Jesus the Lamb of God
If you have been following this series, you might remember it started with a letter to Lulu from Archbishop Rowan.
The Archbishop told Lulu that people saw the beauty of the world and wondered who had made it. So God sent Jesus to the world to help us, by his example, to understand more about God the father and the plans that he had for the world.
I then reflected on my experiences of how God reveals himself to us in sparks of the divine, and how we can encounter Him in all that is good, beautiful, and ordered in our daily lives.
You may have reflected on the hymns, readings, and homilies in this short series and questioned how plausible it is for the world and universe to be carefully and deliberately created by God with an eternal purpose in mind. Rather than the great beauty and order of the world and universe just randomly coming together.
Scriptures from the Bible answer this question bringing to life wisdom known throughout the ages and recorded in the Bible regarding God’s role in creation.
In the Book of Job in the Old Testament, God asks Job ‘where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who determined its measurements? Who laid its cornerstone? This scripture is estimated to have been written some 8,000 years ago.
The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah wrote of God’s creation and the cycles of water moving between the heavens and earth around 2,600 years ago.
Finally, in St John’s gospel, which was written some 2,000 years ago it says, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life’. God’s son is Jesus, also known as the Lamb of God.
This is what Archbishop Rowan was referring to in his letter to Lulu. Because without Jesus, the most beautiful paradise on earth would have no meaning.
The Old Testament foretells the coming of the Messiah throughout its teachings. Christians believe Jesus is that person and that he was by God’s side when the world was originally created.
Job 38:4-11 NIV
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
Jeremiah 51.15-16 NIV
15 “He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
John 3:16-17 NIV
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
I hope that you have enjoyed this short series and that it might help you find new ways of connecting with God through the natural world and scripture written by generations long since gone, telling of God’s creation and all that led up to the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
God, the maker of the universe, is nearer than most people realise and he waits for and longs for each one of us to reach out to him. As we do this, tentatively at first perhaps, but then regularly it can completely change our lives.
The Church of England can guide you to one of their local churches at A Church Near You.
Read more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , and Part 4 and of Finding God in the Natural World.
Psalm 23 NIV
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
You can find out more about Jesus at;
