Behold The Lamb
QUOTE = Most Christians seem to think that the time the Christ of God left the glory above was when He was conceived in the womb of the virgin of Nazareth and born a babe in Bethlehem’s stable, laying down that life that He had with the Father, birthed into our life which is a life of death, separated from the eternal glory of the Father for a mere 33 years, then laying aside that robe which was of flesh to return to the Father and take again that glory which He had with the Father until that wonderful day when the angel Gabriel was dispatched by God to Mary in Nazareth. But a close inspection of the scriptures will give us a different idea.
In that wonderful prayer Jesus prayed on the night before His crucifixion, He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” Then He went on to ask, “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory I had with Thee before the world (cosmos) was” (Jn. 17:4-5). These words certainly indicate that Christ had been away from the Father’s glory for a lot longer than 33 years. He is actually saying that He left the glory BEFORE THE KOSMOS CAME INTO BEING. How long ago that was I don’t have the foggiest notion-but it was certainly centuries, millenniums, yea, vast and innumerable ages before our blessed Christ walked among us. Now He was asking the Father to restore to Him the glory He had forsaken before ever the cosmos came into being. In the 24th verse we read: “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: FOR THOU LOVEDST ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
Why these references to the beginning, yea, before the beginning, before the founding of the cosmos? What happened away back there that He should appeal to it? Why did He speak of the Father’s love for Him in that distant point of time? Did not the Father always love Him? I feel deeply within that something tremendously important happened at that time that invoked a special love from God, His Father, causing Him to love His Son in a very special way. One thing is certain--that was the time when the Christ left His pre-existent glory. Otherwise, why should He say, “Father, glorify Thou Me, with Thine own self, with the glory I had with Thee BEFORE THE KOSMOS WAS.” If He had left the glory of the Father only when He came to earth as a man, why not say, “...the glory which I had with Thee before I came to earth”? Ah – it was not in Mary’s womb that He descended from the glory of the Father, it was much farther back–BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!
Notice now these wonderfully meaningful words penned by John the Revelator. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD” (Rev. 13:8). Let us notice just what truth is stated here. A better rendering would be, “The Lamb that was PUT TO DEATH from the founding of the cosmos.” Weymouth’s translation reads, “All the inhabitants of the earth will be found worshipping him; every one whose name is not recorded in the book of Life-the book of the Lamb offered in sacrifice FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.” The sacrifice and death of the Christ did not start with the events surrounding Calvary; it began away back there at the beginning, and culminated on Calvary. He was the Lamb who was put to death from the beginning. Just as the cross did not begin at Calvary, so the crucifixion of Christ did not begin at Calvary.
Peter expressed the fact that the cross existed as a work of God before the foundation of the world in this manner: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, but was manifest in these last times for you” (I Pet. 1:18-20). The Lamb whose offering was already a glorious and eternal reality in the heavens, remained only to cast its shadow upon the earth, on Calvary’s hill. We would have thought that in calling our Lord “the Lamb” this name would have been used only in respect to His humiliation in His earthly life. However, in scripture it is most used in reference to His glory in the heavenlies. Peter saw Him as a Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world. John saw Him as a Lamb that had been put to death from the founding of the cosmos, highly exalted, standing in the midst of the throne. Actually John saw the Lamb SLAIN IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE!
What a wonder!
What does it mean that Christ was the Lamb slain “before the foundation of the world”? The word “world” in these passages translates the Greek word KOSMOS meaning “order, arrangement, system of things.” The “world” is a negative thing in relation to God. James declares, “...the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). The apostle John adds his testimony, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (I Jn. 2:15-16). The world is the present system of things upon this earth conceived by the carnal mind and generated by the natural man. The world consists of all that man has instituted that replaces God (the Spirit) in his life. The present political systems, economic systems, educational systems and religious systems are not of God, but of the world. When people, activities, or things – whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly – enslave man, they comprise the world. Anything that causes man to disregard the SPIRIT, be removed from the anointing, trust in the outer world of flesh, or be independent of God is the world. All that does not come from the Father, all that originates outside of SPIRIT, all that man institutes by his own carnal wisdom and fleshly ability is of the world, and is contrary to the life and nature of God.
