THE LAMB AND THE LION

As a member of the Body of Christ, I have already received an immeasurable amount of grace (unmerited favor) from God. I was drawn to Christ by the Father (John 6:44). I was convicted of my sin and my need of a Savior by the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). I was given the ability to believe the Gospel (Jesus died, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) by God (Ephesians 2:8-9). I was born again by the will of God in the power of the Holy Spirit (John 1:13; 3:5-8). I have become a new creature; one who is reconciled to God by Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:13-19). God has begun changing me into the likeness of His Son, and given me the will to please Him (Philippians 1:6; 2:13; Romans 12:1-2). He will finish the task as we enter into His presence (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 15:49; Ephesians 2:10; 1 John 3:2).

On top of all that, He has allowed us to understand the mystery that Christ would make two appearances on earth, rather than one (Mark 4:11; Romans 11:25; 16:25; Ephesians 3:9). We know what the Old Testament prophets and the angels of God did not know (1 Peter 1:10-12). Jesus was called the "Lamb of God Who takest away the sin of the world" by John the Baptist (John 1:29), and Paul called Him "our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Because we understand the mysteries of God, we recognize that the first three feasts of Israel represent the first coming of Christ, and the last three represent the second coming of Christ. We also understand that the middle feast, the Wave Offering using two loaves of leavened bread, represents the Church made up of sinners saved from the Jews and the Gentiles.

Jesus truly was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, for what God ordained was as good as if it had already been done (Revelation 13:8). But the Book of Revelation has another name for Christ. It represents His second coming to rule for a thousand years with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15; 20:1-6). This name for Christ is "The Lion of the Tribe of Juda" (Revelation 5:5). It not only identifies Him with the nation of Israel and the tribe of Judah, it signifies His royalty and kingship. But Christ being the humble servant of God that He is, is only called by this name once in all of Scripture. He is referred to as the Lamb twenty-seven times in Revelation alone.

Not only are we a part of His Body, and we are going to be changed into His likeness one day, we have the Word of God in its entirety. We can understand just how wonderful and loving God is, and can spend the rest of our days on this earth worshiping Him and sharing Him with others. I pray that this blog will serve that purpose, and that all who read it will tell others about it. The more readers, the better!