Revelation – The Lion and the Lamb – 12

Revelation 5:1-14 – 1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within 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 loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, 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 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll    and to open its seals,for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God    from every tribe and language and people and nation,10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,    and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,to receive power and wealth and wisdom and mightand honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

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How do you picture Jesus? Whatever our picture of Jesus is, it likely falls woefully short of how and who he truly is. The passage we will be studying tonight is one of the clearest pictures we get of Jesus, and it is one of the most powerful chapters in all of scripture. More clearly than anywhere else, the veil of heaven is pulled back and we glimpse into heavenly realities.

Just like many of these Revelation sermons, we will dig deeper into some things than others, and there will be some speculation about different things that happen. But we are given Revelation for a reason, and it is for us to be able to know things about God and things about the future. What we will see clearly in this chapter is Jesus.

What if there was no Jesus? There would be no ________________. Ultimately, there would be no meaning or hope, for your future or for the future of humanity. As renown atheist Richard Dawkins said, “The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”[1] In terms of where existence is heading…thinking about the trajectory of history, the German liberal Rudolf Bultmann said, “We cannot claim to know the end goal of history. Therefore, the question of meaning in history has become meaningless.”[2]

When you have no view of God or a low view of God, this is what you get. This is the only option. Your life is meaningless and history is going nowhere. This is not what we see in Revelation 5.

This chapter is broken up into three parts, so we will see three main things in this message and dig a little deeper into what it means.

1) None but Jesus can di