The word “foundation” (foundation of the world) translates the Greek word KATABOLE which is a compound word made up of BALLO meaning “to cast, to throw” and KATA meaning “down.” When man fell from his high and holy relationship with God and was cast down into the carnal realm of consciousness, the “foundation” of the world was laid in his heart and actions. But-blessed be God! The apostle Paul informs us that God the Father elected some SONS in Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world! “According as He hath chosen us in Him BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD... unto the adoption of sons...”(Eph. 1:4-5). The word “before” translates the Greek word PRO meaning “to go before, to precede.”
Hence, the Father’s act of choosing us in Christ preceded the fall of man and the establishment of the world system. These blessed ones chosen by the Father are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8), and they are the heirs of the Kingdom of God “prepared for them from the foundation of the world” (Mat. 25:34). Praise God, our sonship is assured, our victory over the world is certain, the outcome of God’s plan is sure–therefore all creation is standing on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of God’s sons coming into their own! The world, as a result, shall pass away and “the kingdoms of THIS WORLD shall BECOME the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ!”
It was when the Christ hung upon the cross before the foundation of the world, in the precincts of Eden, that He became the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He tasted death for every man and was made perfect through sufferings that He might lead many sons to glory. It was under the shadow of His cross, that we were found and were quickened by His Spirit. It is there He found us, and it is there that we found Him, the Man who is our hiding-place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest. It was there that streams of living water were poured out in the dry place; from that moment the Rock followed us, and out of it, living streams are flowing more abundantly. It is the cross in OUR LIVES which brings the release of these living streams to mankind, for the body of Christ is the channel of His life by the extension of His cross. While we praise God for the cross of Calvary, and while the soul of man will ever love to thank Him who gave His life for us, yet I believe the triumph of the Christ began at the cross in the heart of God before the foundation of the world and ends only when the race has received from God the Father, through the Christ, Head and body, the grace, power and glory of God that makes them sons of God like Himself.
The glorious theme of the holy scripture is the Person and Work of Him whose lovely title is “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This gracious title for our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed one of the most charming symbols used in the Bible to describe Him who loved us and has washed us from our sins in His own blood. Whenever the serious seeker after truth explores the meaning of the various Semitic symbols used to depict the Person and Work of the Saviour he becomes aware that each stands for a specific aspect of truth. In the case of the “Lamb” it is with the truth of redemption that we deal, for redemption is by the blood of the Lamb. “Ye were not redeemed by such corruptible things as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:18-19). “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain”–not the child that was born, though He was indeed worthy. Not the miracle-worker of the sea, or by the grave of Lazarus. Not the teacher whose words enthralled the multitudes on the mountain, or across the waters of blue Galilee. Not the healer restoring sight to the blind, or causing the lame to walk again. But–“Worthy is the LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and He not just run up to His altar where He was sacrificed–the cross? Because He was a Lamb!
He was led to the cross as you lead a sheep to the slaughter.
