Lamb and King
The Bible declares that Jesus is both “Lamb” and “King of Kings,” present tense, and it is he who reigns supreme over the earth.
In Revelation,
from the start, Jesus is the Lord and King who reigns over the earth and,
indeed, the entire Creation. His present status as the “King
of kings” is depicted in numerous ways, and it is based on his past death and
resurrection. His royal role and supreme authority are inseparable from his identity
as the “Lamb who was slain.”
Looking at the present world, it is easy to understand
why anyone would conclude that Jesus is not yet sovereign over all things.
Nevertheless, in Revelation, he defeats his
enemies and delivers his people by the end of the book, and he does so
precisely because he “IS,” present tense, king - “These
shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is
Lord of lords, and King of kings” – (Revelation 17:14).
LAMB IS KING
What is noteworthy in
the preceding passage is that it is the “Lamb” who “overcomes”
his enemies, and it is the “Lamb” who is declared the “King of kings.”
And the grammar of
the Greek sentence is clear. He defeats his enemies BECAUSE (hoti)
he “IS” (esti) the “King of kings.” The
Greek verb represents a progressive present tense – present action in
progress - an ongoing act or status. He does not overcome his
enemies when he becomes king, he does so because he is king.
Similarly, when he is
pictured as the “rider on a white horse” who ventures forth to defeat
the beastly army arrayed against him, he has on his thigh the name already
written, “King of kings and Lord of lords” – (Revelation
19:16).
In the opening salutation, Jesus is called the “ruler
of the kings of the earth,” a position he holds because of his death and
resurrection. He is the “faithful witness” (his death) and the “firstborn
of the dead” (his resurrection), and therefore he is sovereign over the
political rulers of this age – (Revelation 1:4-6).
As he proclaimed to
John “I am the Living one, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive
for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Even the realm of the dead is under his authority, and the death of anyone is
no impediment to his redemptive plans. Just as God raised him from the dead, so
he will resurrect his martyrs and all men whose “name is written in the Book
of Life” –
(Revelation 1:17-18).
LAMB IS WORTHY
When the Creation was
searched for someone worthy to open the “sealed scroll,” only Jesus was
qualified to do so, but not as the “lion of the tribe of Judah.” Instead,
it was as the slain “Lamb.” And upon his arrival at the “throne,”
he immediately took the scroll and began to break open its “seven seals”
- (Revelation 5:1-14).
This understanding is
confirmed by the cry of the four “living creatures” and the twenty-four
“elders” who declared him “worthy to take and open the scroll BECAUSE
you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men
from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.”
This was followed by a myriad of angelic voices that proclaimed the
slain “Lamb” worthy “to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom,
and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” The sevenfold formula
stresses the completeness of his power and authority – (Revelation 5:11-14).
HIS REIGN BEGINS
Following his enthronement, the “Lamb” immediately breaks the “seven
seals.” It is the “Lamb” who opens the first four seals that release
the four “riders” who unleash destructive forces on the earth. But they
cannot do so until they are ordered to “ride” by the four “living
creatures,” and they can only inflict harm within the limits allowed by the
“Lamb” (e.g., “a fourth of the earth”) – (Revelation 6:1-8).
Thus, Jesus, the “Lamb,” is in full control as events unfold on
the earth. He also opens the fifth seal that reveals the martyrs under the altar.
Their deaths are part of his plan and not contrary to it. And he opens the
sixth seal that ushers in the Day of the Lord – (Revelation 6:12-17).
Later, when the “woman clothed with the sun” gives birth to the
“son,” the latter is immediately taken to the throne of God. This points
to the same reality as the arrival of the “Lamb” before the throne
following his death. Thus, the “son” is none other than Jesus, the one “who
is to shepherd the nations with a rod of iron.” He ascends the throne after
his death and resurrection.
DRAGON DEFEATED
It
is at this moment that
Satan is defeated and expelled from heaven, and that is why the “great voice in heaven” declares the “salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ, for
the accuser of our brethren is cast down.”
Once again, his victory and enthronement are portrayed as the result of his death and resurrection, therefore, his brethren now overcome the Devil “because of the blood of the Lamb” – (Revelation 12:5-11).
Since that point, though Satan is still very much
alive and capable of causing mischief, neither he nor his earthly agents can
act without the authorization of the “Lamb.” The “beast from the sea,”
for example, cannot launch his “war” against the saints until he is
authorized to do so, and only for the “short season” allowed by Jesus:
- “There was given him authority to continue forty and two months… And it was given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And there was given him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” - (Revelation 13:5-10).
And just prior to the final judgment, the “Dragon”
cannot “deceive the nations” and launch his final attempt to annihilate
the church until he is released from the “Abyss” by an “angel of
heaven.”
And that satanic effort fails when fire falls from heaven to
consume the forces assembled by Satan from the “four corners of the earth”
against the “camp of the saints.” Satan may gather his forces, but the “Lamb”
turns the tables by destroying them – (Revelation 16:12-16, 20:1-10).
But Jesus does not reign alone. By his death and
resurrection, he has constituted his church a “kingdom of priests.” His
disciples “overcome” in the same manner that he did, and therefore, they
also “sit down with him, just as I also overcame and sat down with my Father
in His throne.”
During the entire time that Satan is bound in the “Abyss,”
the saints reign with the “Lamb.” But they do so as “priests”
and thus in paradoxical ways. They execute his will on the earth by bearing faithful
witness and persevering through trials and tribulations – (Revelation
3:21-22, 20:4-6).
But even after the final victory and the arrival of
the “city of New Jerusalem,” Jesus still reigns as the slain “Lamb.”
In the city, there is no temple, “for
the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb, are its
temple.”
And there is no longer any need for the sun
or moon, for “its lamp is the
Lamb.” And
only those whose names “are written in the Lamb's book of
life” dwell in the holy city.
The ultimate defeat of God’s enemies occurred on
Calvary. There certainly is work left to be done, but it will reach its inevitable
conclusion because of the past death and resurrection of Jesus, and because the
“Lamb” is now sovereign over the Creation and History.
