Revelation 5:4-10 – 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

THEME OF THE DAY: AN ALL-SUFFICIENT CHRIST. The scriptures provide numerous illustrations describing our Lord Jesus and what He is to us. We read of our loving Lord being our “Good Shepherd” and “Vine.” Both warm our souls with reminders and pictures of His loving care and spiritual provision to live the Christian life. In today’s scripture, there are two more illustrations of our Lord providing us great comfort, encouragement and confidence in Him. They are Jesus as “the lion of the tribe of Judah” and Jesus, “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain”.

The 18th century preacher, teacher, pastor, philosopher, and theologian, Jonathan Edwards commented on these dual roles – Lion and Lamb – of the Lord Jesus as described by the Apostle John in today’s scripture. Edwards wrote, “The lion and the lamb, though very diverse kinds of creatures, yet have each their peculiar excellencies. The lion excels in strength, and in the majesty of his appearance and voice: the lamb excels in meekness and patience, besides the excellent nature of the creature as good for food, and yielding that which is fit for our clothing and being suitable to be offered in sacrifice to God. But we see that Christ is in the text compared to both, because the diverse excellencies of both wonderfully meet in him.”

In the day-to-day spiritual warfare we face, Jesus is our conquering lion. It is His lion-like power we lean upon to win our battles, defeat our formidable foes, and walk in spiritual victory. When the war gets intense, remember the Lord Jesus and the power made available for us through the imagery of His lion role.

Also in the day-to-day struggles of the Christian life with our too many times of falling into sin, we need Jesus as “the lamb slain.” As we picture Him in this redemptive role as the “Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world”, we find confidence in His on-going ability to cleanse and forgive us our sins. We may boldly come to Him to restore us as we live out the promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And why does He do that? Because He is the “Lamb of God.” But there is something else we need from the Lord Jesus and this too is found in the lamb imagery. We need His gentle and meek spirit as a tender lamb. Sin crushes our hearts. Sin wounds our spirits. Sin weakens our resolve. And what we need is a God who understands and enters into our suffering with a gentle hand and soft word. We have that in Jesus, “the lamb of God.” He always handles us with great care, love, and tenderness. Rest in the Lamb’s gracious embrace when sin buffets and discourages.

Jesus is an all-sufficient Christ both in the power of the lion and the gentleness of a lamb. And He daily offers Himself to us as such. Learn to go to Him when in need of power and gentleness.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for providing me all I will ever need now and forever in Your Son.”

QUOTE: “Jesus is our Lion who conquers our enemies with majestic power. And He is our Lamb ”