We would have thought that in calling our Lord “the Lamb” this name would have been used only in respect to His humiliation in His earthly life. However in scripture it is most used in reference to His eternal glory in the heavenlies. Peter saw Him as the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world. John saw Him as a Lamb that had been slain from the foundation of the world, highly exalted, standing in the midst of the Throne. This slain Lamb is IN THE MIDST of everything: in the midst of the Throne, and of the four Living Creatures, and of the Elders. This Lamb is peculiarly the One who is IN THE MIDST, just as the tree of life was IN THE MIDST of the Garden of God. His eternal centrality is set forth in these significant words: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist...and having made peace through THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS, by Him to RECONCILE ALL THINGS unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:15-20)
The term “Lamb” is used of Christ no less than twenty-eight times in Revelation, and has two vital characteristics. Christ is the sacrificial Lamb and the conquering lamb. He is never presented this way except in the majestic scenes around the Throne. We see the Lamb marching to the ultimate throne of universal empire in complete triumph and as absolute victor. Confronting the power of the beast and the kings of the earth, and the hordes of hell, and the lewdness and deception of the harlot system, and the wars and battles and bloodshed that fill the soul with dread, is THE POWER OF THE LAMB, whose victory has been assured and whose glory is guaranteed. God has given the Lamb for a leader and a counselor; so He is both our leader–for we are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth–and He is our counselor and commander; a counselor to counsel us concerning the things of God and His Kingdom, the Kingdom that hath no end. So glory to God and to the Lamb! Glory be unto God and the Lamb forevermore!
And the Lamb shall have the victory! Of this we are assured, though all the wild beasts and the wolves, and the dogs, and the goats and bulls of Bashan, the spotted leopards, and all the wild heifers of Ephraim, the horses of Pharaoh, and the wild Ishmaels, profane Esaus, envious Cains, which may gather in a brotherhood, and Gog and Magog, professor and profane, if all these rise against the Lamb and His followers, without or within, yet I say the Lamb shall have the victory over the beast, the whore, and the dragon, over the flesh, the world, and the devil, for Christ is Lord over them all, for He was slain before they were, and will be reigning when they are gone, blessed be His wonderful name! He has conquered and shall conquer all who rise up against Him.
“AND THE LAMB SHALL OVERCOME THEM!” This is the great and beautiful message of the book of Revelation, and this is why the Spirit witnesseth “Blessed (happy) is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Rev. 1:3).
But the Lamb in the book of Revelation has another note. The word used for LAMB here is peculiar to this book. It is the diminutive form of the Greek word for lamb, and is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. It means a young lamb, or a lambkin, weak and small. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is THE LAMB of God, and joined to Him are the members of His body, His brethren, the younger sons of God, the lambkin company. To see this company as the body of the Lamb is not to magnify man, but to exalt Christ, for it is HIS LAMB LIFE formed in them and lived out through them, giving expression to the Lamb nature. We know that HE is the preeminent One, and that it is HIS LIFE which is given, and by that life we are conformed to HIS image, made partakers of HIS divine nature, becoming the revelation of HIMSELF in the earth. All the qualifications of The Lamb must now be found in this people who make up the body of The Lamb. As one has written: “THE LAMB beautifully took care of all the work on God’s side towards man, and the lambkin will have a beautiful ministry from man’s side, to bring things back to God. His kingdom shall come, His will shall be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. There are many paths through the sunshine and the shadows, but we learn to see His hand in it all, for He is preparing and fashioning those who shall become part of the lambkin, who are ONE IN THE LAMB, to be given for the salvation of the ends of the earth.”
It is in keeping with this that in Revelation chapter fourteen, we find the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. Having been rewarded with “the glory that follows,” He is now highly exalted. We are told that in eastern countries where, of course, this symbolic scene is set, when sheep and goats are left to roam where they will, the goats invariably climb to the tops of the hills, while the sheep ordinarily seek the low places, the valleys. So to John it must have seemed most unusual that a Lamb should be on Mount Zion. By this is brought to light a most important truth concerning Jesus, The Lamb of God. He did not attain to His high position on Mount Zion by means of self-exaltation, but because, sheep like, He had sought the low places.” He humbled Himself, and because of this His heavenly Father exalted Him.
