The Lion and The Lamb

One of the things that motivates me every day when I open my Bible is to learn something new. I feel as if nearly every time I open it there is something new, interesting, encouraging and exciting that I learn.

In the summer of 2017, a new fire was lit in my heart when it came to the word of God. I know I have shared it before, but that summer was when I was finally get able open up my Bible and read it every day. It became clear to me that you experience fulfillment when you are engulfed in the word of God. There was so much that I was learning that I had learned in the past but has forgotten about. Along with what I was relearning, I was learning new things. I was totally psyched out of my mind!

The fire and passion that I had, led me to wanting to share with people that reading your Bible is like the missing key to our lives. Two years later I have the same motives behind every post. Read your Bible! If what I write encourages you to do one thing, my prayer is that you read you Bible.

Even this morning, I learned something totally new. I am going to be honest, whenever I have read through Revelation in the past, I thought that all of the four-headed animals, men with the heads like animals, etc. were real things. I thought that animals were real things that actually existed. Not until these past couple of days did I learn that those animals symbolized characteristics of God.

Which may sound funny to you, I don't know how many of you knew that those were characteristics of God. That might be common knowledge! I think this is a good example of me not really knowing that much.

I am not perfect and all-knowing like God is. Not even close. I may write a blog every day, but that doesn't mean I know everything. I know I don't. There is so much that I want to and need to learn every day. As much of these post are for the readers, they're also vital in my growth as well.

The Lion and the Lamb, what does that mean? I thought there was an actual lion and lamb that were doing the things talked about in Revelation. Specifically in chapter 5, when John writes that the Lamb was the only one able to open the scroll. I wondered how a lamb was capable of physically opening a scroll.

Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the thorns, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. (Revelation 5:5-6)

Here is what I learned today: Jesus Christ is pictured as both a Lion (symbolizing his authority and power) and a Lamb (symbolizing his submission to God's will). Christ the Lamb was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind; therefore, only he can save us from the terrible events revealed by the scroll. Christ the Lamb won the greater battle of all. He defeated all forces of evil by dying on the cross. The role of Christ the Lion will be to lead the battle where Satan is finally defeated. Christ is Lion is victorious because of what Christ the Lamb has already done. We get to participate in the victory not because of our effort or goodness, but because he has promised eternal life to all who believe in him.

You all have the ability to learn something new everyday. I encourage you to live each day with a growth mindset.

A glimpse into glory

I am going to share all of Revelation chapter 4 with you tonight in this post. This is one of my favorite passages in the entire bible. It was quite the coincidence that this exact chapter was referenced today at church.

I am going to share it with you and then highlight some of the verses that are very important. This chapter of the bible really gives believers a glimpse into glory.

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lighting, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in the front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in from and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

" 'Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,'
who was, and is, and is to come."

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being." (Revelation 4)

The first thing that I want to point out is that in verse 2 (underlined), John says that he was in Spirit. This means the Holy Spirit was giving him a vision-showing him situations and events he could not have seen with mere human eyesight.

The second cool thing about this passage is verse 6. (yellow) I didn't know this, but glass was very rare in New Testament times, and crystal-clear glass was virtually impossible to find. The "sea of glass" highlights both the magnificence and holiness of God.

Thirdly. I want you to look at the end of verse 6 and verse 7. (orange) The Holy Spirit is seen symbolically in the seven lighted lamps right? Well the "four living creatures" represents the attributes (the qualities and character) of God. These creatures weren't actually real animals. God's attributes symbolized in the animal-like appearance of these four creatures are majesty and power (the lion), faithfulness (the ox), intelligence (the man), and sovereignty (the eagle).

Lastly, the point of this chapter is summed up in this verse. All creatures in heaven and earth will praise and honor God because he is the Creator and Sustainer of everything. 

These are the words...I know

If you didn't know this, in the book of Revelation, there are seven letters written to the seven churches. Reading through the letters this morning I noticed something that I never have really paid attention to. It's something I want to share with you because I think that it is pretty cool.

Before I get though, I want to encourage you to read passages in your bible over and over. There are things that the Holy Spirit allows you to comprehend differently every time you read it. My buddy and I were just talking about this last night. We both had cool stories about how a similar verse both meant different things to us and was still powerful and amazing.

What I noticed today about the seven letters was that they all began with the same thing. "These are the words of him." The letters that were written to the seven churches came directly from God though John. "These are the words of him," are always followed by a name that was given to Jesus Christ.

