[Chapter 5-2] The Lamb Who Sits on the Throne (Revelation 5:1-14)
(Revelation 5:1-14)
We
just went through Revelation 5. Here, the Word of God tells us that the
Lord is the One who will both save and judge mankind in the end times.
Who is this Lord in whom we believe? The Word tells us that Jesus Christ
is the Savior for those who believe in Him, the Judge of all mankind,
and the King of kings.
We often think of Jesus as a limited Lord. But our Lord is the Judge of all creation.
The
Lord delivered us from all our sins, judgment, and destruction by
giving us the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord therefore
became our true Savior and true God. At the same time, our Lord is the
King and the Judge of all mankind. Today, let us awaken our thankful
hearts for the Lord in whom we believe and on whom we rely.
From
verse 1 and on, we see that at the right hand of Him who sat on the
throne was a scroll, and that the Lamb—Jesus Christ, that is—shortly
took this scroll. We also see in the last verse that the Lord sat on
this throne. This Word tells us that the Lord will soon be the Judge of
all mankind, both the believers and the unbelievers alike. We can
therefore know and believe that Jesus is God who has become the Judge of
all.
Our
Lord does not limit His rewards and punishments to only us who are born
again, but He is the true Judge and the King of kings for every mankind
and all things in the universe. People often say that we have now
entered the 21st century. This could be the time for the Lord’s return.
When we say that the Lord’s return is imminent, it also means that the
destruction of the world is imminent as well.
What
we can find out from the Word here is that the Lord has the authority
to be the Judge of all. Our Lord came to this earth in the flesh of man,
and at the age of 30, He took upon all the sins of mankind on Himself
with His baptism all at once. And by being crucified to death, He was
judged for all the sins of mankind.
Only
God the Father can receive honor and worship from every mankind and
every creature in heaven and on earth. But the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
was given the right to receive honor and worship along with the Father
for obeying and fulfilling the will of God the Father. Christ therefore
could inherit from the Father all His jurisdiction.
Jesus
Christ was given the right to judge every mankind, and every mankind is
saved and judged only by Him. It is very beneficial for us to know who
exactly the Lord that has saved us is. This knowledge is essential for
us to keep our faith strong in the end times as well. When we believe in
the Lord with a clear knowledge of just what kind of power He has, this
knowledge becomes a great strength for us.
The
Lord who has saved us is the One who has the authority to judge
everyone for good and evil. We must realize and believe that this Lord
is worthy to receive the same worship as God the Father. The passage
tells us that our Lord came to this earth and was slain, that with His
blood He ransomed men for God from every tribe, tongue, people and
nation, and that He made them to be kings and priests in the presence of
our God to reign on the earth.
The
passage then tells us that there was the voice of angels in Heaven, who
numbered ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
praising and worshiping the Lord with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and
honor and glory and blessing!” John continues with his testimony of what
he saw and heard in verse 13: “And every creature which is in heaven
and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all
that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and
power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and
ever!’” To whom, then, does every creature give all glory? It is to the
Lamb who sits on the throne that all blessing, honor, glory and power
are given, forever and ever.
Glory,
praise, and worship from mankind used to be reserved for only God, the
Father of Jesus Christ. But because Jesus Christ now has the same
authority as the Father by coming to this earth and delivering mankind
from its sins, destruction, and judgment, for this salvation of
atonement He was given all glory along with the Father and became our
Savior worthy of all worship.
Just
thinking about this, that the Lord who sits on the throne, who is the
Lord and the Judge of all, is our Savior brings us great glory that
fills our hearts. That’s right—the Lord is the King of kings, the God of
creation by whom everything in the universe was created.
Because
our Lord is the God of creation, who came to this earth and saved us by
His water and blood, He is worthy for every mankind and everything in
this universe to kneel before His throne and give all worship, praise,
glory and honor to Him. Our faith is greatly strengthened and our hearts
are greatly encouraged by the knowledge that this Lord is the One who
sits on the throne of glory as the Judge of all.
Some
people think of Jesus as just one of the four great sages, but the Lord
is by no means a man. The Lord is our God who has created, made, and
saved us. We can therefore never compare the Lord of our own creation to
mere human beings. Neither Socrates, nor Confucius, nor Buddha, nor any
other human being can be compared to our Lord. Jesus only lived as a
man for just 33 years to save us. But His substance is the same as God.
This may not be such a good metaphor, but as human beings give birth to
human beings, Jesus Christ is God as He is the Son of God the Father.
Jesus
therefore is God Himself, our God of creation. But the Lord came to
this earth to save us. Because He saved us, He is worthy of receiving
all glory from us, and we must firmly believe in our hearts that Jesus
is not a creature, but the Creator. How joyful and thankful we are!
Our Lord Who Can Complete God’s Plan
No
one but the Lord can open the scroll sealed with seven seals. This
scroll sealed with seven seals is God’s scroll of promise. God created
all things in the universe, including us, in Jesus Christ. Even before
the creation, God has set a plan in Jesus Christ to make us His
children. Our Lord received this sealed scroll to fulfill God’s purpose
of creation and His plan to save us and to judge mankind.
The
Word of God tells us, “And no one in heaven or on the earth or under
the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.” There was no
one, in other words, who was able to finally complete God’s plan. Only
Jesus Christ can do this. Why? Because God has planned everything
through His Son.
This
also means that the Lord has the authority of judgment to open the
scroll sealed with seven seals, the plan of God the Father. With this
authority, Jesus completed every aspect of the plan of the Triune God by
taking upon all our sins on Himself with His baptism and saving us by
being punished for these sins on the Cross in our stead. The Lord has
made us His priests before God by delivering us from sin through His
sacrifice and the price of His own life.
Jesus
Christ has also made those who believe in His salvation to reign with
Him. As the Word of God tells us, “We shall reign on the earth,” when
the Lord actually returns to this earth, He will conquer all things
again and bring the Millennial Kingdom to its realization on the earth.
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