The Lamb

THE LAMB

REVELATION 5:1-14

OPENING ILLUSTRATION… Robert Beringer, The Easter People, CSS, 1984, p. 14

I can still recall a geography lesson from elementary school in which we learned that the southernmost point of Africa is a point, which for centuries has experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms," and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope.

Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter morning, those ancient visions of Isaiah became the victory of Jesus over our last great enemy. Jesus defeated Satan. Suddenly, like those ancient explorers, we can see beyond human death to the hope of heaven and eternal life with the Father. More than that, we dare to believe that we shall experience in our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in His, for the risen Christ says to us, "Because I live, you shall live also." This is the heart of our faith.

Chapter 5 of Revelation is a very important chapter just as chapter 4 was. I want to quickly review what we studied in chapter 4 because it relates directly to this chapter. Chapter 4 gives us a very specific picture of Heaven… the throne room of God. The purpose in showing this vision to John who then shows it to us is to highlight God’s glory, show that God is eternal, announce the holiness and majesty of God, and to show the worthiness of God. God deserves all of the worship and praise… He is worthy.

READ CHAPTER 5:1-14  [will explain as I go]

1- We have the scroll full of information sealed with 7 seals. Completely sealed up and no one could see what was inside.

2-4 The cry goes out in Heaven and on earth and under the earth: “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” This is the central question of chapter 5 that leads us to a very important answer. This answer is one of the important keys in the book of Revelation. John wept because he wanted to know what was inside. It seemed like everyone in Heaven was at a loss.

5 One of the Elders then speaks to John to reassure him that the Lion of Judah and the Root of David is worthy:

Lion of Judah = Genesis 49:9-10  Who is this?

Root of David = Isaiah 11:1-5, 10 (Rev 1)  Who is this?

6-12 John is then able to connect that the Lion of Judah and the Root of David and the Lamb before him are all one and the same. The lamb is one that looks slain.. note verse 9. This slain lamb is Jesus Christ. Jesus is worthy to look at the scroll and open the 7 seals. The 7 horns and 7 eyes—whole spirit of God, just as the one sitting on the throne. The lamb is worthy because it was slain and with its blood purchased all men. Remember what John the Baptist called Jesus in John chapter 1: “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

13-14 We find in these verses that the One on the throne and the lamb are equal. God and Jesus have worked for the same end… for the salvation of man.

WHAT DO WE WANT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS VISION AND KEEP IN MIND AS WE JOURNEY THROUGH REVELATION?

1) JESUS MAKES ALL THIS POSSIBLE… AND IS WORTHY

2) GOD HAS THE RIGHT TO JUDGE FOR WHO IS LIKE HIM

3) BE ENCOURAGED THAT ALL OF THIS TO COME IS GOD’S PLAN