The Lamb Who Was Revealed To The World

 John the Baptist was the last 'Old Testament' prophet. He was prepared, commissioned, and enabled by God to announce the arrival of Israel's expected Messiah-King and to prepare the lost sheep of the house of Israel for His arrival.
 It was only at Christ's own baptism, when the Father identified Jesus as: "My Beloved Son," and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a Dove, flew down and rested upon Him, that John KNEW the true identity of the One Who was to come. The baptism of the sinless Son of God in water was not John's 'baptism of repentance', but in order to fulfil all righteousness, as the Law required.
 There are many liberal, individual, 'progressive' churches and a multiplicity of cults that minimize or deny Christ and seek to belittle the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But 'John the Witness' who preached a baptism of repentance to Israel, is a wonderful example of a man who genuinely sought to promote the absolute pre-eminence of Christ, while minimizing his own importance.
 John testified that Jesus is the Son of God, The Lamb Who Was Revealed To The World at the proper time Who came to live a perfect life, die a sacrificial death, provide forgiveness of sin, and give assurance of the eternal life to ALL who believe in Him.
This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’

Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the witness and prophetic ministry of John the Baptist, the humble forerunner of Christ who died to his own self importance and was ready and willing to point people to Jesus. Help us to develop the characteristics of humility that are so evident in his ministry. We praise and thank You that Jesus came into the world to save sinners and fulfilled all righteousness, so that by faith in Him we have been forgiven of our sins and received life everlasting. Thank You, in Jesus' name, AMEN.