Revelation 5:1-11 - The Lion and Lamb: Worthy is the Savior

Introduction

If I asked you why Trinity Church supports missions around the world, what would you say? Most Christians would answer: 'Because Jesus commanded us to go' or 'Because people are lost and going to hell.' Those are good answers - but according to John Stott, they're not the highest answer. He writes:

The highest of missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God ...), but rather zeal - burning and passionate zeal - for the glory of Jesus Christ .... Only one imperialism is Christian and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty' Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his empire.[1]

Today we'll discover that the Father's ultimate passion in missions isn't our obedience or even lost souls - it's the glory of his Son.

What we are going to see today is that the Father and Spirit are the most Christ-centered persons in the universe.

Ephesians 1:10 — aka “to sum up all things in Christ”

Ephesians 1:10 ESV

as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

The universe has come into chaos as a result of sin, and God will restore it to original harmony in Christ.

There will be no corner of the world or feature of heaven where Christ’s rule does not extend.

The Father’s passion then and his purpose in missions, is for every tribe, nation, people, and tongue to worship his Son

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.[2]

Phil. 2:10-11 – not apart from the Father, Christocentric Trinitarianism

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For the Sake of His Name, the Father was Seeking a Man to Fulfill the Plan of Redemption (Rev 5:1–5)

From the garden, God promised that there would be a man who would come from the seed of the woman and crush the head of the serpent and restore all things.

The Father’s Redemptive Decree Lay Unopened and Unread (Rev 5:1)

In chapter’s 4 and 5, John receives a vision of the throne room of God, and as he looks at the one seated on the throne, John sees something in his hand: a scroll.

We don’t know it yet, but from the rest of the book of Revelation, this scroll contains the decrees and plans of redemptive history, from final judgment to the restoration of all things.

It is written on front and back and sealed with seven seals, signifying completeness.  There is nothing else that can be added.

The Challenge Went Forth to Find One Worthy (Rev 5:2)

John then says, I saw a mighty angel.

This angel was proclaiming or preaching the challenge in a loud voice

This is the challenge: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”

It refers to a moral worthiness; someone with an inherent moral excellency and capacity with no need themselves.

Who is worthy to unlock the problem of the fall and make all things new?

No Man Could Answer the Challenge (Rev 5:3)

No one was able: 1. in heaven, 2) in the earth, 3) under the earth. Further, no one was worthy: 1) to open it, 2) to look into it

In The Lord of the Rings, everyone knows how to destroy the Ring of Power - throw it into the fires of Mount Doom. The solution is simple, the location is known, but there's one devastating problem: no one can resist the Ring's corruption long enough to actually destroy it. 

Boromir tries to take it and falls to temptation. Faramir is tempted but resists. Even Frodo, the most innocent of all, ultimately succumbs at the crucial moment. The wise Gandalf and Galadriel refuse to even touch it because they know it would corrupt them. The solution to Middle Earth's greatest problem exists, but no one has the moral strength to execute it.

This was John's heartbreak - watching the scroll that contained God's plan for redemption sit unopened because every created being, no matter how powerful or pure, lacked the perfect righteousness required to break its seals.

The Response to This Failure Was Great Sorrow (Rev 5:4)

John wept greatly — This word weep means a deep-seated grief. John wept because no one was found worthy: 1) to open the scroll, 2) to look into the scroll

In John’s moment of despair, this meant for him that history would not be governed to the benefit of God’s people, there would be no protection for God’s children in the hours of bitter trial; no judgments upon a persecuting world; no ultimate triumph for believers; no new heaven and earth; no future inheritance!”[3]

Where is the man who will deliver us! Where is the promised Messiah and hero from the Genesis? Where is our Savior!?

Have you ever felt this kind of despair about the state of the world?

In Our Darkest Hour, One Man Was Found Worthy (5:5)

The Father solved the problem by sending his own Son to be the Lion of the Tribe of Judah

One of the elders said to John: 1) Stop weeping! 2) Behold! Christ’s conquering places Him in a sovereign position to carry out the divine plan of redemption and judgment, which is displayed by His worthiness to open the scroll and the seals. It magnifies the power and majesty and glory of Christ. It shows His justice and vengeance and righteousness. And it displays His rule over all things just as a lion is king of the jungle.

Gen 49:9– He is mighty

Genesis 49:9 ESV

Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

Isaiah 31:4 – God protects His people

Isaiah 31:4 ESV

For thus the Lord said to me, “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

Hosea 13:8 – He executes judgment.

Hosea 13:8 ESV

I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open.

Prov 19:12 – He is a king

Proverbs 19:12 ESV

A king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

This Lion has conquered, and He is worthy of our worship.  This Lion is the goal of missions!

For the Sake of His Name, the Father Sent His Son on a Mission to Reclaim a Kingdom of Worshippers (Rev 5:6–10)

The angel had just proclaimed that the lion had conquered and when John looks, he sees a lamb.

This word lamb refers to a domesticated pet lamb.  It was the Lamb of Exodus, the passover lamb that lived three days in the home.

This lion according to the next verse is a Lamb-like Lion. A lamb is an animal that is weak and harmless and lowly. He is sheared naked for our clothes and killed for our food.

Isaiah 53:7 ESV

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

1 Peter 1:18–19 ESV

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

John 1:29 ESV

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

His Son Was Slain to Reclaim Worshippers (Rev 5:6)

John saw the Lamb as the center of attention: 1) in the midst of the throne, 2) in the midst of the four living creatures, 3) in the midst of the elders. John saw the worthiness of the Lamb:

“standing as if slain.” God the Son, the Lamb of God reclaimed worshippers by being slain. And the fact that He is standing indicates He didn’t just stay, dead, but has risen from the dead and is now exalted to the right hand of God. He is not in a bloody heap on the ground. He is standing in the innermost circle next to the throne. He is alive. He is worthy because He was slain.  He died a substitutionary penal death.  He bore our sins in his body in the cross!  He was made sin for us!  He died, the just for the unjust!

