Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “Worthy is the Lamb”. And the question can be asked, “Why is the Lamb worthy?” The entire lesson this week looks at this account; of the sealed book, John’s sadness that none can open it, and the Lamb who alone is worthy to open it.
In Scripture, there are several “books” referenced. There’s the “Book of the Law” referenced in Deuteronomy. There’s the “Book of Remembrance” referred-to in Malachi. And of course the “Book of Life” stated in Revelation. Christ is said to be the only one “worthy” to open the book. The only one to have authority. Why is this? What makes Christ the only one worthy? There are a couple verses in the same book of Revelation that will help us.
The first verse is found in Revelation 4:11, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created”. In this verse we begin to see the foundation of Christ’s worthiness. On the surface it may seem that it is merely “power”. “Power” to create… anything. But the entire universe is not just some science project for amusement. In the universe we see love and high morality. We see an interconnectedness of all life. We see a planet, a nursery for God’s babies, His children. We see that Christ the Creator’s worthiness stems from His high moral worth as evidenced from His high moral creation. Not because of mere strength or of superior position. But because the “will” of God that creates and sustains everything shows His character of love and His worthiness.
The second verse is found in Revelation 5:5-6, “But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth”. In these verses we see several things. We see that the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” is really a “Lamb as though it has been slain”. Not your usual idea of a “Lion”, is it? On this sinful earth, we see lions different than lambs. But in Heaven’s economy, the very regnal qualities of strength and nobility seen in a lion are typified by the gentle lamb-like qualities of gentleness, meekness, trust. In Heaven’s economy, a “lion” has “lamb” qualities. These are the qualities of the “One” who is worthy.
We also see the ultimate reason Christ is worthy. Because He has “prevailed”. Prevailed? This is the same word translated “overcome”. Christ is worthy because he has “overcome”. What has Christ “overcome”? He has overcome the world. The “world” inside of man. And He overcame it the same way we must overcome, too. “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). We overcome the same way Christ overcame. And how do we overcome? “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11). We overcome by following Christ. By dying with Him, by rising to newness of life with Him, by the sincere and transparent witness of our lives, by not loving our lives to the death. And this makes us overcomers… with Christ. Does this, then, make us worthy to open the “book”? Are we then “worthy” because we have prevailed, too? The logical answer is YES!
Is this unbelievable? No more unbelievable than sharing the throne of God with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because only those who have the Spirit of Christ (as a lamb as though it had been slain) can truly reign. “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12). In our own eyes, we do not seem “worthy” at all. In fact, most of us feel like the prodigal son… “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son’” (Luke 15:21). Yet like the Father in the parable, god the Father pronounces ownership of us. God the Father claims kinship, nearest of kin to us, and claims us as His own. God the Father exclaims over us, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15: 22-24). In intimate contact with Him who is worthy, we become worthy. And in Him we have authority to see the “book”, understand the “book”, even to proclaim the message in the “book”. For we are called to be His representatives on earth. To be as “Christ” on the earth. As Christ proclaimed Himself “Son of man” so are we. As we reciprocate His kinship and claim Him as our Father, so we become true “son of man”, too. And in THE “Son of man” we find our true identity. In Him, we are “worthy”. For in Him we are all “one”. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21). There is only “One” worthy to open the book. And in Christ, we are “one” with Him and the Father. Of ourselves we are unworthy. But in Him, “one” with Him, He transforms our unworthiness to worthiness. In Him, we are worthy. Love does this. Amazing love… Amazing Grace!
With brotherly love,
Jim