A Prayer To Behold The Lamb Of God
God our Father, You are sovereign over all and Creator of each and every one of us. Your ways are not are ways. Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Give us perspective, as we seek to understand ancient sacrifice and its significance in our modern lives. Reveal to us the wisdom we need to embrace and fully receive salvation. May our lives behold the Lamb of God. Jesus, Your defeat of death will not be lost on us. We will daily take up our crosses to follow You, until the day we hug You in heaven. What a Savior, You are! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Let our hearts be full of gratitude for the gravity of the cross.In Jesus Name, Amen.
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionaryrate This Definition:
Beholdinterject.
See lo: a word by which attention is excited, or admiration noted.
Etymology: from the verb.
Behold! I am with thee, and will keep thee.Gen. xxviii. 15.
When out of hope, behold her! not far off,Such as I saw her in my dream, adorndWith what all earth or heaven could bestow,To make her amiable.John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. viii. l. 481.
To BEHOLDverb
pret. I beheld, I have beheld, or beholden. To view to see to look upon.
Etymology: behealdan , Saxon.
Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears.Ezek.xl. 4.
When some young Thessalians, on horseback, were beheld afar off, while their horses watered, while their heads were depressed, they were conceived by the spectators to be one animal.Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours, b. i. c. 4.
Man looks aloft, and, with erected eyes,Beholds his own hereditary skies.Dryden.
At this, the former tale again he told,With thundring tone, and dreadful to behold.John Dryden, Fab.
Biblical Translations Of Isaiah : 19
NIVSee, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
NLTFor I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
ESVBehold, I am doing a new thing now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
KJVBehold, I will do a new thing now it shall spring forth shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
NKJVBehold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
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How Does ‘behold I Am Doing A New Thing’ Tie Into Renewing Creation
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.Romans 16:25-27 NIV
Pauls conclusion to his letter to the Roman church echoes Isaiah in the proclamation of Gods sovereignty and ultimate wisdom. All-knowing and everywhere, Paul has the honor of penning the New Testament covenant view. The ultimate purpose of all things, is to bring glory to God . Jesus was with God in the beginning and came to earth to fulfill the Fathers will and bring glory to Gods holy name.
The Father weaves His wise will through the centuries as the perfect, holy, good, and sovereign God He is. He is the same yesterday, today, and always. This means every promise He has kept points forward to the promises He has yet to fulfill. At the Fathers command, the Son will again return to right all things and establish Gods kingdom on earth. Connecting Old Testament prophecy to fulfilled promises of God renews our hope in what is still yet to come! We learn more about who God is every time we dedicate our minds and hearts to discerning an ancient word made fresh and relevant in our current lives.
How Does ‘behold I Am Doing A New Thing’ Tie Into The Christmas Story
A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the LORD make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.Isaiah 40:3 NIV
A baby born to a virgin was a new thing. Angels breaking through the sky at His birth, an astonishingly bright star leading wise men and shepherds to a babys humble birth new things! The new things God orchestrated infallibly prove the miraculous birth of the Son of God on earth. John the Baptist appears prophetically, calling for a repentant and clear path for the Lord to arrive.
Ultimately, the coming of Jesus to earth is the new thing Isaiahs prophetic words point to. The ultimate superhighway home to Gods presence, and ultimately, home to Him in heaven eternally. Our stream in the wilderness is Christ. He is Living Water. Through Him, all things were made . The beauty of the Christmas story is the way we can relive the anticipation of centuries through the relevant prophecy of the Old Testament, connected to the centuries-old testimony of the New Testament fulfillments!
Old covenant believers were likewise able to be the people of God because they were in Christ, Ligonier Ministries explains, Though they lived before the Son became incarnate, they looked forward to the day in which He would come, and they trusted Him. Their example likewise shows us that the true Israel of God has always been comprised of those who love and serve the Messiah.
