:
Jesus, the Unblemished Lamb, the Sinless Sacrifice
Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah prophesied the sacrificial death of the Messiah:
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ... Surely our griefs He Himself bore and our sorrows He carried ... But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities ... All of us like sheep have gone astray ... But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isa. 53:3-6).
Jesus said, All things which are written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). Jesus understood that He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would be the holy Sacrifice for sin.
God established the Old Testament sacrificial system to acquaint people with the reality that sin creates death. Lambs and other innocent animals were slain as substitutes for the sins of the people. David the Psalmist wrote, Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, You forgive them (Psalm 65:3). The word forgive can be translated by the word cover. The Old Testament sacrifices did not atone for sin or cleanse the sinner of sin — they covered the sinner until the future day when the sacrifice of Christ would be offered.
A lamb presented as a sin offering needed to be unblemished, spotless. This was a pre-shadowing of Jesus, the holy, sinless, unblemished sacrifice for sin. Many witnesses testified of the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, after examining Jesus, repeatedly testified of the innocence of Christ: And behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. No, nor has Herod (Luke 23:13-15). (See also Luke 23:22, John 18:38, 19:4, 6).
Because Jesus was sinless and because His innocence was clear even to a morally compromised politician, Pilate made efforts to release Him (John 19:12). The only reason the governor condemned Jesus was because the Jerusalem powerbrokers threatened to report Pilate to Rome if he did not. Because they held all the political leverage, the governor succumbed to their pressure and condemned the Man whom he knew to be innocent.
There are other witnesses to the sinlessness of Christ:
The writer to the Hebrews testifies, For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens (7:26).
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14).
The Apostle Peter testifies, Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ ... who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth (I Peter 1:18,19 2:22).
Separated from God by our sin,
spiritually dead and blind, dominated by the powers of darkness,
we could not save ourselves.
Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God,
the holy, sinless sacrifice, eternally purposed by God,
bore in His own being our sin and our death.
Jesus Christ is God’s solution for our impossible dilemma.
Study Questions
1. Why does humanity need a Savior?
2. What is God’s solution to humanity’s separation from God?