God created human beings to live forever. The promise of eternity remains planted in the human heart. Every time a person dies, young or old, we feel the injustice of a life ended. And so, we spend our time, energy, and money fighting for life, continually looking for ways to withstand the irresistible call of the grave. 

But Jesus Christ lived His life differently. As the Messiah, He was born to die. Every day of His life, He fought to earn the right to die as a perfect sacrifice. When John the Baptist publicly identified Jesus Christ as the Messiah, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Messiah’s life, death, and resurrection fulfilled a plan laid deep in eternity past, for He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). That plan is to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

This plan of salvation reveals the fundamental nature of genuine religious liberty. It does far more than merely protect the outward forms of religious expression, guarantee freedom of speech, or safeguard the right to peaceful assembly for worshiping God. The Lamb of God died to destroy the power of sin, to free the heart from selfishness, and to release the mind from the deception of self-righteousness. The Lamb of God died to fulfill God’s promise, made “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4). This humble yet divine Champion of religious liberty revealed the heart of a loving Creator intent on rescuing slaves of sin and making them sons and daughters of God. 

It would seem that everyone who was afforded the opportunity to be rescued would respond to the Lamb’s self-sacrifice with love, faith, and gratitude. But the Bible indicates otherwise. Describing Christ’s second coming, the book of Revelation says, “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:14-17).

Who runs away from a lamb? The irony is intentional and inescapable. We understand terror at coming face to face with a lion, or a bear, or perhaps a leopard. We sympathize with people who desire to hide themselves from a ferocious beast. But a lamb? It doesn’t make sense. And this is undoubtedly the Bible’s point. Only those who knowingly and willfully choose the bondage of sin run away from the Lamb. Looking at the Lamb brings life. Turning away from the Lamb results in death.

A story from Israel’s history illustrates the point. After spending nearly forty years wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites once again approached the border of the Promised Land. “And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread” (Numbers 21:5). Their grumbling expressed unbelief and rebellion. They refused to acknowledge God’s protection and care during four decades of wilderness survival. In response, God removed the protection that they refused to recognize. “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6).

Imagine the terror and dismay as thousands began dying, almost on the border of Canaan. It was, of course, completely unnecessary, but the people had once again chosen the bondage of sin. They had, again, refused to look in faith toward the invisible One Who had been guiding them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, around Mount Sinai, and now, finally, toward the promised land of liberty. They were, in reality, running away from the Lamb just like the people in Revelation. Unwittingly, they had chosen death through the sting of the serpent, just as many at Christ’s second coming will prefer death over standing in the presence of the Lamb.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:8, 9). The divine solution? Look and live. But to look at the serpent on the pole, the dying one had to turn away from the serpent on the ground. 

In the same way, every person will eventually face the Lamb of God. We can look now, turn away from sin, and receive eternal life. Or, we can wait. We can assume that sin isn’t such a big problem and that it doesn’t really bring death. We can presume that somehow, we will be able to stand in the presence of the Lamb when He returns even if we have never learned to bow in His presence today.

As Christians, we are called to walk in Christ’s footsteps. The Bible says, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). This is the only path to true religious liberty. Just as the Lamb of God was born to die, a Christian is born again to die daily. The apostle Paul expressed this foundational spiritual reality when he wrote, “I die daily… Awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:31, 34). A Christian will not long remain one if he or she relies upon a past conversion to carry them through the future. That experience of repentance for sin, surrender to God, trust in divine power, and obedience to the Word of God must repeat daily. If it doesn’t, the Christian experience quickly becomes a crusty shell encased around a rotting interior.

What is true for individual Christians is also true for the corporate Christian experience. A family, congregation, or church cannot safely rest on its former spiritual victories without a willingness to continue fighting for freedom from sin and religious liberty today. Proudly pointing back to evidence of divine leading in the past means nothing without a commitment to following prophetic guidance today. Focusing with self-satisfaction on what one once was results in blindness to what one must become. Refusing to follow the Lamb today leaves one unprepared to stand in His presence tomorrow.

The Lamb of God promises to give us eternal life. He died to guarantee our freedom. But to realize that freedom and to accept that gift, we must turn away from sin. Jesus died for the sins of the world, but salvation is a choice. Religious liberty can only be experienced when we accept Christ as Savior, turn away from sin, and serve Him as Lord. The Lamb has all power in heaven and on earth. The omnipotence of divinity flows through His blood. Every knee will one day bow before Him, and every tongue will one day confess that He is Lord. But when we do that, and why we do that, is our choice. Whether that confession leads to eternal life or eternal death is up to us. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).