The Lord of the Cosmos

Jesus was exalted to reign from the divine throne because of his obedient death and following his resurrection from the dead.

The Book of Revelation portrays Jesus as the Lord of the Cosmos, and he alone reigns over all things. The Book never disconnects Christ Jesus and his present reign from his past death and resurrection. God installed the sacrificial Lamb on His throne. The Nazarene is the only Lord, Savior, Messiah, and King.

This same Jesus gave his life to ransom humanity from the grip of sin and death, and he now reigns from the throne at the center of the Universe. Because of his “obedience unto death,” God gave him the “name that is above all other names.” The Christ of history and the Christ of faith are one and the same – (Philippians 2:6-11, Hebrews 2:14-18, 13:8 [“Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, and forever”]).

The Prologue of Revelation introduces Jesus as “the faithful witness,” a reference to his death, and the “firstborn of the dead,” referring to his resurrection. Because of his faithfulness in death, God raised Christ from the dead and appointed him as “the ruler of the kings of the earth” – (Revelation 1:5. Compare Psalm 89:27 and 89:37 [“I also will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth”]. Compare also Revelation 2:13).

[Photo by Benjamin Voros (HUNGARY) on Unsplash]

This understanding is confirmed a few verses later when the “one like a son of man” encourages John, who was on the isle of Patmos, “because of the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9):

• “Fear not! I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST, and the Living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I HAVE THE KEYS of death and of Hades” - (Revelation 1:17-18. Note the verbal allusions to Isaiah 22:22, 44:6. Compare Revelation 2:8, 3:7 [“These things says he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David”]).

Jesus cleansed his people from their sins and made them a priestly kingdom for his God and Father, and he did so “by his blood.” Therefore, he received the everlasting kingdom and his sovereignty from God – (Revelation 1:6-7. Compare Leviticus 16:30, Daniel 7:13-14 [“His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away”]). Or as the Letter to the Hebrews explains:

• “Who, being the radiance of his glory, and the precise impress of his nature, and upholding all things by the utterance of his power, PURIFICATION OF SINS having achieved, HE SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND of the Majesty on high” – (Hebrews 1:3. Note the verbal allusions to Leviticus 16:30 and Psalm 110:1. Compare Revelation 3:21 [“I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne”]).

In his first vision, John sees Jesus as the “one like the son of man,” a priestly figure who mediates on behalf of his churches in the sanctuary of God. But this high priest is also a king, for he is “the Son of God” destined to rule all the nations of the earth. He is the Davidic messiah who “opens, and no man closes, and who closes, and no man opens,” and he is “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God”- (Revelation 1:12-20, 2:18, 3:7, 3:14, 12:5. Compare Psalm 2:7 [“The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today, I have begotten you”], Isaiah 22:22, 65:16, Daniel 7:13-14).

Jesus has transformed men and women into a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6). At the conclusion of his letters to the churches of Asia, he exhorts his saints to persevere and overcome in the same manner that the priestly Son of Man did. If they do so, they will reign with Christ on the divine throne:

• “He that overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, AND SAT DOWN WITH MY FATHER on his throne” – (Revelation 3:21. Compare Revelation 2:26-27).

• “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit down on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. <…> The Lord swore, and he will not repent, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” – (Psalm 110: 1, 4. From the Septuagint).

LAMB AND SHEPHERD

Jesus of Nazareth did not ascend to the throne and kingship through violent conquest and military force. Instead, he overcame by his self-sacrificial death. The “slain Lamb” is declared worthy to receive sovereignty precisely because he gave his life to redeem humanity:

• “Behold! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book and the seven seals. And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though slain. <…> And they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe AND TONGUE AND PEOPLE AND NATION, and you made them a KINGDOM AND PRIESTS for our God, and they reign on the earth. <…> Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing. <…> Unto him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb be the blessing and the honour and the glory and THE DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER” – (Revelation 5:5-6, 9-13. Note the allusions to Exodus 19:5-6 and Daniel 7:13-14).

John “heard” one of the twenty-four elders declare the victory of the Davidic Messiah, but when John looked, he “saw” the slain Lamb. And so, the Nazarene fulfills his messianic mission as the sacrificial Lamb, not as a militaristic conqueror. It is the Lamb who is seen on the throne, both in this vision and throughout the remainder of the Book. Jesus Christ is a king like no other.

