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we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
In the light of this situation we are not able to mail you the books at this time.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 10 : The Revelation (Commentaries on the Revelation)
[Chapter 5-2] The Lamb Who Sits on the Throne (Revelation 5:1-14)
We just went through Revelation 5. Here, the Word of God tells us that the Lord is the One who will both save and judge mankind in the end times. Who is this Lord in whom we believe? The Word tells us that Jesus Christ is the Savior for those who believe in Him, the Judge of all mankind, and the King of kings.
We often think of Jesus as a limited Lord. But our Lord is the Judge of all creation.
The Lord delivered us from all our sins, judgment, and destruction by giving us the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord therefore became our true Savior and true God. At the same time, our Lord is the King and the Judge of all mankind. Today, let us awaken our thankful hearts for the Lord in whom we believe and on whom we rely.
From verse 1 and on, we see that at the right hand of Him who sat on the throne was a scroll, and that the Lamb—Jesus Christ, that is—shortly took this scroll. We also see in the last verse that the Lord sat on this throne. This Word tells us that the Lord will soon be the Judge of all mankind, both the believers and the unbelievers alike. We can therefore know and believe that Jesus is God who has become the Judge of all.
Our Lord does not limit His rewards and punishments to only us who are born again, but He is the true Judge and the King of kings for every mankind and all things in the universe. People often say that we have now entered the 21st century. This could be the time for the Lord’s return. When we say that the Lord’s return is imminent, it also means that the destruction of the world is imminent as well.
What we can find out from the Word here is that the Lord has the authority to be the Judge of all. Our Lord came to this earth in the flesh of man, and at the age of 30, He took upon all the sins of mankind on Himself with His baptism all at once. And by being crucified to death, He was judged for all the sins of mankind.
Only God the Father can receive honor and worship from every mankind and every creature in heaven and on earth. But the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was given the right to receive honor and worship along with the Father for obeying and fulfilling the will of God the Father. Christ therefore could inherit from the Father all His jurisdiction.
Jesus Christ was given the right to judge every mankind, and every mankind is saved and judged only by Him. It is very beneficial for us to know who exactly the Lord that has saved us is. This knowledge is essential for us to keep our faith strong in the end times as well. When we believe in the Lord with a clear knowledge of just what kind of power He has, this knowledge becomes a great strength for us.
The Lord who has saved us is the One who has the authority to judge everyone for good and evil. We must realize and believe that this Lord is worthy to receive the same worship as God the Father. The passage tells us that our Lord came to this earth and was slain, that with His blood He ransomed men for God from every tribe, tongue, people and nation, and that He made them to be kings and priests in the presence of our God to reign on the earth.
The passage then tells us that there was the voice of angels in Heaven, who numbered ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, praising and worshiping the Lord with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” John continues with his testimony of what he saw and heard in verse 13: “And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” To whom, then, does every creature give all glory? It is to the Lamb who sits on the throne that all blessing, honor, glory and power are given, forever and ever.
Glory, praise, and worship from mankind used to be reserved for only God, the Father of Jesus Christ. But because Jesus Christ now has the same authority as the Father by coming to this earth and delivering mankind from its sins, destruction, and judgment, for this salvation of atonement He was given all glory along with the Father and became our Savior worthy of all worship.
Just thinking about this, that the Lord who sits on the throne, who is the Lord and the Judge of all, is our Savior brings us great glory that fills our hearts. That’s right—the Lord is the King of kings, the God of creation by whom everything in the universe was created.
Because our Lord is the God of creation, who came to this earth and saved us by His water and blood, He is worthy for every mankind and everything in this universe to kneel before His throne and give all worship, praise, glory and honor to Him. Our faith is greatly strengthened and our hearts are greatly encouraged by the knowledge that this Lord is the One who sits on the throne of glory as the Judge of all.
Some people think of Jesus as just one of the four great sages, but the Lord is by no means a man. The Lord is our God who has created, made, and saved us. We can therefore never compare the Lord of our own creation to mere human beings. Neither Socrates, nor Confucius, nor Buddha, nor any other human being can be compared to our Lord. Jesus only lived as a man for just 33 years to save us. But His substance is the same as God. This may not be such a good metaphor, but as human beings give birth to human beings, Jesus Christ is God as He is the Son of God the Father.
Jesus therefore is God Himself, our God of creation. But the Lord came to this earth to save us. Because He saved us, He is worthy of receiving all glory from us, and we must firmly believe in our hearts that Jesus is not a creature, but the Creator. How joyful and thankful we are!
Our Lord Who Can Complete God’s Plan
No one but the Lord can open the scroll sealed with seven seals. This scroll sealed with seven seals is God’s scroll of promise. God created all things in the universe, including us, in Jesus Christ. Even before the creation, God has set a plan in Jesus Christ to make us His children. Our Lord received this sealed scroll to fulfill God’s purpose of creation and His plan to save us and to judge mankind.
The Word of God tells us, “And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.” There was no one, in other words, who was able to finally complete God’s plan. Only Jesus Christ can do this. Why? Because God has planned everything through His Son.
This also means that the Lord has the authority of judgment to open the scroll sealed with seven seals, the plan of God the Father. With this authority, Jesus completed every aspect of the plan of the Triune God by taking upon all our sins on Himself with His baptism and saving us by being punished for these sins on the Cross in our stead. The Lord has made us His priests before God by delivering us from sin through His sacrifice and the price of His own life.
Jesus Christ has also made those who believe in His salvation to reign with Him. As the Word of God tells us, “We shall reign on the earth,” when the Lord actually returns to this earth, He will conquer all things again and bring the Millennial Kingdom to its realization on the earth.
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