It was because Jesus permitted Himself to be led as “a lamb to the slaughter” and did not open His mouth in self-defense or seek otherwise to justify Himself before His enemies that the Father, by resurrection and ascension, highly exalted Him. He had sought the “low places,” and now we find the Lamb exalted to the Throne of the city of God! Our Lord does not sit enthroned in the heavens, as Ruler of the universe, because He was divine in His birth, and messianic in His office, but because He was a LAMB IN CHARACTER. It was because He “made Himself of no reputation.” It was because, coming as a man, He “took the form of a servant.” It was because, as a bond-slave, He “learned obedience.” It was because, in obedience, He went all the way, even “unto the death of the cross.” “WHEREFORE, God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:5-10).
Even now, as Christ sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father, He reigns in virtue of the fact that He is a Lamb. He reigns as a Lamb-King, because God is raising up lamb-kings in the earth, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit in the earth to establish in each member of the body of the Lamb in the earth the nature, and the character, as well as the authority of Him who sits on the Throne. “He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” (Jn. 16:14). It is the work of the Holy Spirit not only to impart unto His people the POWER of God, but ALL that pertains to the exalted Lamb, His very nature, and character, and life, that He might be here in the earth, dwelling in His body, to be to you and me, yea, to be through you and me EVERYTHING THAT JESUS IS UPON THE THRONE.
The “lambkin” as a figure of Christ is indeed complete and perfect; yet it is a type of Christ in a limited measure and at the same time in the greatest measure. How strange this sounds to our ears, how curious to our minds! As far as the Lord Himself is concerned, He is not limited at all, but as far as our experience of Him is concerned, there is such a limitation. When we come to the Lord and receive Him as our redemption, the Christ we receive is whole, complete, and perfect; but as far as our experience of Him is concerned, we experience Him in only a small measure, just as the little lamb of salvation. From the time we experienced Christ as the Lamb, we have always been progressing and advancing; we have continually made progress in our experience of Christ and received of Him more and more. This does not mean that Christ has become greater and greater. No, Christ is the same, He changes not! But as we grow in our appropriation of Him He becomes greater and greater TO US AND IN US. Day by day in our experience Christ is becoming greater and greater. At the stage of our experience in which the total triumph of the Lamb is achieved within, Christ is unlimited to us, He becomes ALL IN ALL. It is His almighty strength in the heavens revealed through the weakness of our humanity on earth — the TRIUMPHANT LAMBKIN!
Hallelujah!
Quoted from Echoes From Eden by J Preston Eby.
In that wonderful prayer Jesus prayed on the night before His crucifixion, He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” Then He went on to ask, “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory I had with Thee before the world (cosmos) was” (Jn. 17:4-5). These words certainly indicate that Christ had been away from the Father’s glory for a lot longer than 33 years. He is actually saying that He left the glory BEFORE THE KOSMOS CAME INTO BEING. How long ago that was I don’t have the foggiest notion-but it was certainly centuries, millenniums, yea, vast and innumerable ages before our blessed Christ walked among us. Now He was asking the Father to restore to Him the glory He had forsaken before ever the cosmos came into being. In the 24th verse we read: “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: FOR THOU LOVEDST ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
Why these references to the beginning, yea, before the beginning, before the founding of the cosmos? What happened away back there that He should appeal to it? Why did He speak of the Father’s love for Him in that distant point of time? Did not the Father always love Him? I feel deeply within that something tremendously important happened at that time that invoked a special love from God, His Father, causing Him to love His Son in a very special way. One thing is certain--that was the time when the Christ left His pre-existent glory. Otherwise, why should He say, “Father, glorify Thou Me, with Thine own self, with the glory I had with Thee BEFORE THE KOSMOS WAS.” If He had left the glory of the Father only when He came to earth as a man, why not say, “...the glory which I had with Thee before I came to earth”? Ah – it was not in Mary’s womb that He descended from the glory of the Father, it was much farther back–BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!