In Chapter 7, the Lamb is also the shepherd who gently guides his people to safety, where they worship Christ and his Father in the Tabernacle. This is the same group of men found in Revelation 5:9-10, those who have been cleansed and redeemed by the blood of the slain Lamb. Moreover, this vision portrays the redeemed men from every nation as new Israel:

• “After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, WHICH NO MAN COULD NUMBER, from EVERY NATION AND TRIBE AND PEOPLE and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palm branches in their hand. <…> These are they that are coming out of THE GREAT TRIBULATION, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are they before the throne of God. And they serve him day and night in his sanctuary. And he who sits on the throne WILL SPREAD HIS TABERNACLE OVER THEM.  THEY WILL HUNGER NO MORE, NEITHER THIRST ANY LONGER; NEITHER WILL THE SUN STRIKE UPON THEM, or any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne WILL SHEPHERD THEM, and HE WILL GUIDE THEM TO FOUNTAINS OF LIVING WATERS. And GOD WILL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES” - (Revelation 7:9, 14-17. Note the verbal allusions to Genesis 13:16, Psalm 2:9, Isaiah 4:6, 49:10, Daniel 7:14, 12:1. Compare Revelation 21:4, 22:1-3).

Jesus is also portrayed as a shepherd-king in Chapter 12. Before the Dragan can destroy the Messianic Son, he is seized and taken to God and his throne – (Revelation 12:5).

This “son” is destined “to shepherd the nations.” Here, John follows the Greek text of Psalm 2:9 from the Septuagint, which changes the Hebrew verb for “rule” to the Greek verb for “shepherd.” The Shepherd of the Nations is the ruler who now sits on the throne with his Father. This is the same Greek verb used in Revelation 7:17 (“And the Lamb will shepherd them.” Compare Revelation 2:26-27, 19:15).

The slain Lamb is the ruler who conquers all his enemies, not the predatory lion. The Dragon assembles all his forces in a final attempt to overthrow Jesus and annihilate his church, but the Lamb emerges victorious. And it is the Lamb who is declared the king higher than all other kings and lords:

• “These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS” – (Revelation 17:14. Note the allusion to Deuteronomy 10:17, Daniel 2:47. Compare Revelation 19:16).

In the holy city of New Jerusalem, the Lamb remains the messianic figure who rules the nations and the Cosmos from the divine throne. The Lamb is the sanctuary of God and the lamp that illuminates the city. The river of life that brings healing to the nations flows out of the throne of the Lamb and God, and the throne is the very center of the city and of the New Creation - (Revelation 21:24-26, 22:1-3).

[Photo by Alexey Fedenkov (SEVASTOPOL) on Unsplash]

Thus, Jesus began to reign over all things following his death, resurrection and exaltation. He is not waiting for a future event for his sovereignty and kingdom to commence. But it is the crucified messiah who sits on the divine throne, the slain Lamb. As the newly resurrected messiah declared:

• “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations” – (Matthew 28:18).

We cannot understand the teachings of the New Testament about Jesus - his nature, mission and kingdom - if we disunite the man who was crucified and rejected by his own people from the Lord who now rules the Cosmos. They are identical.

The Book of Revelation presents a king that is contrary to human expectations. We prefer a warrior-king who uses force to subjugate his enemies. How could a self-sacrificial and powerless messiah overcome the enemies of God and humanity, including sin, death, the Dragon, and the Beast?

The Apostle Paul makes a similar point in his First Letter to the Corinthians. The preaching of a crucified messiah is nonsensical, a contradiction in terms.  Nevertheless, the message of Christ Crucified is “the power and the wisdom of God” that defeated the cosmic enemies of God and provided salvation for mankind – (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).

Or, as the Letter to the Hebrews puts it, Jesus nullified the tyranny of death that Satan held over us through his own death, and so he delivered us from enslavement to the fear of death. This man is the “champion of our salvation who was perfected through sufferings” – (Hebrews 2:10-15).

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• Kings, Nations and Peoples - (The Lamb is also the Shepherd of the nations, sent to redeem kings, nations and a vast multitude of men, women and children)

• The Lamb and the Dragon - (Every man and woman must choose whether to follow the Lamb or submit to the Dragon and his antichrist agenda)

• The Choice - (Disciples of Jesus and others who give their allegiance and devotion to the State are at risk of taking the Mark of the Beast)

• Le Seigneur du Cosmos - (Jésus a été exalté pour régner à partir du trône divin à cause de sa mort obéissante et après sa résurrection d'entre les morts)