The Nature of the Lamb

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said to the Jews:

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water. I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:29 – 34, NKJV, emphasis added).
Notice all three persons of the Godhead are mentioned in these few verses of Scripture:

1. God the Father who sent John the Baptist to baptize with water.

2. The Lamb of God who is Jesus Christ the Son of God.

3. The Holy Spirit, like a dove, descended upon Jesus and remained on Him.

The two creatures singled out are the Lamb and the Dove. God gives us a picture of the nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus has the nature of the Lamb and the Holy Spirit has the nature of the Dove. In a certain sense God also gives a picture of what He wants us to be like.

The Lamb’s nature which is the nature of Jesus speaks of purity, meekness and a life laid down in sacrifice. The Dove’s nature which is the nature of the Holy Spirit speaks of purity, gentleness, timidity and holiness. I believe that is how God presented Himself in the Gospel according to John.

The Nature of the Lamb in Jesus

God told John when he saw the dove descending upon Jesus and remaining on Him He is the Messiah. The Messiah came in the likeness of a lamb and not some other fearful creature like a tiger, a lion, wild dog or any other wild beast.

It is important for us to note that the Holy Spirit in the likeness of a dove remained on Jesus throughout His ministries. Jesus knew that the Holy Spirit has the nature of the dove. Jesus never did anything to scare the dove away.

The Nature of the Lamb in Christians

Christians who desire to be like Jesus must cultivate the nature of the Lamb. We must be baptized in the Holy Spirit to order to receive power to fulfill the Great Commission (Act 1:8). But, the dove nature of the Holy Spirit will never descend upon you because of what you are, who you are and what you do. But, when He sees the nature of the lamb brought out in you through Jesus Christ, He is willing to settle on you. If you want the anointing of the Holy Spirit you need to have the dove remain upon you, as you continue to walk in the nature of the lamb.

Many Christians are praying for supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in their ministries. But power is not the real issue. The issue is the nature of the lamb. Many ministers of the Gospel failed to do God’s will because they do not maintain the nature of the lamb.

The Nature of the Wild Beast

In the Book of Revelation two major animals are mentioned – the Lamb and the Beast. In fact, the Book of Revelation describes the war between these two animals. The Lamb is mentioned 29 times in the New King James Translation and the Beast 38 times. The Beast is the antichrist.

According to Revelation 5 only one person is worthy to open Scroll. This person is the slain Lamb. John heard the voice of many angels around the throne of God saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12)!

According to Revelation 14, the 144,000 with the Father’s name written on their foreheads, follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:4). These are God’s people with the nature of the Lamb and “in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:5). The Beast and the false prophet with the nature of the beast are finally defeated by the Lamb and “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). The New Jerusalem is built for those with the nature of the Lamb:

“Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14).

There are two natures, and only two natures. If a believer does not have the nature of the Lamb then, he has the nature of the Beast! Christians have to determine which nature will control them. The spirit of the beast is actively at work to take control of humanity. We have never seen so much violence and hatred as we see in the world today. If we do not cultivate the nature of the lamb we will come under the power of the wide beast.

The natural man’s fallen nature is the nature of the wild beast. There is a pressure or natural tendency in the natural man to take control, to rule and to dominate. This natural desire is put in the natural man by the creator. He commanded Adam and Eve to rule and dominate the earth. But through Adam’s sin and fall, the original direction from God has been corrupted. Therefore, now the natural man wants to dominate others. He wants to control and to rule over others. Look at the history of world with one war after another. The motive of each war is to dominate and to control others. The spirit of the wild beast is fully responsible for this.

The spirit of the beast is also at work in the business world. It is common for a large business corporation to take over other smaller corporations. They call this taking over as a “merger”.

Nature of Wild Beast at work in the Church

When the spirit of world comes into the Church, the elders of the Church act the same way of as the people in business organizations. The main aim is to take over. Christians are talking about great ministries, expanding the existing ministries, about power and forming larger Churches. We use our own plans and effort. We manipulate others until we get what we want!

But the Spirit of the Lamb works differently:

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).

The Spirit of the Lamb is the Spirit of servant-hood:

Jesus, the Lamb of God said, “… whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26 – 28, NKJV).

Jesus laid down a simple principle in the Body of Christ – the higher up you want to go, the lower down you have to start. If you want to be great you have to be slave first.

This Lamb’s principle is the exact opposite to the principle of the world. The nature of the Lamb the exact opposite to man’s nature.

The Nature of the Lamb in Paul’s ministry

Paul, being a servant of God to the Corinthians said:

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:2, 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

I would like to consider the above two verses of Scripture as Paul’s doctrinal statement. He ministered by the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of the Dove) directly to the human heart.

“On tablets of stone” means “things written by the letters”. “Tablets of flesh” means “The human heart”. The only way to write on the human heart is through the Holy Spirit. What is written in the human heart will not be forgotten. To Paul the result of writing on the heart is much deeper that the emotion and the intellect (the soul realm). Paul’s teaching goes directly into the heart of men and women!

“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, …” (Gal 4:19, emphasis added)

In other words, Paul labored in his ministry until the believers have the nature of the Lamb (Christ is formed in you).

Paul’s desire of having the nature of the Lamb formed in the believers he ministered to can be seen by his statement:

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteems others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3, 4).

The “foolishness” of the Cross

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

For believers who are saved, the Cross is the power of God. But to the natural man, the Cross is the ultimate of weakness and foolishness. In other words, the Lamb of God laid down His life for humanity is the power of God for those who are being saved.

“… but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:24, 25).

Notice the phrase, “To those who are called”. It means those who called by God to follow the Christ. Those who are saved by following Christ must allow the Cross to work in them. Only the Cross will reveal the nature of the Lamb. Then the power of God will rest on those who follow the Lamb. This is exactly how Paul sees it:

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” ( 2 Cor. 12:9, 10, NKJV, emphasis added).

Paul’s strength comes from cultivating the nature of the Lamb. He found strength in infirmities, in reproaches, in distresses for the sake Christ, the Lamb of God!