Behold The Lamb Of God
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29
Nothing can make poor sinners truly happy, but that which taketh away the cause of all misery, sin. This is effected: the Lamb of God hath taken away all sin, by his sacrifice for us. When, by the eye of faith, we behold this Lamb, then all sin is taken away from our conscience. When a soul thinks, ‘Sin has condemned me before God; the law accuseth me daily; it works wrath in my conscience continually; and I am often ready to cry out, oh wretched that I am, who shall deliver me?’—Thanks be to God for a precious Redeemer. The Lamb which God provided, hath done it for ever. All our iniquities were laid upon him. ‘He bare in his own body on the tree,’ the sin, the whole of sin, every sin of all that shall believe in him, to the end of the world. By the sacrifice of himself he put all away, out of the sight of God, as one puts away an offensive thing. He bore it away into a land of forgetfulness, as a thing that is hurtful. So then saith God the Father, to all his children in Christ, ‘Your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more.’ Jer. 31:34.
But one is often ready to say, how can this be true? I daily see that I am a sinner; the remembrance of sin is before me, in my thoughts; though for a season time may efface sin from my memory, yet it recurs afresh upon my conscience. It may, it will do so, oh soul; and nothing can effectually take it away but this, ‘Behold the Lamb of God.’ He taketh sin away now, this present moment, every moment. At what time soever thou beholdest Jesus by the eye of faith, all the sin which troubles thee, thou wilt see it all laid on him, and he taketh it away from thee. Oh how sweet to have no more conscience of sin!
Continually to behold this Lamb of God is life to our souls, and death to our sins. Sin cannot terrify with its guilt, cannot prevail in its power, while the heart is looking to this Lamb of God, for he says, ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved.’ Astonishing mystery! but this is God’s truth. Thus to behold is to be happy: thus to look is to be holy. May this, oh my soul, be thy daily employ below, till thou beholdest the Lamb in the midst of the throne above. Thanks to the gracious Father for the gift of this precious Lamb; thanks to this holy Lamb for bearing and taking away sin; and thanks to the loving Spirit, for showing this Lamb to poor sinners and to me. ‘God forbid I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Gal. 6:14
If sin most rile to me appears,
What must the Omniscient see;
But, God beholds us in his Lamb,
From sin for ever free.
This is the truth by which we live:
By faith beholding Christ,
Our consciences from guilt are freed;
Then unbelief resist.
William Mason (1719-1791) was a High-Calvinist author. For many years he served as a Justice of the Peace, and in 1783 was appointed a Magistrate. He served as editor of the Gospel Magazine before and after the editorship of Augustus Toplady. He is best known for a morning and evening devotional entitled, “A Spiritual Treasury For The Children Of God.”
