Lamb Over Me
Pre-Game Warm-Up
For decades and decades, he prayed for a son. He dreamed of the day his wife would conceive. To hear the word “Daddy” from the mouth of a toddler that bore his name was his hope and daily request before God. His vanishing desire became an aging disappointment. His wife had long since passed the age of fertility. His family tree had resolutely ended. Then he heard her whisper as she lay by his side, “I feel something inside of me. It’s growing. It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s a child. You’re a Dad! Let’s call him Isaac.”
Abraham had seen the hand of God. Everyday together must have been a lifetime. His first words. His first steps. His first smile. The first time he reached up to take his father’s hand.
Then the unbelievable was overcome by the unimaginable. God’s words bit his heart like a viper, “Take Isaac to the mountain and sacrifice him. Demonstrate your love. Show me your trust. Take his life from him with the knife and pass his body through the flames.”
“No, God. Why, God? Anything but him, God. Anything… Anything… Anything… Not my son!”
Abraham’s cries were unanswered. “Demonstrate for me,” the mysterious voice urged him onward.
As the two laid the firewood on the altar, Abraham’s face contorted in excruciating agony! Somehow he gathered the strength to overcome his boundless love with his unquenchable obedience. The child cried out, “Where’s the lamb for the sacrifice? Daddy, where’s the lamb? God will provide a lamb.”
“Baaaaa!”
Astonishment took over as father’s and son’s heads turned abruptly to see a ram caught in a nearby bush. Abraham’s heart felt like it was pounding a thousand beats a second as his eyes filled with tears and the knife fell to the ground. God had provided. The lamb was sufficient.
(This story is paraphrased from the Biblical account in Genesis 22)
As the descendants of Isaac, and his half-brother Ishmael migrated, the story was passed from generation to generation, from tribe to tribe, from wandering pilgrim to new land in foreign regions of the world. God provided a lamb. The lamb was sufficient to appease the requirements of a just and holy God.
Fast forward ¬¬2,160 years to the historical exploration, Marco Polo and his “discovery” of a people group who until that time had not been known by the Western world. Marco Polo was enamored by the beauty of their tapestry and their use of silk to weave their luxuriously fine cloth. The European explorer was also amazed by the strange stick figures that made up their 3200-year-old language. Though no Bible had been seen or used where their language was first written, their word for “righteousness”, to Marco Polo’s surprise then and to our amazement today, is the stick figure of a lamb over the stick figure that represents “Me”.
“Righteousness”, lamb over me.
“Where is the lamb, Daddy? Surely God will provide the lamb.” Young Isaac’s words traveled the highways of the world. Two thousand years later, God provided Jesus, the “Lamb” for the salvation of all mankind.
Understanding My Position in Christ
Mark these Key Words: Jesus Spirit
New Testament Viewpoint
I’M IN CHRIST.
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
CHRIST IN ME.
Col. 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
JESUS IS MY FRIEND.
John 15:15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
I AM NOT CONDEMNED!
Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
I AM A CHILD OF GOD.
Romans. 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.
I AM A CO-HEIR WITH JESUS.
Romans 8:17 And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
I AM CHRIST’S AMBASSADOR.
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
MY BODY IS HIS TEMPLE.
1 Cor 3:16 Do you know that you are a temple of God. And that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
I CAN APPROACH GOD WITH CONFIDENCE.
Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
My Salvation is sealed in Christ
Ephesians 1:13(b) Having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
OBSERVATION:
What is God saying?
1) From the above verses, describe your true relationship as a Christian with Christ (from God’s viewpoint).
2) What does it mean to you (very personally)
- To be Jesus’ friend:
- To be in Jesus’ family:
- To be forgiven:
- To be a co-heir of God’s inheritance with Christ:
- To have your body a temple His Spirit indwells:
- To be an ambassador of Christ’s:
- To be “sealed in Christ” by the Holy Spirit?
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS:
What else of significance do you see God saying in this passage?
APPLICATION:
How does this passage relate to me today? What changes does it bring to my life?
LOCKER ROOM:
How does realizing your position in Christ help you with your greatest doubts and fears?
Memory Verse: Romans 8:1-2
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
My Prayers
A Adoration: Father, today I praise You for…
C Confession: Father, please forgive me for…
T Thanksgiving: Father, today I’m thankful for…
S Supplication: Father, the people & things that I wish to pray for today are…