Notice now these wonderfully meaningful words penned by John the Revelator. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD” (Rev. 13:8). Let us notice just what truth is stated here. A better rendering would be, “The Lamb that was PUT TO DEATH from the founding of the cosmos.” Weymouth’s translation reads, “All the inhabitants of the earth will be found worshipping him; every one whose name is not recorded in the book of Life-the book of the Lamb offered in sacrifice FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.” The sacrifice and death of the Christ did not start with the events surrounding Calvary; it began away back there at the beginning, and culminated on Calvary. He was the Lamb who was put to death from the beginning. Just as the cross did not begin at Calvary, so the crucifixion of Christ did not begin at Calvary.
Peter expressed the fact that the cross existed as a work of God before the foundation of the world in this manner: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, but was manifest in these last times for you” (I Pet. 1:18-20). The Lamb whose offering was already a glorious and eternal reality in the heavens, remained only to cast its shadow upon the earth, on Calvary’s hill. We would have thought that in calling our Lord “the Lamb” this name would have been used only in respect to His humiliation in His earthly life. However, in scripture it is most used in reference to His glory in the heavenlies. Peter saw Him as a Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world. John saw Him as a Lamb that had been put to death from the founding of the cosmos, highly exalted, standing in the midst of the throne. Actually John saw the Lamb SLAIN IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE!
What a wonder!
What does it mean that Christ was the Lamb slain “before the foundation of the world”? The word “world” in these passages translates the Greek word KOSMOS meaning “order, arrangement, system of things.” The “world” is a negative thing in relation to God. James declares, “...the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). The apostle John adds his testimony, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (I Jn. 2:15-16). The world is the present system of things upon this earth conceived by the carnal mind and generated by the natural man. The world consists of all that man has instituted that replaces God (the Spirit) in his life. The present political systems, economic systems, educational systems and religious systems are not of God, but of the world. When people, activities, or things – whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly – enslave man, they comprise the world. Anything that causes man to disregard the SPIRIT, be removed from the anointing, trust in the outer world of flesh, or be independent of God is the world. All that does not come from the Father, all that originates outside of SPIRIT, all that man institutes by his own carnal wisdom and fleshly ability is of the world, and is contrary to the life and nature of God.
The word “foundation” (foundation of the world) translates the Greek word KATABOLE which is a compound word made up of BALLO meaning “to cast, to throw” and KATA meaning “down.” When man fell from his high and holy relationship with God and was cast down into the carnal realm of consciousness, the “foundation” of the world was laid in his heart and actions. But-blessed be God! The apostle Paul informs us that God the Father elected some SONS in Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world! “According as He hath chosen us in Him BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD... unto the adoption of sons...”(Eph. 1:4-5). The word “before” translates the Greek word PRO meaning “to go before, to precede.”
Hence, the Father’s act of choosing us in Christ preceded the fall of man and the establishment of the world system. These blessed ones chosen by the Father are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8), and they are the heirs of the Kingdom of God “prepared for them from the foundation of the world” (Mat. 25:34). Praise God, our sonship is assured, our victory over the world is certain, the outcome of God’s plan is sure–therefore all creation is standing on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of God’s sons coming into their own! The world, as a result, shall pass away and “the kingdoms of THIS WORLD shall BECOME the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ!”
It was when the Christ hung upon the cross before the foundation of the world, in the precincts of Eden, that He became the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He tasted death for every man and was made perfect through sufferings that He might lead many sons to glory. It was under the shadow of His cross, that we were found and were quickened by His Spirit. It is there He found us, and it is there that we found Him, the Man who is our hiding-place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest. It was there that streams of living water were poured out in the dry place; from that moment the Rock followed us, and out of it, living streams are flowing more abundantly. It is the cross in OUR LIVES which brings the release of these living streams to mankind, for the body of Christ is the channel of His life by the extension of His cross. While we praise God for the cross of Calvary, and while the soul of man will ever love to thank Him who gave His life for us, yet I believe the triumph of the Christ began at the cross in the heart of God before the foundation of the world and ends only when the race has received from God the Father, through the Christ, Head and body, the grace, power and glory of God that makes them sons of God like Himself.
