We modern-day American city slickers don’t often think about lambs.  They simply don’t come up in everyday life.  We may have rack of lamb or lamb meat for a meal, but we really don’t encounter lambs in our every day life.  So when we hear that Jesus is the Lamb of God, we typically don’t get the significance until we dig into the meaning of the term for the people of the Bible.  Lambs, sheep, and goats were an everyday part of the life of the Israelites.  In fact, these animals were used to worship God by means of sacrifice.  In Leviticus 16, two significant lambs that are mentioned as part of the Day of Atonement–both foreshadowing what Christ did on the cross.  There was one lamb that was sacrificed on the altar to atone for the sins of the people.  There was another lamb that became the scapegoat that was driven into the wilderness to signify that removal of sins from the people. 

Christ came as the sacrifice and the scapegoat.  He is our sacrifice to God so that sin’s penalty of condemnation would not be counted against us! (Isaiah 53:4-6, 12; Heb 9:11-13).  He is also our scapegoat–that is, he has carried the weight of our sins on his shoulders and has taken them far away!  (John 1:29).   Someday, in the future, the Lamb of God will be on the throne of God on earth, reigning and ruling creation with all power and glory (Rev 22:1-5).

To study more on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, click  Jesus’ Sacrifice

New Study!!  For a Bible Study that includes elements of the Lamb of God as well as other themes of the Message of the Gospel, click  The Gospel Message