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Why Is Should Christians Know About The Lamb Of God
Christians should know about the phrase behold the lamb of God for a number of reasons.
First, because many of us dont have an agricultural background, the imagery may not hit home as much as it had for Jesus audience. Most of the people wouldve cared for some sort of livestock. Agriculture is, after all, the foundation of civilization. Who knew how the families felt when they brought the perfect lamb to be slaughtered at the Jewish festival? Had they grown attached to it? Did the children watch it die to fully understand the consequences of sin?
We may not know, but Jesus audience wouldve had a distinct familiarity with lambs. So, when John called Jesus the lamb of God we have to wonder if in the back of their heads they understood that meant a sacrifice of some kind.
Secondly, Old Testament law makes it clear that sacrifice requires a lamb without blemish. In the world of sin, no number of good deeds can un-blemish us. Sin has tarnished us like rust, and we need a perfect Savior to take our place.
I think Jesus temptation in the desert is clearly placed in conjunction with his baptism. He shows us that he does not bow to the ways of sin, even after fasting for 40 days . He proves to us that he will live the life we ought to have lived. A perfect lamb.
Jesus did conquer, but not Rome. He toppled a greater evil: sin. And he did so through his perfect, unblemished life and then sacrifice on the cross. Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Why Was The First Christmas Such A Surprise To Everyone Who Experienced It
The first Christmas story was a surprise because Gods people were expecting the King of Kings, not Jesus. He was born humbly in a manger and grew up among the people. Surely Gods chosen king, meant to rescue them, would look like the kings they had longed for and expected since the days of King Saul. They never needed a king they needed God, Himself. And He came down to earth, God the Son, to rescue them and us in an unimaginable way.
In the Bible the desert is a place where God gets peoples attention, wrote Allen Jackson, But its also a place where Gods people experience His deliverance, His provision, His revelation, His renewal, and His preparation for a new season. Mary, a virgin, in faith asked God, How?! Joseph was visited by an angel in a dream to assure him Mary was with child by the Holy Spirits hand. Their story was crazy! Even John the Baptist, the great prophet to prepare the way, was born to two elderly parents, a seemingly impossible miracle. The entire Old Testament, the entire history of Gods people, pointed to the Messiah.
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Becoming What We Behold
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Deep within every true Christian is a longing to be more like Christ. We are not content as we are we want to be changed. This longing comes from the Holy Spirit, who not only gives the new birth , but fills regenerated people with a zeal to glorify God .
The question is, How can we become more like Christ? The biblical answer to this may be surprising to us pragmatic modern folks. We tend to look for methods, strategies, and action points. But the Bible teaches that we become like Jesus as we worship Jesus.
To understand why this is true, we need to understand how human beings are made. God designed us to be His image bearers:
Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him male and female he created them.
Thankfully, we dont have to be conformed to the image of false gods. We can be conformed to the image of Christ. Consider 2 Corinthians 3:1718:
What Does ‘behold I Am Doing A New Thing’ Teach Us About Depending On Past Victories And Failures
Once you were not a people, but now you are Gods people once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:10
God promises, if we seek Him with all of our hearts, we will find Him. Gods people remembered past victories through extravagant ceremonies and festivals. Remembering who God is and what He has done for us has always been important in fueling us forward amidst current dilemmas and hard seasons and battles. Failures are the kindling God uses to express His strength through us. In our weaknesses, He is strong. We learn and grow much more efficiently from failure and weaknesses than from strengths and triumphs. We remember these things, but we depend on God, alone. God calls his people to trust in what is not yet seen, Stacy Pardoe explains, Though a desert is before them, he is preparing to send a river of deliverance. We can cling to that same promise.
But we do long for a shortcut to the lesson learned! A respite from the long journey. We invent all kinds of ways to travel farther faster.
And a highway will be there it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it it will be for those who walk in that Way wicked fools will not go about on it.
