In this message, we will continue to consider the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the Lion-Lamb.
Revelation 5:5 says that Christ “has overcome so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals.” As the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Christ overcame and defeated the rebellious Satan, the enemy of God, and as the redeeming Lamb, He took away the sin of fallen man. By doing so, He removed the hindrances to the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Therefore, He is worthy to open the scroll concerning God’s economy.
Christ has overcome all that is needed to open the scroll and its seven seals. Here the scroll is the new covenant, the new testament, with God’s economy hidden in such a sealed book. This scroll is sealed with seven seals. The scroll is the new covenant enacted by the Lord Jesus with His own blood for the whole universe. Without this scroll, this covenant, the universe could not exist. All the mysteries and all the things that happen in the created universe are recorded in this scroll. When Christ ascended to the heavens, He took the scroll from God and opened the secret of the universe for the carrying out of God’s administration. Christ as the Redeemer accomplished all that is needed to open up God’s economy. Thus, only Christ as the redeeming Lamb and overcoming Lion is qualified to open the scroll with its seven seals.
Revelation 5:6 speaks of “a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Christ is not only a Lion but also a Lamb (v. 5). To Satan and all the enemies Christ is a Lion, but to us, the redeemed ones, He is a redeeming Lamb. We may be afraid of a lion, but we would feel loving toward a lamb.
The expression having just been slain in verse 6 indicates that the Lamb had just been slain and also that the scene in the heavens that is depicted in this chapter took place immediately after Christ’s ascension into the heavens. After Christ passed through death, resurrection, and ascension, He stood in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures. There was a resurrected Lamb standing before the throne in heaven. This standing Lamb is resurrection (John 11:25). Resurrection hinges on Him, depends on Him, and is in Him.
In Revelation 5, when John looked, what he saw was a Lamb with seven eyes. This Lion-Lamb was standing, not sitting, and His seven eyes were flashing. This indicates that His work was not finished. What was finished in John 19 was the work of redemption (v. 30). But His standing position and His seven flashing eyes both indicate that He is taking action. In other words, as far as redemption is concerned, Christ sat down at the right hand of God in the heavens after His ascension (Heb. 1:3; 10:12); however, regarding the carrying out of God’s administration, He is still standing in His ascension.
The redeeming Lamb is now standing at the center of the universe, before God’s throne. This reveals that the Redeemer is now in God’s administration. He is the Administrator of the universe, executing God’s economy. He is not sitting or sleeping there; instead, He is standing, and His seven eyes are flashing, watching, searching, and even burning. The whole universe is watching this scene. The four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, myriads of angels, and all other creatures are wide-awake, alert, and observing. These are the circumstances in which they proclaim, “To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever” (Rev. 5:13). There is a Lion-Lamb standing in the center of the universe with seven flashing, burning eyes. He saves us from our silence, coldness, and laziness. Our vision must be uplifted to see this Lamb accomplishing a work of eternally vast dimensions.
In His earthly ministry Christ accomplished redemption; now in His heavenly ministry He is accomplishing God’s building work. Actually, redemption is for God’s building. The center of God’s building is the church, and the ultimate consummation of this building is the New Jerusalem. Today the church is a house, the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), but this house will consummate in a city, the New Jerusalem. When this takes place, God’s building will be completed. The work of redemption was finished in John 19. A few chapters later, in Acts 2, the work of God’s building began. This building work continues today.
Christ’s earthly ministry began from His being baptized in water and anointed with the Holy Spirit and ended in His resurrection (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18-19; Mark 16:9a, 19). The major items in the section of His earthly ministry are His human living, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. In His earthly ministry He ministered as the Lamb (John 1:29). As the Lamb in His earthly ministry, Christ accomplished God’s full redemption for us by being slain on the cross to die the all-inclusive death according to God’s requirements of righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Christ’s heavenly ministry began from His outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will end in His second appearing on the earth (Acts 2:1-4, 17, 33; Heb. 9:28b; 2 Tim. 4:1b). The major items in the section of His heavenly ministry are to take care of the church to make it a glorious church, to enforce the new covenant and execute the new testament, to minister to the believers as the High Priest, the Advocate, and the Minister in the heavens, to come back, and to transfigure His believers. In His heavenly ministry He ministers as the Lion-Lamb (Rev. 5:5-7). The Lion-Lamb indicates that the Christ who was the Redeemer has become a Victor as the Lion. In His heavenly ministry, as such a Victor, He will conquer all His enemies and bring in His kingdom to this earth.