Look at the Lamb

Greetings friend.

I do not mean to be judgmental or unkind, but I do not understand how a Christian can be bored with God’s word or be uninterested in it. Yes, I am aware that many Christians have honest struggles and that not all Christians posses the same passion for God. Each of us experiences a range of interest levels for God’s word throughout our Christian lives. Perhaps the “passion issue” is related to one’s “faith object.” If one attempts to be motivated to read or study God’s word from mere duty or from a self-generated faith basis, the likelihood of disinterest or failure seems naturally greater. If one is motivated to study God’s word because of their love for God and God’s love for them (experienced, not just intellectually acknowledged), because in the Bible the mysteries of God, of life and of Jesus Christ are manifest and revealed, the likelihood of a Christian frequenting the Scriptures would appear quite regular and normal. Again, we all ebb and flow in our relation to God’s word. Inconsistency seems to be the only constant at times. My observations are not intended to condemn. I only mention these things as prefatory to setting some aim.

For my own part, I must confess that this day in church I was into my own Scripture study in the New Testament: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Corinthians, and Revelation. I have labored heavily in these areas for more months than I can remember. The theme I pursued with lavish gusto today was that of “the throne” in Revelation: who is present and what is going on. It is a remarkable study!

In Revelation 4, God the Almighty is central. He is on His throne. He is the one in whom life exists (all created things, all else, derives life from Him). He lives forever and ever. He is worshipped by creatures. In Revelation 5, God Almighty possesses a scroll. An angel proclaims “Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?” Nothing! Not a creature stirs. “No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.” And yet, something else was required. Then, a Lamb appears. And this Lamb does something significantly more than just “open” the scroll and “loose” its seals. This Lamb, in the midst of the throne, “came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.” The Lamb approached the Almighty, in complete confidence took the scroll from the Almighty, and then living creatures and elders fell down before the Lamb and sang a new song to the Lamb!

My friend, it may not immediately appear clearly or as significant, but the nature of the Lamb is testified to by this event. Creation was unworthy and unable to approach the Almighty. The Lamb, because he was significantly more than something defined by the created order, hesitated not in both approaching the Almighty and taking from His right hand the scroll. The Lamb, of his own authority, would later open the seals and, as Son of God and Son of Man, mediate the will of God Almighty to the created order.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:1) He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Col 1:15-17) God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power. (Heb 1:1-3) But I saw no temple in it [the holy city, the New Jerusalem], for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light." (Rev 21:22-23)

The Lamb shares something essential, intrinsic, with the Almighty. “Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. (Jn 14:9-10) For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Col 2:9) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (Jn 1:18)

My friend, if you need a reason or some portal, direction, with God’s word to be forever anchored and interested in His word, look at the Lamb!