Worthy is the Lamb
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. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:“You are worthy to take the scroll,And to open its seals;For You were slain,And have redeemed us to God by Your bloodOut of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, – Revelation 5:6-9 (NKJV)
This week’s name is Lamb of God. We’ve looked at the interconnectedness of Scripture, the network that paints Jesus as our perfect lamb. From the lamb provided to Abraham to Moses’ Passover to Isaiah’s suffering servant, the Holy Spirit draws us a map of the lamb’s journey that points to the cross. To go back even further, the first animal death recorded is an animal sacrifice.
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. – Genesis 3:21
Yahweh Elohim himself sacrificed an animal to cover the transgression of Adam and Eve. I imagine it was a lamb. And I imagine, when Adam and Eve watched the animal they love die for their sin, they understood, in some small way, the gravity of what they’d done.
The cross is the pivot point of all history. Everything points to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Our Lamb died on the cross, but then he rose and ascended to heaven to sit on the throne at the right hand of the Father.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
But here’s the thing. He’s still the Lamb. The slain lamb is the risen lamb. Let us never forget that the only one who is worthy of our worship died that we might live.