"Behold, the Lamb of God..."

The Lamb of God.
Even the earliest chapters of Scripture begin to reveal truth that “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.” When Adam and Eve sinned, God killed a lamb and made a covering for them, and from that point on—Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—we see sacrifices being offered, blood being shed, and a covering being made for sin. And yet it was a covering, not a cleansing, that these sacrifices accomplished. The question remained: What can take away my sin?
The Old Testament records the covenant of the law that God gave to His people on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. This covenant revealed a system of feasts, ceremonies, and sacrifices to be performed in specific ways at specific times during the worship of Yahweh, the true and living God. The LORD required His people to approach Him through sacrifices so that they might come with clean hands and a pure heart. Both the sacrifice and the worshipper’s heart towards Yahweh were necessary in order to be pleasing to Yahweh. But still this system—intricate, God-designed, and significant though it was—could not effect the cleansing of sin. The question remained: What can take away my sin?
And the question hung in the air and in the hearts of true worshippers for hundreds of years. Millions of gallons of blood were shed. Rivers upon rivers of blood flowed from the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Millions of spotless lambs, bulls, and goats were sacrificed for sin, but there was no finality, no permanent sacrifice, no cleansing of sin. And the people yearned, they longed, they groaned, wrestled, cried out, mourned for a final sacrifice—a sacrifice that would effectively crush sin and its dominion. Those who loved God increasingly ached for His redemption, and they questioned in agony of soul: What can take away my sin?
Throughout this entire time, however, as the centuries dragged on, God was sending His people messages of hope—a Savior would come. God, in various times and in various ways, spoke to His worshippers and promised them salvation. Sin would not always have, as it were, the upper hand. One day there would be a sacrifice to take away sin.
And then, in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus. God provided a Lamb for Himself. Jesus came into the world. He was God’s Final Word against sin. He was the promised, long-awaited Savior. He was the Lamb of God, and He could take away the sin of the world. What rivers of blood from animal sacrifices had been incapable of washing away, Jesus Christ would conquer and take away with a once-for-all sacrifice of Himself. From the glories and exaltation of Heaven, Christ came to earth, and although in the wisdom of God, He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, yet there was a specific time on earth when God clothed Himself with the likeness of men and took upon Himself the form of a servant and came dwelt among us. Jesus came to earth. This is how God chose to answer the question: God the Son became the Lamb of God—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.