January 8 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 1:29–34

Devotional

“The next day....” John preaches about the ax laid at the root of the tree. He proclaims the judgment of God against sin. But the next day John sees Jesus coming to him and he says, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” When the Lamb of God appears, it is a different day. This is the day of grace, for this Lamb takes upon Himself the sins of all those who were brought low under John’s preaching. This next day is the day of meeting the Lamb of God who makes all things new. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). All the guilt of the past is no longer imputed to such a one, but has been transferred to the account of another, the Lamb of God. He was born to be slaughtered as a sacrifice for sin.

“The next day....” This is the day the Lord provides a sacrifice for Himself. According to justice, people are required to pay off sin’s debt forever on their own. As long as we have never experienced the day of the Lamb of God, all the sins of the past remain imputed to us. The next day—the new day—is what we all need to experience now. For in eternity there will never be a next day. We have also been permitted to have a New Year’s Day. That is also another day—a new day.

Make haste for your life’s sake. This year might be the year of your death. If things in your life on New Year’s Day are just as they were in the old year, then it is necessary that this year become new for you. Blessed are you when you realize your guilt is increasing daily and on your own you can never pay off anything. Blessed are you when you cannot find days of rest until this new day has become your share. It will only be a new, blessed year when the sinner comes to the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

“The next day....” Behold the Surety enters the life of him whose debt has become so heavy. What a joyful matter that God Himself prepared such a day. The Lamb of God was not obliged to give Himself to the slaughter. Christ gave Himself out of free love for sinners. The sinner did not deserve this grace; he had not even asked for this. So this next day makes up for all the other days. When we have experienced this day the guilt of all the other days is covered. If we do not experience the forgiveness offered by Christ’s sacrifice, then guilt is still open and not one day shall be forgotten in the judgment of God.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.