25th March, 2009

LLOYD HARKNESS

Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His power and His authority rest in His character, His divinity and His humanity.

Yet there is another title which qualifies and establishes his authority and power which at first appearance may seem contradictory.

THE LAMB OF GOD: As depicted in stained glass in a church window. PICTURE: Bill Davenport (www.sxc.hu) "Just as the Passover lamb was without blemish so too was Jesus blameless. Just as the Passover lamb was removed from the flock so too was Jesus alone in his Calvary sacrifice. Jesus is the full realisation of the Passover lamb."

Jesus is The Lamb of God.

He is The Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. The reality and nature of His life sacrificed for our restoration to God the Father bespeaks a level of miraculous power and love which is hard to comprehend.

Jesus is the fulfilment of the Passover.

Just as the angel of death was stripped of power in any house whose door lintel was smeared with lamb’s blood so too is death rendered impotent in every life that finds redemption in Jesus. Just as the Passover lamb was without blemish so too was Jesus blameless. Just as the Passover lamb was removed from the flock so too was Jesus alone in his Calvary sacrifice.

Jesus is the full realisation of the Passover lamb.

And beyond this even is the fact that it is The Lamb who is the consummate image and abiding portrayal of Jesus in The Revelation. The Lamb is the one who is there at the end of what currently is and the beginning of what will be. It is The Lamb who has the power, authority, honour and dignity to wrap up what is and reveal what will be.

That dignity, that honour, that authority, that power stem from a sacrifice so profound that in the finalising of all that is and the ushering in of all that will be every knee will bow to The Lamb and every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord.

It is ridiculous to talk about one title being more elevated than others but the 29 references to Jesus as The Lamb of God in Revelation clearly establish that it is the work of Calvary which consummates God’s salvation plan and the final stages of that plan, revealed to John in the New Testament’s climatic book, bear testimony to how world changing the flawless Lamb was, is and evermore will be.

Our introduction to Jesus, beyond the now, is a picture of The Lamb slain, with seven horns and seven eyes, in the centre of heaven’s throne. Surrounding the Father’s (God our creator) and the Son’s (The Lamb our redeemer) throne, are four living creatures, 24 elders and countless angels who worship them equally. Jesus, the man, has been elevated above all others as The Lamb.

As The Lamb Jesus has and will exercise perfect power (seven horns) and perfect wisdom (seven eyes) overcoming every enemy, including death. And because The Lamb endured unfathomable agony, the weight of humanity’s sin and its resultant separation from the Father, He is given a perfect accrual (seven) of power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and blessing.

This is Jesus ‘high and lifted up’.

After this opening revelation we see The Lamb throughout the ‘end times’ completing what was achieved on the cross. The Lamb opens the seven seals releasing the final judgements on humanity. This is a time when the face of God and the wrath of The Lamb are set in judgement. The seasons of grace and opportunity, the heart of The Lamb’s sacrifice are over. It will be a time when the unrepentant will not cry out for The Lamb’s salvation but rather they will seek to be put out of their misery.

In this time those who have chosen the beast will worship him and receive his image. Because they choose the beast rather than The Lamb they will suffer unthinkable torment in the presence of angels and The Lamb.

Being in the presence of The Lamb in their suffering demonstrates Christ’s justice. Having rejected grace and bought the promises of the beast they discover that these promises are empty while The Lamb’s promise remains eternally true.

On the wider scale, during the time of the beast and the antichrist, the antichrist is in open warfare against The Lamb and he loses. The Lamb is sovereign. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. And it is the redeemed who are with Christ in this battle and victory.

With the defeat of antichrist, Revelation takes us back to The Lamb on the throne. Now the multitudes who have come out of the tribulation join the living creatures, elders and angels in worship. They can join this throng because their righteousness (white robes) comes from The Lamb’s blood and they have conquered (holding palm branches) in his name.

The Lamb shepherded them through and they followed him. Now springs of living waters are theirs and tears are wiped away forever. They are welcomed in and are a core group of the worshippers of The Lamb.

And because they have come through the suffering, the martyrdom, the tribulation they have learnt the song of The Lamb; a song they can now sing with gusto in heaven, a song which speaks of God being universally honoured.

The redeemed have a place in the New Jerusalem, and more specifically around the throne, because The Lamb holds the Book of Life with their names registered in its’ pages.

Not only is there joy in song at the feet of the throne but there is also great joy as the wedding supper of The Lamb has arrived. The Lamb’s great joy is that his bride (the church) is ready to be joined to him forever. And for all the invited guests it is a supper of blessing.

The Lamb, the alluring Christ, has courted a bride fit to be His ‘helper’, in the Garden of Eden sense of this concept. Now there is total fulfilment in the bride he bought with his blood on Calvary.

The final images of The Lamb opened to John in The Revelation are also the final images of heaven. How could they not be!

God the Father and The lamb are shown to be the temple in the New Jerusalem and the light of that city. In heaven there is open access to God. Heaven is after all the Holy of Holies and it is the ‘Shekinah glory’ of God which shines in this new world, a glory which is merged as one with The Lamb who is “the true light who gives light”.

The water of life, a water which quenches your thirst and enlivens you, flows from the throne of God and The Lamb. The curse is gone; the curse of disobedience is gone. The servants of God are fully restored to Him and serve Him only.

The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world for this age and this time frame has completed His work.

Paradise.

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