How can you ever hope to remove your sins? By laying them at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. When John the Baptist saw Jesus walking toward him, he loudly exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). John knew that the sacrifice Jesus would make on the cross would be truly complete and sins would be forever removed. Jesus alone is the once-for-all-time perfect sacrifice that forever removes ALL the sins of those who put their trust in Him.
By contrast, the Jewish priests were required to perform the ritual sacrifices of the Day of Atonement year after year. But “atonement” simply means “covering”. So those sacrifices never actually removed Israel’s sin; they merely covered it up for one more year. We read in Hebrews 10:4 that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Jesus is not our atonement; He doesn’t “cover” our sins. He is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Hallelujah, oh what a Savior!
_______________________
“Lamb of God” is one of the many names by which the Lord is called. As I consider various names of God, I am reminded that we must look at the names and titles He gives Himself. It is absolutely critical to our proper understanding of God that we focus on how He has chosen to reveal Himself to us. It is much more important to know what God says about Himself, rather than what we think of Him. This is the only way to have a correct view of God and not be worshipping something of our own imagination.
For more information, please see my art/story “The Importance of Knowing God’s Names”.