Sunday March 9, 2014 | Greg Boyd
5 Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals; 2 and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. 4 And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. 8 When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 They sing a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
10 you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.”
Many people see Jesus as coming back to this Earth as a roaring lion that will seek its vengeance upon our enemies. However, in this sermon, Greg shows us how God’s power is best expressed by a sacrificial lamb, and it will continue to be expressed that way in the future.
There are times throughout history where we see an apocalyptic fever that runs amok. This seems to be one of those times. Our culture is fixated on things that might end our existence. Hollywood has many movies depicting disasters, viruses, and other ways that the world might end. The word Apocalypse comes from apocalyptic literature, but over time, the meaning of apocalypse has changed and come to meant more about the end of the world than a revealing.
In order to understand the book of Revelation, we need to understand the letter and who it was written to. This book wasn’t written to a future church, but was written to the Christians of the first century and still has application for us today. To understand this application, we need to understand what was going on. One of the most important things going on in Revelation was showing how God’s power works.
People want God to be a roaring lion that devours our enemies. This expression of God goes back to the Old Testament, where the Israelites wanted their Messiah to defeat the nations that had conquered them and restore Israel. This expression continues today, as people see in Revelation a Jesus who will come back with the sword and spread his vengeance.
But the book of Revelation shares that God’s power is expressed in a slain lamb and not a roaring lion. It shows that only one has the character to show God’s power in its true form, and it is the slain lamb. Not a God who exacts vengeance with a sword. Not a roaring lion that devours its enemies. In fact, the power of God is best expressed by a slain lamb on Calvary.
Therefore, the message of Revelation is not only to believe in this revelation of a lamb-like God but to follow that lamb regardless of the cost. The message is that we should, in all times, refuse to conform to our Babylon. We must trust in the power of the lamb and not the lion.