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I'm deeply touched by the sensitivity and carefulness with which you've chosen your worship songs—every one of them perfectly matched my theme. I'm calling this talk "The Throne, the Lion, and the Lamb."
Lord, I pray that you would open the scriptures to us. Your word is a lamp to our feet, guiding us on our way to glory. Our lives can be better by following this word. We thank you for this glorious passage and pray that you would speak to us by your Holy Spirit, letting us leave this place feeling stronger and more fortified in our faith.
The book of Revelation was written by John, a follower of Jesus who had been banished to the island of Patmos—a prison island, a sort of gulag in the Aegean Sea. It was written to early Christians facing a specific historical crisis.
The Roman emperor at that time was Domitian, a ruthless megalomaniac who demanded to be worshiped. As a result, the church was under terrible pressure. People were losing their property, their jobs, their freedom. Many were imprisoned, and some were becoming martyrs.
How did God choose to strengthen, fortify, and encourage his people? He gave his servant John a vision. The book of Revelation is a spectacular account of indescribable things which John is trying hard to describe. Don't get hung up on how many heads the beast has or which jewels mean what. The point is the description of the almost indescribable wonder of God.
After this, I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peels of thunder. Before the throne, lamps were blazing. And before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. (Revelation 4:1-2, 5-6)
The throne is mentioned seven times in just five verses. This is John's way of emphasizing the throne's absolute centrality. He sees the command center, the nerve center, the cosmic headquarters of the universe. Seated on the throne in absolute control is the Lord himself.
Day and night they never stop saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come." Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down and lay their crowns before the throne. (Revelation 4:8-10)
There are moments in worship when you cannot do anything else. How can I get lower? How can I kneel before him? It's so consuming.
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and they have their being. (Revelation 4:11)
The only reason you draw the next breath is because of the will of God. We don't have rights. I have no rights. I'm not even entitled to the next breath I breathe. It's all by God's mercy and wisdom and goodness.
First: God is the starting point of everything. With all the pressure those early Christians were facing, John didn't start with an analysis of Rome's power. He didn't start with strategies for handling persecution or discussions of wealth and cost of living. He started with the worship of God.
When we're facing our own "messes," we need to start by asking: Who is God? How is he connected to my present situation? What is he up to here? What is he saying? How is he leading me?
Second: God is the center point. John sees God seated on the throne in the center of all creation, not on the periphery. He hasn't lost the plot. He hasn't taken his eye off the ball.
This revelation—that the universe is God-centered—is completely contrary to our natural instincts. As a result of the fall, we all have an inborn tendency to live utterly self-centered lives. But coming to Jesus turns everything on its head. Everything changes.
We no longer feel we must be the center of attention, affection, admiration, and respect. We need to live lives centered on him, not on us. The self-centered life is essentially a sinful life. Think about it: self-centered, self-promoting, self-indulgence, self-aggrandizing, selfish—the word "sin" has an "I" in the middle.
Jesus rescues us from the delusion that life revolves around us and saves us for the liberating truth that life is centered on God. Life exists not primarily to make me happy. It exists to make God happy.
The Presbyterians 350 years ago put it beautifully: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." That's what we were made for.
If you feel that life is frazzled, fractured, jangled, or all in a muddle, remember: the throne stands at the center of the universe. This truth gives rise to what we call the doctrine of providence or sovereignty. As Charles Spurgeon once wrote:
We are not waif and strays upon the open sea of fate, but we are steered by God's infinite wisdom towards our desired destination. Providence is a soft pillow for anxious heads.
Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." (Revelation 5:5)
In their context and culture, a lion represented raw, unassailable power—awesome, irresistible, overwhelming, inescapable, unstoppable power. When the Bible calls Jesus the Lion of the tribe of Judah, it's a powerful thing.
In the Old Testament, the Jewish Messiah was predicted to come as a conqueror from the tribe of Judah, and specifically from the line of King David. These two images speak of victory and triumph in Christ's kingdom.
Circle that word: triumph. It comes from the Greek word for "victory" or "to overcome." The sports company Nike cleverly took this as their slogan—that little tick you see everywhere.
Because Christ has triumphed, his people share that triumph:
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)
What does it mean for you in your current situation? Despite all difficulties and disappointments, you need never be defeated by anything or determined by anything or defined by anything other than the fact that Jesus is the victor and you reign with him.