“having seven horns” The seven horns are a symbol of power, indicating he is able to carry out this mission, to seek and save that which was lost.

“having seven eyes” The seven eyes are a symbol of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and the sending is an ongoing task (perfect tense), referring to the Son’s all-seeing watchfulness and active involvement through the ministry of the Spirit, to reach all peoples.

His Son Is Worshipped for Answering the Prayers of the Saints (Rev 5:7)

Just as he is a lamb-like lion, we see that he is also a lion-like lamb. He is the one who is going to take the scroll and open it and bring judgment on those who rebel against God and persecute and kill His children.

The lamb came (Rev 5:7). The lamb took from the right of the one seated on the throne (Rev 5:8).The angelic beings fell down and worshiped. They each had golden bowls...full of the prayers of the saints.

The prayer of the saints is Rev. 6:10

Revelation 6:10 ESV

They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

This passage is essentially the answer to the prayer, “Let Your Kingdom Come.”

When He returns, His enemies will say, Rev 6:16.

Revelation 6:16 ESV

calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

Jesus Christ, the Lion and the Lamb has not returned yet, because he has a missionary enterprise to bring the most glory to the Father, and to himself.

His Son Will Be Worshipped by a Kingdom of Priests from Every Tribe, Tongue, People, and Nation (Rev 5:9–10)

This is why we support missions around the world, do you understand that we are a part of something huge!!

Revelation 22:3–5 “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

As those united to Christ, the Spirit empowers new covenant saints to be king–priests (1 Pet 2:9; Heb 10:19, 22; Rev 1:6), and as such, we share in the kingly reign of Jesus, since we have been raised with him in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6; cf. Rev 22:5). We also share to some degree in his authority over evil spiritual forces (Eph 6:10–11, James 4:7, 1 Pet 5:9, 1 John 4:4). As priests, we will eternally worship and offer prayer to God as we behold his face and dwell in his presence. (Rev 22:3–4), and our duty now is to continually offer ourselves and all that we do or have as sacrifices to the Father through the Son.

For the Sake of His Name, Every Creature Will Worship God Forever (Rev 5:11-14)

He is worthy, because he is everything we need.

Jonathan Edwards said of this text, that Jesus Christ is glorious because in Him is “an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies.”[4]

What he meant by that is that Jesus Christ is the Lamb-like Lion and the Lion-like Lamb. 

You need comfort when you're hurting but strength when you're weak

You want someone approachable enough to understand you but powerful enough to help you

You desire mercy for your failures but justice for the wrongs done to you

His meekness as a lamb corresponds perfectly to our personal weariness.  He says “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  (Matt. 11:28–29) 

His greatness as a lion corresponds to our personal longing for greatness, and our desire that our lives would count for something eternal (Mark 9:35 practice greatness; Matt 6:19–20 lay up treasure in heaven).

That's Christ for us. When we come to him broken by sin, failure, and shame, we find the Lamb - gentle, understanding, bearing our wounds. But when Satan accuses us, when the world persecutes us, when death threatens us, we need the Lion - the conquering King who has already defeated every enemy.

Whatever you're facing today, Christ has the exact excellence you need:

Feeling worthless? Come to the Lamb who was slain for you

Feeling powerless? Trust in the Lion who has already conquered

Need forgiveness? The Lamb took your sin

Need justice? The Lion will make all things right

Want security? The Lamb knows your weakness

Want significance? The Lion calls you to his mission

This is why every tribe, tongue, people, and nation will one day worship him - because every human heart, in every culture, has these same contradictory needs that only the Lion-Lamb can perfectly meet.

Conclusion

Therefore, as we gather and are equipped for the “work of ministry” (Eph 4:12), we scatter for the purpose of mission as an act of worship as priests and ambassadors of the Father.

Do you want a motive that will sustain you? It won't be the command to go (because what if you don't fee, it won't be the love for the lost (what happens when they are your enemy). It will be your love for Jesus and desire to glorify him.

The church’s mission not only flows from and through the love of the triune God; it also flows to the love of the triune God. The Father, after all, seeks worshippers(4:23). The Father sent the Son to make his great and holy name known to his people (1:18; 17:6). The church’s mission therefore ultimately consists in reaping a worldwide harvest of worshippers (4:35–38) gathered by the Son, through the Spirit, to serve and adore the ‘Holy Father’ (17:11; cf. Isa. 6:3; 66:19–21; Rev. 22:3–4).

One day the church’s mission will be consummated in trinitarian worship (Rev. 22:1–5). This means that, even now, as the church engages in the worship of the Holy Trinity, she engages not simply in the means of her mission, but in the very end of her mission: the Gloria Dei.[5]

For all eternity, as the we live Spirit-empowered lives united to the glorified and risen Christ, we will serve as king-priests of the Father day and night in his new creation before his throne, the Father will shelter us with his presence. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36).

[1]John Stott, Romans (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 2001), 53.

[2] John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, (Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI: 2003), 17

[3] G.K. Beale, New International Greek Testament Commentary:  Revelation, (Eerdmans:  Grand Rapids, MI:  1999), 348-349

[4] Jonathan Edwards, The Excellency of Christ, in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1 (Edinburgh:  The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 680

[5] Köstenberger and Swain, Father, Son, and Spirit, 164.