The glorious theme of the holy scripture is the Person and Work of Him whose lovely title is “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This gracious title for our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed one of the most charming symbols used in the Bible to describe Him who loved us and has washed us from our sins in His own blood. Whenever the serious seeker after truth explores the meaning of the various Semitic symbols used to depict the Person and Work of the Saviour he becomes aware that each stands for a specific aspect of truth. In the case of the “Lamb” it is with the truth of redemption that we deal, for redemption is by the blood of the Lamb. “Ye were not redeemed by such corruptible things as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:18-19). “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain”–not the child that was born, though He was indeed worthy. Not the miracle-worker of the sea, or by the grave of Lazarus. Not the teacher whose words enthralled the multitudes on the mountain, or across the waters of blue Galilee. Not the healer restoring sight to the blind, or causing the lame to walk again. But–“Worthy is the LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and He not just run up to His altar where He was sacrificed–the cross? Because He was a Lamb!
He was led to the cross as you lead a sheep to the slaughter.
We would have thought that in calling our Lord “the Lamb” this name would have been used only in respect to His humiliation in His earthly life. However in scripture it is most used in reference to His eternal glory in the heavenlies. Peter saw Him as the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world. John saw Him as a Lamb that had been slain from the foundation of the world, highly exalted, standing in the midst of the Throne. This slain Lamb is IN THE MIDST of everything: in the midst of the Throne, and of the four Living Creatures, and of the Elders. This Lamb is peculiarly the One who is IN THE MIDST, just as the tree of life was IN THE MIDST of the Garden of God. His eternal centrality is set forth in these significant words: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist...and having made peace through THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS, by Him to RECONCILE ALL THINGS unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:15-20)
The term “Lamb” is used of Christ no less than twenty-eight times in Revelation, and has two vital characteristics. Christ is the sacrificial Lamb and the conquering lamb. He is never presented this way except in the majestic scenes around the Throne. We see the Lamb marching to the ultimate throne of universal empire in complete triumph and as absolute victor. Confronting the power of the beast and the kings of the earth, and the hordes of hell, and the lewdness and deception of the harlot system, and the wars and battles and bloodshed that fill the soul with dread, is THE POWER OF THE LAMB, whose victory has been assured and whose glory is guaranteed. God has given the Lamb for a leader and a counselor; so He is both our leader–for we are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth–and He is our counselor and commander; a counselor to counsel us concerning the things of God and His Kingdom, the Kingdom that hath no end. So glory to God and to the Lamb! Glory be unto God and the Lamb forevermore!
And the Lamb shall have the victory! Of this we are assured, though all the wild beasts and the wolves, and the dogs, and the goats and bulls of Bashan, the spotted leopards, and all the wild heifers of Ephraim, the horses of Pharaoh, and the wild Ishmaels, profane Esaus, envious Cains, which may gather in a brotherhood, and Gog and Magog, professor and profane, if all these rise against the Lamb and His followers, without or within, yet I say the Lamb shall have the victory over the beast, the whore, and the dragon, over the flesh, the world, and the devil, for Christ is Lord over them all, for He was slain before they were, and will be reigning when they are gone, blessed be His wonderful name! He has conquered and shall conquer all who rise up against Him.
“AND THE LAMB SHALL OVERCOME THEM!” This is the great and beautiful message of the book of Revelation, and this is why the Spirit witnesseth “Blessed (happy) is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Rev. 1:3).