Maybe terrible things happened to you as a child. You've been through unspeakable, wicked things. But through Christ's triumph, you can say: "I will not be defeated by this. I will not be determined by it. I will not be defined by the abuse I suffered, however horrendous and wrong that was. I am not going to spend my life as an eternal victim."
Because the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed. Come and share in the triumph of Jesus Christ. If you've never before enjoyed that sense of the triumph of Jesus and his overcoming, then today would be a very good day to sign up.
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne... They sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:6, 9-10)
Here is an extraordinary paradox. John hears: "See the Lion of the tribe of Judah that has triumphed." But when he looks, does he see a lion gorging itself on its prey, tearing into flesh? No. He sees a Lamb looking as if it had been slain—butchered, hammered to death, shattered on a cross outside Jerusalem, on a stinking rubbish dump among villains. That's what it cost.
This is the way of the kingdom: triumph not as a lion triumphs, but by being slain. It's not the triumph of violence or superior force or better political organization. It is the central image of the Bible. It speaks about sacrifice and shed blood.
No Jew could read these words without thinking of blood. When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God," every Jew knew what that meant. In Exodus, every Jewish family had to kill their own lamb and paint the blood on the lintels and doorposts of their homes. Only the blood of a slain lamb preserved the Jewish families from the angel of death as he passed over Egypt.
John is telling us in this vision that the Lamb of God is the Passover Lamb. By having his shed blood applied to our lives, judgment passes over. By being slain, the Lamb conquers.
Because you were slain and with your blood, you purchased, you bought back men and women from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)
When you look at the world, you ask: "Who are the movers and shakers? Who reigns on the earth?" Is it all those leaders of nations lined up at their coffins? No. It's the church. It's Christians. It's believers who reign on the earth. It's quite overwhelming if you stop to think about it.
Christianity always starts with what God does for us—the great and wonderful things that God dreamt up for us and achieved for us through his precious Jesus. So the next time you look at the cross, and I encourage you to do this frequently, realize the price that was paid because you were so loved. All God asks of you is that you should marvel.
Just marvel. In this moment, marvel. God did this for me.
Let me suggest that from this moment until you put your head on the pillow tonight, let the focus of your inner life rest on one truth: The staggering, mind-blowing truth that God loves you just as you are. Just as you are, sitting here right now, he absolutely loves you. He's mad about you.
There's nothing you could do to make God love you more. There's nothing you can do to make him love you less. God loves you, not as you should be, but as you are. And the truth is that God loves you in such a way that he'd rather die than be without you.
There was a story of a small boy and his father who made a little model boat together. They did it beautifully—a little wooden hull, sails, and terribly complicated rigging. It took them ages. When it was ready, they took it down to the village pond. It sailed beautifully until a gust of wind blew it across the pond, where it got stuck in the reeds.
Weeks later, the boy saw his boat in an antique shop window—restored, tidied up, polished, its fabric sails renewed. There was a price tag on it. The boy went in and said, "That's my boat. My dad and me, we made it."
The woman said he'd have to buy it back. So he saved and saved until he could afford it. As he left the shop with his boat, he was heard muttering: "Now you're twice mine. I made you, and now I bought you."
Twice Jesus's. He made you, and now he's bought you.
You who stand on the throne have triumphed. And because you were slain, with your blood, you purchased me back for God.
Lord, this is so amazing. Thank you so much for this extraordinary preaching, this remarkable truth that you are sovereign and seated on a throne. You have not taken your eye off us. Thank you for the truth of the Lion who speaks of victory—there is no reason we should be defeated. And thank you for the precious Lamb who was slain and has rescued us.
If there's someone here who's never heard all this before and who feels their heart beating a bit faster, who thinks, "Gosh, what's going on here?"—perhaps you know your life has been defeated, you're floundering, not flourishing. It may just be that you want to say yes to Jesus.
If that's you, let me pray for you in the first person as if I were you:
Lord Jesus, I hear what you're saying. I recognize the reality of what I'm hearing. I admit that I am a sinner. I admit that I am in need. I admit that I haven't got my life together. I admit that I do need something. And I'm beginning to think that maybe it's you that I need. And so, as best I know how in this moment, Lord Jesus, I come to you and I ask you to come to me. Come into my life and help me to live it better from this day forward.
Let's worship God.
