The Exalted 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 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 the Book’s visions and images. Christ’s Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement are implementing God’s Redemptive Plan, and the present reign of the Lamb is the result of his sacrificial death. Jesus is the “Lamb who is worthy” to receive all power and glory.

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

[Photo by Richard Lin on Unsplash]

Jesus of Nazareth 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. Because of his “obedience unto death,” he has become the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” – (Revelation 1:4-6).

In his first vision, John the Revelator 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.”

This same “Son of Man” 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 consequent 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.

The Reigning Lamb encourages, corrects, and chastises his congregations as needed, and assures everlasting rewards to every saint who “overcomes.” Overcoming believers participate in his reign, “just as I also overcame and took my seat with my Father in his Throne,” and Jesus “overcame” by enduring the Cross of Calvary.

Christ is the savior and caretaker of his assemblies. He is not their overlord. We reign with the Son of God as his “kingdom of priests” – (Revelation 1:6, 3:20-21, 5:10, 12:11).

Likewise, we overcome Satan by “the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and because we love not our lives unto death.” That is how we qualify to reign with Jesus on the Throne. Like him, we 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 role as the sacrificial “Lamb” - (Revelation 5:6-10).

Starting in the fifth chapter of Revelation, the term “Lamb” becomes the dominant title of 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 and his present identity.

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.” Their victory and redemption were achieved by the slain “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 who 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!”  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 the “new song” of the Lamb - (Revelation 5:9-12).

The Book concludes with the vision of the “Holy City, New Jerusalem.” All God’s enemies were defeated, sin, death, and the “curse” were no more, and overcoming saints inherited everlasting life. Yet in the City, 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” fulfills the role of the Davidic Messiah through his Death and Resurrection. This same Messiah 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 that purchases 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:

• The Ruler of Kings - (Jesus, the Faithful Witness, now reigns supreme over the Kings of the Earth, and he is shepherding the nations to the Holy City of New Jerusalem)

• The Suffering Servant - (Disciples are summoned to adopt the same mind that Jesus had when he poured out his life unto death for the sake of others – Philippians 2:5-11)

• His Name is Jesus - (Jesus means ‘Yahweh saves.’ In the man from Nazareth, the salvation promised by the God of Israel has arrived in all its glory)

• Shepherding the Nations - (Jesus is the promised King from the line of David who is shepherding the nations to New Jerusalem – Revelation 12:5)