Sin and the Lamb of God (John 1:29-34)

Let me start of by saying, I hate it when I find out that I have been misquoting Scripture for my roughly 30 years of ministry.  You see, during my quiet time this morning I was hanging out in the gospel of John again and I was hit with one of those moments.  In John 1:29-34 we read:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”  And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

For most of my life I have been quoting this passage, saying that when John saw Jesus he said; "Behold!  The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world."  Do you see the difference?  John did not say "the sins" [plural] he actually said "the sin" [singular].  So what's the big deal?  For those of us who have grown up in the church we have heard the classic definition of the Greek word for sin - "missing the mark."   But interestingly enough, the Greek word used here is slightly different than the one traditionally used for sin.  The word here means - "offense" rather than missing the mark.

That is when it hit me.  You see, when we bring our sins before the throne of God and ask His forgiveness for each of them (1 John 1:9) several things actually happen.  First, if true repentance is behind our confession, God forgives us our sins absolutely.  Second, He then washes us white as snow - cleansing our lives of that sin.  But thridly, and this is where John's statement of Jesus' ministry comes into play, God also wipes away all record and personal hurt that our offense has caused Him.  Calling Jesus the Lamb of God is God's way of reminding us that when the sacrificial lamb was offered for the sins of the people that lamb provided attonement, or pardon, for those sins.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, offered His blood so that I could not only be forgiven and washed clean of my sin, but that my SIN and the offense/harm caused by that sin would be espunged from my heavenly record, as if it never happened.  In Titus 3:4-7 we read:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

John said Jesus would baptize us (that is to make us fully and totally engulfed) with the Holy Spirit.  When we immerse ourselves in the Spirit of God we are regenerated and renewed, jusitfied by the grace of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Prasie be to God for His grace and new hope.