“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!‘” John 1:29 (NASB)
Does sin always have a cost?
Sometimes we wonder about this because not every sin is immediately and visibly punished. We tell a lie, for example, and sometimes we get away with it.
But sin always has a cost. And that cost is death.
This is what God wanted to teach the Israelites in the Old Testament when He instituted the sacrificial system.
You see, God’s Law required that sinners take their best lamb—a perfect, unblemished lamb—and sacrifice it for their sins.
They placed their hand on the lamb’s head to symbolize the transfer of guilt from the sinful human to the innocent lamb. And then it died the death those sinners deserved.
Sin demands death. And the Israelites saw the cost of their sins very clearly.
And yet they kept on sinning. And because one lamb wasn’t enough to cover all the sins of all the people permanently, lambs were constantly being slaughtered.
And so God—in His infinite love and provision—sent a better sacrifice: Jesus Christ. The One John the Baptist described as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Jesus is the innocent and blameless male Lamb of God who took on Himself all our sins and died for them on the cross.
And unlike the thousands of sheep slaughtered before Him, His singular sacrifice was sufficient for all people and for all time. He paid the cost of sin so that we wouldn’t have to.
And if you have received Him, your sin-debt—the cost you incurred for your sins—is paid. in. full.
So let me ask you:
If you are a Christian, where are you still trying to pay for sins that Jesus already paid for on the cross?
Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient. And nothing else needs to be added to it.
And if you aren’t a Christian, then let today be the day you put your trust in His saving work on the cross. The instant you do, your sins—past, present and future—will be paid for once and for all!
My prayer is that every person reading this today would hear the name of Jesus and be able to cry out “Behold, the Lamb of God who took away my sin.”
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation. www.lockman.org