The Cross is God's JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD! And in that great and terrible Day of
the LORD, God is going to execute the sentence of judgment that He decreed at
Golgotha. We may be inclined to believe that Christ came as a Lamb to redeem us, but
that in His resurrection and enthronement He is now ruling on the throne of glory as a
Lion. This is not exactly right; and it is yet to be revealed and made manifest in the earth,
that He who conquered over sin and Satan and the world by His sacrifice of the Cross, is
now ruling and reigning as THE LAMB on the throne. The Lion of Judah is only
mentioned once in the Book of Revelation, and twenty-eight times as the Lamb! When no
one was worthy to open the book and loose the seals, one of the elders said,
"Weep not:
behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the
book, and to loose the seven seals thereof"
(Rev. 5:5). But when John turned to see this
mighty Lion...
"Lo, in the midst of the throne... stood a Lamb as it had been slain" (vs.6). It is significant that John the beloved never saw
"the Lion of the tribe of Judah" as a
powerful lion, either here or elsewhere in the Book of Revelation. Why?--we might ask.
Because this "Lion" was still the Lamb in heart, in nature and in character; and God
wants His people to always see Him and worship Him as the Lamb on the throne, and to
"follow the Lamb"
of meekness, rather than the Lion of power. These wounds in His
hands and feet and side are no longer the bruises inflicted upon Him by sinful men, but
badges of Honor and Glory! And if we would reign with Him, He wants us to know it is
only as we "suffer with Him.""
