You have probably heard at one point or another “Covered by the Blood of Jesus”- to some this sounds sick or sadistic- however their is a reason for it, and its not a sick as it might sound.This particular term is a poetic simplification meaning “Saved” or “Born Again” to become “Christian”
Why is Jesus called a ‘Lamb’
It all begins with Genesis. Here is the situation, People are sinful, it’s inherent in our nature. God gave us Freewill, that means we are capable of disobeying him. Unlike birds who migrate based on instinct, people can choose whether or not to do something. At the very beginning God gave the option for Adam and Eve to disobey what god initially created us to be, that is perfect beings. He put a tree in the garden and said “Do not eat the fruit on this tree”. Eve said “Ok I will go and do it any way” followed by Adam. No longer are people perfect beings, we have whats in us called “Sin”. Now people can no longer be in the garden because they are no longer perfect beings fully acting in accordance to God.
Now after a long sequence of events and many generations, we skip ahead to Abraham. By this time people are sinning everywhere. No matter what we do it is only natural we are not perfect. Abraham was a man who earnestly wanted to be perfect in gods eyes, but he did not know how. God told him very plainly, it is impossible for him to meet the standard of perfection in his eyes. See god is a perfect being, all of us look like rif raf to him- infact sometimes god is disgusted with us. Abraham was trying to do right by god, even though it’s impossible. So he had an Idea.
To make amends of sins, he will sacrifice a lamb from his flock. The lamb had to be a very precious lamb, very rare, and one he knew he loved the most. Obviously it had to be the best Lamb, because its a sincere sacrifice. this is called “A Sin Offering”
God told Abraham “Ok, you can do that If you want…. I have a better Idea though, but thats good in the mean time”
So now Lambs are a sacrifice for sins- however the tale does not end there. Fast Forward WAYYYYYY ahead:
Jesus was a perfect man, He was the most precious man to God, He was without sin, Truly he was one of a kind because directly he was God’s Son on earth. In the same way Abraham choose his lamb sacrifice, God choose Jesus to be his sacrifice for us.
Why would he do that?
For starters God wanted it be recognizable to the Jews that Jesus was preaching to. The Jews understood the law surrounding Lamb sacrifices perfectly, they were still doing them. Jesus was sentence to die on the cross in such a way that was metaphorical to the Jewish laws of Lambs. Any Jew at the time could easily recognize it as a “Sin Offering”, and they did.
God never really cared about the lambs the jews sacrificed from the start- it was immaterial and a non-issue to him. He told Abraham this, Moses, he told Isaiah, he told Daniel this, he told everyone this. For him he took it as more or less a nice gesture the whole time up until Jesus. The fact people bother to carry on Abraham’s deal with him was received by him as a kind of “Thanks for thinking of me”. However, since they made the gesture he gave a greater gesture in return- his own son.
Why Do I need to pray to repent to Jesus
One might be tempted to think because you are a sinner you cant make it into heaven, and so to be christian you have to try very hard to be perfect. Some Christians believe Jesus was a role model, and try to be like him- thinking they should be perfect. Nothing is more false or more shallow. However, if you are a human being you are born with a imperfect nature. When god sent Jesus he amended the Lamb sacrifice law. No longer does anyone have to sacrifice lambs or even try to be perfect people.
The lamb sacrifice ritual was the original contract, Jesus was the new contract.
Simply pray that you repent to Jesus – and it’s like signing a contract saying your on gods team. That’s is
Why all this What to do over something that simple?
That would be a very good question and involves a VERY long answer. In a nutshell, the world is by it’s nature a convoluted place because people are themselves convoluted- and so we have made it that way. God was simply trying to work with the people he had to work with, and this is what he came up with. I dont think I can put this answer any simpler then that.
What about people who don’t repent, Why do they have to go to hell?
Jesus explains it in terms of Separating the Wheat from the Chaff….. Simply put some people are so sinful, they can not even pray a simple 2 second prayer to God. The very Idea may even repulse them. They are either too proud or too hateful or some other reason therein with sin/imperfection. It is in this way God allows people to sort themselves out while allowing free will. He simply made the offer with a simple enough process putting all cards on the table. He doesn’t want people to go to hell, they choose to go to hell by refusing the offer.
Think of it like a present from your parents. They give it to you and you will either like it or not. Some people don’t like the gift but bite their tongue and just accept it. Some people will plainly tell their parents, “No I don’t want it, its awful”. Some people will take it, thank their parents, and return it later. Then of course some will absolutely love the gift and treasure it.
The Bible refers to salvation as a gift from god, and makes the same general analogies i just mentioned.
I Heard Something Different...
I am putting this in simple terms anyone should understand, without going through the whole bible for an entire explanation, Yes!
In truth in all this I pretty much summarized the entire bible, though there are many finer details. I invite you to the Bible for a full in depth study on your own.
In particular I would like to highlight the finer details of Salvation it self. It is not entirely as simple as just repenting. You must be sincere, and you must remain committed, and you must follow the 10 commandments. Commitment ensures you do not fall away, the 10 commandments ensures you do not fall astray. The whole point of Bible study and church groups is to spend a lifetime of commitment to your original repentance. The only thing god really wants is to be apart of your life –
Do you ignore your friends for years and expect them to remain your friend? Of course not. well the same happens with you and god.
Do you treat your friends like crap and expect them to remain your friend? Of course not. well the same happens with you and god.
Though God is not your friend, he is your creator, he wants to be a friend with you anyway- that is why he made this simple and humble gesture. Do you accept Jesus yes or no?
you don’t have to tell me but you can contact me about it if you want, along with any other questions you may have: Angelfishblog@hotmail.com