THE LAMB AND THE LION

As members of the Body of Christ, we have already received an immeasurable amount of grace (unmerited favor) from God. And like the Creation Week of Genesis One, God works on us for "six days," and His work is finished; the seventh day, He rested:

1) We were drawn to Christ by the Father (Jn. 6:44).
2) We were convicted of our need of a Savior by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:7-11).
3) We were given the ability to believe the Gospel by God (Eph. 2:8-9).
4) We were born again by the will of God by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:13; 3:5-8).
5) We have become new creatures, and reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:13-19).
6) We are being changed into the likeness of His Son (Rom. 12:1-2; Phil. 1:6).
7) HE will finish the task (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 1:8; 15:49; Eph. 2:10; 1 Jn. 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 (Mk. 4:11; Rom. 11:25; 16:25; Eph. 3:9). We know what the Old Testament prophets and the angels of God did not know (1 Pet. 1:10-12). In His first appearance, Jesus was called the "Lamb of God Who takest away the sin of the world" by John the Baptist (Jn. 1:29), and Paul called Him "our Passover" (1 Cor. 5:7). Because we are able to understand the mysteries of God, we recognize that the first three feasts of Israel represent the First Coming of Christ, that is, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. We also see the last three feasts point to His Second Coming, with His gathering of Israel, His atonement being applied to Israel, and His dwelling with them for a thousand years. And, we 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. We are so blessed!

Jesus truly was the "Lamb slain before the foundation of the world," because what God ordains will happen, is as good as if it has already been done (Rev.13:8). The same is true for those things yet to occur; they will be fulfilled literally. In describing Christ at His Second Coming, God chose to use a different metaphor. God wants us to know that He will not come as a gentle Lamb, but as "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5). It not only identifies Him with the nation of Israel and the tribe of Judah, it also signifies His royalty and Kingship. But Christ being the humble servant of God that He is, chose to be called by this name once in all of Scripture. He referred to Himself as "the Lamb" twenty-seven times in Revelation alone.

It is because we have been blessed with the Word of God in its entirety that we know these things. We don't have to hope these things are true, we actually know they are! Thank God we can understand just how wonderful and loving He 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 merrier!