“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10)

For centuries, the message of the gospel was presented in drama through the sacrificial system instituted through Moses. Obviously, Moses did not invent the concept of an innocent blood sacrifice. God Himself performed the initial atonement when He made coverings for Adam and Eve with the skins of animals that the Creator Himself killed and prepared for them (Genesis 3:21).

Abel brought the “more excellent sacrifice,” but Cain tried “another gospel” and was rejected (Genesis 4:3–5). After the Flood, “Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). Abraham and Jacob offered animal sacrifices to the Lord in recognition of their subservience to Him and in obedience to the instructions they were given (Genesis 12:7; 46:1).

When Moses received the law from the hand of God on Mount Sinai, the entire system of sacrifices was centered around a male “lamb without blemish” (Leviticus 1:10; 23:12). This was the Passover lamb that became the symbol of God’s deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 12:21) and was directly applied to the Lord Jesus as “our passover” who was “sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Of all the names given to the Lord Jesus, it is the Lamb title that stands out so strongly when referencing the sacrifice He made. John the Baptist called out, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and it is the “Lamb that was slain” who is worthy to “receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). HMM III