The Lamb of God

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29

I encourage you to start every new day with this thought: “God loves me and gave His only Son for me. Jesus is all for me today. I am saved, healed, favored, righteous, and accepted in Christ the Beloved.”

Start your day by occupying your mind with Jesus. For a season in my life, before I even got out of bed, I would repeat to myself over and over again, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Some mornings I would say it more than fifty times. I wanted it to be a revelation pulsating in my heart, an unshakable belief that God is for me and with me. When you occupy your mind with Jesus, every struggle, fear, and bondage that you are entangled with will lose its evil grasp on you!

There is a beautiful picture of Jesus hidden in the Old Testament. Under the old covenant of the law, those who sinned were told to bring a sheep that was without blemish, wrinkle, or spot to the priest.

The priest does not examine the person to see if he is perfect (without sin), because he has sinned. So the priest examines the sheep.

If the sheep is indeed perfect, the person who has sinned lays his hands on the sheep in an act of transferring his sins to the innocent sheep. At the same time, the innocence and perfection of the sheep are transferred to the person.

The sheep is then killed, and the person leaves with his conscience cleared and his sin debt forgiven. He walks away under an open heaven of God’s favor and blessing.

Can you see Jesus in this Old Testament practice? The sheep without blemish, spot, or wrinkle is a picture of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ Himself, who takes away the sins of the world.

The priest is a picture of God. He doesn’t examine you for your sins. Instead, He examines Jesus, and because Jesus is gloriously perfect, you can live today with your conscience cleared and your sin debt forgiven. You can walk under an open heaven and expect God’s favor and blessings in your life.

What a beautiful picture of God’s abundant and lavish grace.

Today, turn your eyes away from yourself and stop the self-introspection! Look to Jesus, the Lamb of God, and see His perfection as your perfection. See His innocence as your innocence, His righteousness as your righteousness. Be occupied with Him, and be transformed from the inside out.

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.