In this message we shall cover the six aspects of Christ in redemption: the Lamb of God (John 1:29), a man in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), a creature (Col. 1:15), a serpent in form (John 3:14), and our peace and Peacemaker (Eph. 2:14-16).
In John 1:29 we see that in redemption Christ is the Lamb of God: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This verse indicates that Christ as the Lamb of God takes away sin from the human race. The phrase “of the world” in this verse actually means from mankind. Through Satan sin entered into man, for Satan injected sin, his poisonous nature, into the human race. But the Lamb of God has come to take away this sin from the world, from mankind.
Christ died on the cross as the Lamb of God to deal with sin and sins. From 1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 Peter 2:24, and Hebrews 9:28 we see that as the Lamb of God the Lord Jesus died for our sins. Furthermore, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 9:26, His death dealt with sin. Therefore, both sin and sins were dealt with by the Lamb of God, who was under God’s judgment on the cross.
In redemption Christ as the Lamb of God satisfied God’s requirements, the requirements of His righteousness, holiness, and glory. No fallen human being could ever fulfill these requirements. Hence, there was the need of a Redeemer, the Lamb of God, designated by God to fulfill His righteous, holy, and glorious requirements.
In the Gospel of John the Lamb of God signifies the Word in the flesh (John 1:1, 14) as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament offerings to accomplish God’s full redemption. Christ is the totality of all the offerings. He is not only the sin offering but also the trespass offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the wave offering, the heave offering, the free-will offering, and the drink offering. With Christ as all the offerings we have God’s full redemption. Through Christ as the Lamb of God fulfilling all the offerings we may enter into God and participate in the divine life and nature (John 3:14-15; 2 Pet. 1:4). Because of Christ as the Lamb of God, we are well able, even enabled, to enter into God. We may boldly come into God, knowing that He does not have the right to reject us, because we come through His Lamb. We have full redemption in Christ, and therefore we are enabled to enter into God to enjoy all that He is.
According to 1 Peter 1:20, Christ as the redeeming Lamb was foreknown by God before the foundation of the world, that is, before the creation of the universe: “Who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in the last times for your sake.” Christ was foreordained, prepared, by God to be His redeeming Lamb according to His foreknowledge before the foundation of the world. This was done according to God’s eternal purpose and plan; it did not happen accidentally.
The Greek root for the word “foreknown” includes the meaning of appreciation, approval, and possession. And to be foreknown by God means to be foreordained by God. In his expanded translation of the New Testament Kenneth S. Wuest uses the word “foreordained” in 1 Peter 1:20, saying, “Christ...was foreordained before the foundation of the universe was laid.” This means that in eternity past God approved Christ and appreciated Him. God also ordained Christ to be His anointed One, the One commissioned to fulfill in time all that had been planned by God for the accomplishment of His eternal purpose. In particular, Christ was foreknown, foreordained, to be the Lamb of God to accomplish redemption.
Revelation 13:8 speaks of Christ as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” In the eternal view of God, Christ as the Lamb of God was slain from the time creation came into being. This means that in the sight of God Christ was slain not two thousand years ago, but from the time creation came into existence, that is, since the fall of man as a part of the world. God foreknew the fall of creation. Therefore, from the existence of creation Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain.