Revelation

Jesus is the Lamb

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The Slain Lamb is the Messiah in Revelation who overcomes and reigns over the Nations and the Kings of the Earth.

In popular preaching, Jesus has become the “Roaring Lion of Judah” who will soon unleash his predatory cry as he slays his enemies. Unlike the man from Nazareth, this warrior-king will destroy everyone who resists him as he imposes his kingdom on the willing and the unwilling. No longer is he the savior who submitted to an unjust death to save the world. Does not the Book of Revelation tell us that he is the Messianic Lion?

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The Victorius Shepherd

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The kings and nations of the Earth are found in New Jerusalem because of the Lamb’s redemptive work.

The Apostle Paul describes the proclamation of “Christ crucified” as “God’s wisdom and power.” The proposition that God overthrew Sin, Satan, and Death through the execution of a lowly man from the small village of Nazareth is “foolishness” to men and contrary to this world’s “wisdom” and ideologies. Even the spiritual “powers and principalities” did not understand what God was doing and sealed their fate by crucifying the “Lord of Glory.”

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Ruler of Kings

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Jesus is called the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” in the present tense in the Book of Revelation. His sovereignty is based on his past Death and Resurrection, not military conquest. Though at times the “Kings of the Earth” do Satan’s bidding, the slain “Lamb” even uses their plots to achieve his redemptive purposes for humanity. Revelation often does the unexpected and presents paradoxical images and truths. The Book is more concerned with redemption than vengeance or destruction.

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The Dragon’s War

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The Book of Revelation provides a graphic picture of the cosmic battle that is raging between Jesus and Satan, between the “Lamb” and the “Dragon.” The stakes are high, and the pivotal battlefield is the “Assembly,” the Body of Christ. The Devil has no hope of victory if he fails to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ, and so all his resources are focused on accomplishing this goal.

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The Testimony of Jesus

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In the Book of Revelation, the men redeemed by Jesus form a new priestly company that transcends all national, social, and cultural boundaries, and they persevere in the “Testimony of Jesus” before the world through every affliction and persecution. This is how they follow the “Lamb wherever he goes.”

What sets the Assembly of Jesus apart from the rest of mankind is that it consists of men from every “nation,” “people,” “tribe,” and “tongue” who have been redeemed by the death of Jesus, saints who now summon the rest of humanity to join this company of the Redeemed. His “Kingdom of Priests” mediates the light of the Gospel throughout the Earth.

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