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A Prayer To Hope In What God Is Doing
Father, we know the world spins on Your omnipotent will, and You are always working. We can only see what we currently experience. Our plans are futile and our efforts limited. But God, You are always doing a new thing, providing for us through Living Water. When we are faced with dire circumstances and long-suffering seasons, we need You to remind us of Your constant and consistent love for us. You are faithful to provide for us, always. No matter how we are feeling and what is happening on this earth, You are constant and unchanging. Remind us, when we struggle to understand the injustice and suffering in the world, of Your perfect will for every one of us. Jesus is Savior to all. May we all come running to His understanding arms, this Christmas and every day after, with a fresh understanding of You, Mighty God.
In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
What Is The Meaning And Context Of John : 29
Every Jewish family was required to sacrifice a lamb at Passover, killing and roasting it for the traditional Passover meal. Can you imagine as many as 100,000 lambs roasting all over the city of Jerusalem? The air would be filled with the aroma, wrote Allen Jackson in A Perfect Lamb, When John the Baptist declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world! the people had a very vivid picture of what the sacrifice would mean.
The Apostle John began his gospel account by identifying Jesus as the Word of God, the second person in the Trinity, and present with God the Father at Creation. Jesus, the Word of God, encompasses all rituals and rules regarding sacrifice. Every biblical sacrifice pointed toward Jesus. The meaning and context of John 1:29 is significant to the Christian faith because Jesus sacrificed His own life for ours.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us . The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look the Lamb of God! . This exact phrase appears only here and in John 1:36, When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look , the Lamb of God! The Passover was significant to the Jewish faith, to Gods chosen people. The reason the Lord instituted the Passover was so that people of Israel would always remember and proclaim their redemption from Egypt, wrote Jon Bloom.
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Breaking Down The Key Parts Of Isaiah : 19
#1 See, I am doing a new thing! God is beginning to reveal the salvation that comes by Jesus Christ, who will die for our sins and rise again. In fact, he did that over seven hundred years later. The next new thing will be his return and the final judgment of all things. We wait patiently with the assurance that when God says, I am doing, he is.
#2 Now it springs up do you not perceive it? All around is the evidence of the objective reality that God is working. One who believes can read Scripture and perceive the truth of God promises, as events and surroundings agree with the Word of God and our faith.
#3 I am making a way in wilderness and streams in the wasteland. This is symbolic language about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, rivers of living water . What is the difference between Gods people in the Old Testament who were trying to follow a God who had saved them from slavery in Egypt, and the people of the New Testament who are trying to follow a God who has rescued us from slavery to sin? The Holy Spirit is the difference-maker who enables us to walk by faith in obedience to Christ. The Holy Spirit allows us to abide in him .
How Do You Use The Word Behold
Behold a real horse! Soon everyone was zapping seeds and planting them and, lo and behold, it actually worked! Why do precisely these objects which we behold make a world? It was like travelling into a far country, such as I had never expected to behold, to lie there for one night.
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Why Did John Say Behold The Lamb Of God
John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, sees Jesus approach in the desert. We know Jesus has gone by many different names in the Bible such as Prince of Peace and Wonderful Counselor. So it seems a little odd that John would choose to introduce him to the crowd as a lamb.
According to this article by Meg Bucher, We know in the Gospel of John that John the Baptist was referring to Jesus when he exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” There were also Old Testament prophecies concerning the sacrifice of a servant for his people. Jesus was prophesied as the Lamb of God in Isaiah 53:7 and Isaiah 53:12, which reads: Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
The lamb, first of all, served as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people, especially during Passover. Well discuss how this ties into the life and death of Jesus in a moment.
The lamb also fulfills Old Testament prophecy, as explained above by Bucher.
In other words, this name comes with a rather painful reminder of what Jesus must endure at the latter half of John and the other Gospels. The Jewish people wouldve had a distinct familiarity with the sacrificial lamb they had chosen each year to slaughter. One without blemish. Perhaps one theyd even given a name.