Worthy is the Lamb

Christ’s sovereignty is based on his Death and Resurrection, the immovable foundation of his present reign in the Book of Revelation.

The sacrifice and consequent exaltation of Jesus are prominent themes in the Book of Revelation. God’s plan to redeem humanity and His creation through His Son is unveiled in its visions and images. Christ’s Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement have implemented this Redemptive Plan. His present reign is the result of his sacrificial death. Jesus is the “Lamb who is worthy” to receive all power and authority.

However, the Lamb who reigns is no tyrant. He does not subjugate his enemies through violent conquest. He is the “Lamb who was slain” who now “shepherds the nations” and redeems men from every “tribe and people and tongue” by his shed blood.

[Photo by Sulthan Auliya on Unsplash]

Jesus is the “Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the Dead, and the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” The clause “Faithful Witness” refers to his death, and “Firstborn of the Dead” to his resurrection. Therefore, he has become the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” – (Revelation 1:4-6).

In his first vision, John saw Jesus as the priestly figure identified as the “Son of Man,” an allusion to Daniel's vision of “one like a son of man” who received the “kingdom and dominion” from the “Ancient of Days” on behalf of the “saints.”

The “Son of Man” in John’s vision described himself as the “Living One, and I became dead and, behold, living am I unto the ages of ages,” referring to his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation - (Daniel 7:13-14, Revelation 1:12-20).

Though he reigns, he remains the one who died and rose from the dead; therefore, he has the authority to unveil to the Seven Assemblies of Asia “what things must come to pass soon.” This same Jesus is the high priestly figure who walks among the “Seven Golden Lampstands” in the sanctuary of God, trimming their wicks and replenishing their oil as needed.

He encourages, corrects, and chastises his congregations as needed, and assures everlasting rewards to every saint who “overcomes.” They participate in his reign, “just as I also overcame and took my seat with my Father in his Throne,” and he “overcame” by enduring the Cross. He is their savior and caretaker, not their overlord. They reign with him as his “kingdom of priests” – (Revelation 1:6, 3:20-21, 5:10, 12:11).

Likewise, believers overcome Satan by “the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and because they love not their lives even unto death.” That is how they qualify to sit and reign with Jesus on the Throne. Like him, they are called to be “faithful witnesses” – (“Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you” – Revelation 2:13).

THE SEALED SCROLL

The theme of Christ “overcoming” through death is central to the vision of the “Sealed Scroll.”  God’s redemptive plan could not be implemented until the Scroll was unsealed and its contents disclosed. The only one in the Universe who was “worthy” to open the Scroll was the “Lamb who was slain.” Though he was the “Lion of Judah,” he fulfilled that Messianic role as the sacrificial “Lamb” - (Revelation 5:6-10).

Starting in the fifth chapter of Revelation, the term “Lamb” becomes the dominant title for Jesus. It is found twenty-eight times (4 x 7). In contrast, he is called “Christ” seven times, and “Jesus” fourteen times (2 x 7) throughout the Book, all multiples of seven. “Lamb” stresses his victory through sacrificial death.

The “Lamb” approached the Throne and took the “Sealed Scroll” from the “right hand” of the “One Sitting” on it. Then the heavenly choir declared him “worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and thereby purchased for God by your blood men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation” - (Revelation 5:9-10).

In Chapter 7, John saw an “Innumerable Multitude” of men from every nation standing before the Throne and the “Lamb” and proclaiming loudly, “Salvation to our God who sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb!” These men came out of the “Great Tribulation, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Victory and redemption were achieved by the sacrificed “Lamb” - (Revelation 7:9-17).

Later, John saw the Devil poised to destroy the male figure that was about to be born from the “Woman clothed with the sun.” Identified as the “Son,” he was the Messiah destined “to shepherd all the nations with a scepter of iron.” Before the Dragon could destroy him, he was “caught away to God and his Throne” - (Psalm 2:7-10, Revelation 12:1-11).

The “Dragon” represented Satan. He was banished to Earth and lost his prosecutorial power. A loud voice proclaimed, “Now has come salvation and power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ… And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb!”  Thus, the “brethren” were declared victorious over Satan because of the death of Jesus – (Revelation 12:9-11).

In Chapter 14, John saw 144,000 males standing with the “Lamb” on “Mount Zion.” Each had the name of the “Lamb… written upon their foreheads.” They “sang a new song” that no one else could learn. They had been “redeemed from the Earth” and “followed the Lamb wherever he went.” This was the same group seen before the Throne in Chapter 5 where they also sang this new song - (Revelation 5:9-12).

The Book concludes with the vision of the “Holy City, New Jerusalem.” All God’s enemies were defeated, sin and death were no more, and overcoming saints inherited everlasting life, yet Jesus remained the “Lamb.”

“New Jerusalem” was the “wife of the LAMB.” The Apostles were the “Twelve Apostles of the LAMB.” In the city, the “Lord God, the Almighty, was its temple, and the LAMB.” It was illuminated by “the glory of God, and its lamp is the LAMB.” Only those whose names “were written in the LAMB’s Book of Life” entered the city. The “river of water of life” flowed out from the “Throne of God and the LAMB” - (Revelation 21:9-22:5).

Jesus as the sacrificial “Lamb” fulfilled the role of the Davidic Messiah through his Death and Resurrection. This same Jesus now reigns as the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” and Sovereign of the Cosmos. His Exaltation and redemption of humanity are based on his self-sacrificial death for us, “to purchase men from “every tribe, tongue, people, and nation” for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”

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SEE ALSO:

• His Present Reign - (The present reign of Jesus began with his exaltation to the messianic Throne following his death and resurrection – Psalms 110:1)

• The Victorious Shepherd - (The kings and nations of the Earth are found in New Jerusalem because of the Lamb’s redemptive work)

• I have enthroned My King - (The conspiracy by the Earth’s kings to unseat the Messiah is applied in the New Testament to the plot to destroy Jesus – Psalm 2:1-6)