Where Is the Lamb?
Bobby Dockery

For three days Abraham and Isaac had been traveling. At last they had arrived at the place of sacrifice, Isaac sensed, however, that something was very wrong. The external trappings - the wood and the fire - were close at hand, but Isaac saw that the essential ingredient - the lamb - was missing! In answer to his puzzled question, "Where is the lamb?" Abraham calmly replied: "God will provide for Himself a lamb" (Genesis 22:7-8).

The substitute lamb God provided to take Isaac's place was a powerful symbol of the lamb God would later provide as a substitute for the whole human race - the One of whom it was said: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29; Cf. I Peter 1:19). Jesus is the essential ingredient in our religion!

However, as we examine our world, often we cannot help wondering, "Where is the Lamb?"

(1) Where is the Lamb in modem religion? We have witnessed the rise of a Christ-less "Christianity!" Many churches are more interested in political correctness than in a crucified Savior. Philosophy, psychology, and sociology declaim from pulpits from which the Lamb has been banished. While providing and maintaining the external trappings, many churches have forgotten all about the essential ingredient (Colossians 2:8)!

(2) Where is the Lamb in modem culture? Great artistic and literary masterpieces of the past measure the amazing impact which Jesus has had on culture and civilization. Christ captured the creative imagination of men like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Bach, Handel, Shakespeare, Milton, Tolstoy, and Tennyson. By way of comparison, Christ has all but disappeared from the shallow, narcissistic music, art, and literature of postmodernism! Consequently, modem culture has degenerated into a self-absorbed and infantile mirror of the immorality, selfishness, and despair of our times (Colossians 3:16-17).

(3) Where is the Lamb in modem life? Christ has been banished from court house and school room. He is excluded from the conference rooms of big business and ignored in the halls of government. His name rarely appears in casual conversation except as blasphemy. He is banished from the ball park and the movie theater. He must be content with an occasional mention on the weekly religious page of the newspaper (Colossians 1 :27).

(4) Where is the Lamb in the lives of His followers? The most shocking void of all is the absence of the Lamb from the lives of those who claim to be His disciples. How tragic that the lives of far too many Christians do not really reflect the image of Christ! Can it be that the world does not see the Lamb in us because He is not there (Colossians 3:1)?

A world lost in moral wilderness cries: "Where is the Lamb?" May we find the courage to direct them confidently to "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."