But the Lamb in the book of Revelation has another note. The word used for LAMB here is peculiar to this book. It is the diminutive form of the Greek word for lamb, and is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. It means a young lamb, or a lambkin, weak and small. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is THE LAMB of God, and joined to Him are the members of His body, His brethren, the younger sons of God, the lambkin company. To see this company as the body of the Lamb is not to magnify man, but to exalt Christ, for it is HIS LAMB LIFE formed in them and lived out through them, giving expression to the Lamb nature. We know that HE is the preeminent One, and that it is HIS LIFE which is given, and by that life we are conformed to HIS image, made partakers of HIS divine nature, becoming the revelation of HIMSELF in the earth. All the qualifications of The Lamb must now be found in this people who make up the body of The Lamb. As one has written: “THE LAMB beautifully took care of all the work on God’s side towards man, and the lambkin will have a beautiful ministry from man’s side, to bring things back to God. His kingdom shall come, His will shall be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. There are many paths through the sunshine and the shadows, but we learn to see His hand in it all, for He is preparing and fashioning those who shall become part of the lambkin, who are ONE IN THE LAMB, to be given for the salvation of the ends of the earth.”
It is in keeping with this that in Revelation chapter fourteen, we find the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. Having been rewarded with “the glory that follows,” He is now highly exalted. We are told that in eastern countries where, of course, this symbolic scene is set, when sheep and goats are left to roam where they will, the goats invariably climb to the tops of the hills, while the sheep ordinarily seek the low places, the valleys. So to John it must have seemed most unusual that a Lamb should be on Mount Zion. By this is brought to light a most important truth concerning Jesus, The Lamb of God. He did not attain to His high position on Mount Zion by means of self-exaltation, but because, sheep like, He had sought the low places.” He humbled Himself, and because of this His heavenly Father exalted Him.
It was because Jesus permitted Himself to be led as “a lamb to the slaughter” and did not open His mouth in self-defense or seek otherwise to justify Himself before His enemies that the Father, by resurrection and ascension, highly exalted Him. He had sought the “low places,” and now we find the Lamb exalted to the Throne of the city of God! Our Lord does not sit enthroned in the heavens, as Ruler of the universe, because He was divine in His birth, and messianic in His office, but because He was a LAMB IN CHARACTER. It was because He “made Himself of no reputation.” It was because, coming as a man, He “took the form of a servant.” It was because, as a bond-slave, He “learned obedience.” It was because, in obedience, He went all the way, even “unto the death of the cross.” “WHEREFORE, God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:5-10).
Even now, as Christ sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father, He reigns in virtue of the fact that He is a Lamb. He reigns as a Lamb-King, because God is raising up lamb-kings in the earth, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit in the earth to establish in each member of the body of the Lamb in the earth the nature, and the character, as well as the authority of Him who sits on the Throne. “He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” (Jn. 16:14). It is the work of the Holy Spirit not only to impart unto His people the POWER of God, but ALL that pertains to the exalted Lamb, His very nature, and character, and life, that He might be here in the earth, dwelling in His body, to be to you and me, yea, to be through you and me EVERYTHING THAT JESUS IS UPON THE THRONE.
The “lambkin” as a figure of Christ is indeed complete and perfect; yet it is a type of Christ in a limited measure and at the same time in the greatest measure. How strange this sounds to our ears, how curious to our minds! As far as the Lord Himself is concerned, He is not limited at all, but as far as our experience of Him is concerned, there is such a limitation. When we come to the Lord and receive Him as our redemption, the Christ we receive is whole, complete, and perfect; but as far as our experience of Him is concerned, we experience Him in only a small measure, just as the little lamb of salvation. From the time we experienced Christ as the Lamb, we have always been progressing and advancing; we have continually made progress in our experience of Christ and received of Him more and more. This does not mean that Christ has become greater and greater. No, Christ is the same, He changes not! But as we grow in our appropriation of Him He becomes greater and greater TO US AND IN US. Day by day in our experience Christ is becoming greater and greater. At the stage of our experience in which the total triumph of the Lamb is achieved within, Christ is unlimited to us, He becomes ALL IN ALL. It is His almighty strength in the heavens revealed through the weakness of our humanity on earth — the TRIUMPHANT LAMBKIN!
Hallelujah!
Quoted from Echoes From Eden by J Preston Eby.
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