Reflection: The Long-long-ago Lamb

Ever-past and evermore—behold, a Lamb!

Not until today have I beheld Jesus in this way.

I’ve seen lambs/the Lamb in the pages of the Bible, but not in the beginning. Picture Jesus from before time, not so much a lamb-plan in the mind of God. But Lamb as his very essence.

We know, mysteriously, that God is both Father and Son.

He’s also King and Servant;

both magistrate and mediator;

both shepherd and lamb;

satisfaction and sacrifice.

He is Love; he is Lamb.

He is Love: resolute, relentless, scrupulously righteous…and self-sacrificing.

That, readers, is our God.

And that is our saving grace, the gospel.

That’s the crux of the matter:

omniscient Love foreknew mankind’s betrayal

and knew the cost of reconciliation.

The cost: himself.

Prayer:

Behold the Lamb of God.

I do.

Vulnerable, exclusive-you, bearing a world of sin and angst, I worship you.

Spotless, mediating-you, for beloved, rebel-me, now right with God, I thank you.

Oh, thank you!

Long-purposed, passionate-you, securing redemption and judgment for this beloved, broken creation, I’m singing your praise:

“Of the Father’s love begotten,
ere the worlds began to be,
Alpha and Omega,
He the Source, the Ending He,
of the things that are, that have been,
and that future years shall see
evermore and evermore!”

(‘Of the Father’s Love Begotten’, hymn by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius approx. 400AD): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpsj25M1QdI