14) Birthrite: The Lamb of God

Agnus Dei (The Lamb of God) by Francisco
 de Zurharan. San Diego Museum of Art

 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah.  For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.  They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! 

But woe to the earth and the sea,  because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Revelation 12:  11-12

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:1-2

The key to these passages is 'sacrifice'.  This is a concept that is not as easily understood as it may have been in the past.  Modern examples might be parents paying off their childrens' debt.  Or it could be a relative (or even complete stranger) donating a kidney.  

'Lamb' is now vaguely understood as a metaphor for sacrifice.  "Like a lamb to the slaughter'.  In our sanitised world, the idea of sacrifice is perhaps difficult to grasp.  Most gifts are now seen as 'transaction'.  

Many people give up their lives in war, and in retrospect, we understand this to be futile. The sacrifice made by Jesus was about as significant as you can get.  What does Jesus get from this transaction?  Well he gets you and me.

PRAYER:  One day we will realise just how significant your life on earth was to every single one of us.