A remarkable preacher named John, the Baptist, drew great crowds to the Jordan River where he did his baptizing. The crowds who came to hear him were mainly Jewish by nationality and by religious convictions. His message was a clear call for repentance from sin and the threat of divine judgment if the call was not heeded. He also spoke of One Who would come after him Who was to be heard at all cost.
One day Jesus came through the crowd toward him. When John saw Him, he shouted to the crowd, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). To the Jewish minds gathered there, that was a very strange statement. The Law of Moses which regulated their worship, feasts, offerings and sacrifices made no provision for the taking away of sin. It provided only a temporary covering, recognized and honored by God.
When the priests offered the blood of the Passover lamb, for example, they applied the blood to the "mercy seat," which was the lid of the "ark of the covenant," a relatively small chest in the holiest place of the tabernacle and later in the temple of Israel. Inside that chest were, among a few other things, the tables of stone with the ten commandments inscribed upon them. Symbolically, when that blood was applied to the mercy seat, the broken commandments under it were covered from God's view. For one year the sins of Israel were covered, and God would withhold judgment. But the same ritual had to be repeated at the same time next year. The blood of the Passover lamb only covered sin temporarily.
Those repeated sacrifices had their effect only because God had provided them until Christ should come. He would give them their power to stay God's judgment. God signaled the occasion and identified the Person Who would fulfill His intent for the sacrifices. Hear John's words again: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
When Christ died for the sin of the world, He provided a sacrifice which would take away all the covered sins of the Old Testament era as well as the sins of the New Testament and post-New Testament era. As then the repeated sacrifices were offered in faith, believing that God would keep His word and cover the sin, so now by trusting Christ, the Lamb of God, the sin of the repentant sinner is taken away.
In both cases, there was an acknowledgment of sin, an acceptance of God's remedy for it, and faith in God to save the sinner who deserved His judgment. The Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,""Christ died for our sins. . ." and"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Would you acknowledge your sin and trust Christ today? God help you to do it.