After that, there Christ always writes about what he knows about the church. There is power in the fact that Christ is all-knowing. Christ knew everything that was going on within that church and how the people were living and he commended them, rebuked them, and gave them an action to improve on what they were lacking.

Isn't that kinda of what he does in our lives? He is all-knowing. He knows our thoughts, our desires, and our words before we even think or speak. It's wild.

Ephesus

These are the words of him who holds the seven starts in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. (Revelation 2:1-2) 

Smyrna

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty-yet you are right! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews but are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:8-9)

Pergamum

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live-where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city-where Satan lives. (Revelation 3:1)

Thyatira 

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. (Revelation 2:18-19)

Sardis

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven starts. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)

Philadephia

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know you're deeds. (Revelation 3:7-8)

Laodicea

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. (Revelation 3:14-15)

These are the words...I know.

The island of Patmos

The apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because he refused to stop preaching. It says in my bible that according to tradition, John, was the only one of the disciples who was not killed for the faith. 

Jesus gave his message to John in a vision, allowing John to see and record certain events so they cold be encouragement to all believers. The vision that was given to him includes many signs and symbols that convey the essence of what is to happen. What John saw was indescribable, so he used illustrations to show what it was like. 

Another cool thing about John was that he was acquainted with the ability to write in an apocalyptic style. For those of you who don't know what that means, apocalyptic writing is a type of literature that uses symbolic imagery to communicate hope (the ultimate triumph of God) to those in the midst of persecution. 

This post will contain a lot of scripture and that is what's most powerful. My hope is that you are able to reevaluate the way you think of Jesus as you read through not only this passage, but all of the Bible. Allow his powerful presence to transform your life. 

Revelation will challenge your mental picture of Jesus Christ. I am curious to what forms your impression of him right now-famous paintings, movies, Sunday school? It's easy to let those things portray what we think Jesus Christ looks like since we haven't actually seen him. But John, saw him and describes what he looks like.

I, John, your bother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's day I was I the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on  a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyra, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodecia."

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven starts, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining all its brilliance. 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

"Write therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands in this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." (Revelation 1:9-20)

There are a couple of things I encourage you to take away from this:

1. Like I mentioned above - The way you think about Jesus. Allow his powerful presence to transform your life. Remember these words that John used to describe what Jesus Christ looked like and don't forget. There is so much power in that. 

2. How the book of Revelation came to be. The scripture I just shared with you is the story of how it happened. John was exiled and then Christ appeared in the presence of the Holy Spirit. I find it helpful to know that as we begin this journey through Revelation together. 

3. John was isolated and all alone on an island. He was in Spirit and was listening for things that might be said to him. There were no distractions in his life at the current moment in time and look what happened. I wonder what it would be like for us to eliminate distractions from our lives on a daily basis. I am not saying every day we should eliminate everything that distracts us. I am encouraging you to eliminate distractions when you have Jesus time so that you are more aware of what the Spirit is trying to teach you. 

Contend for the faith

When you contend, you are struggling to surmount, or struggling to overcome something. In this day in age, it is hard to have faith sometimes. We don't know who too trust, and people tend to make themselves look good in the eyes of others. There are a lot of false teachers. Teachers who twist the words of truth in order to get more of a following.

It is important for Christians to contend in our faith because we cannot follow or listen to the teaching of false teachers. There is no good from those things. In the book of Jude, there are three examples of those who rebelled. In others words, those who didn't contend for the faith.

1. the children of Israel - although they were delivered from the land of Egypt, they refused to trust God and enter into the promise land. The Lord destroyed those who did not believe in him.

2. the angels - although they were once pure, holy, and loving in God's presence, some gave in to pride and joined Satan to rebel against God. The angels who did not keep their authority in position were bound to everlasting chains for judgment on the great day.

3. the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - the people of the cities were so full of sin that God wiped them off the face of the earth.

If the chosen people, angels, and sinful cities were punished, how much more do you think false teachers would be punished?

Here is how Jude described the false teachers:

These people were blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm - shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the winds autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted - twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up in their shame; wandering starts, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 12-13)

Those are strong words written by Jude. It's wonderfully written to make the point clear. I read through those verses and to soak in the detail blows me away. False teachers were "twice dead" They were useless trees because they weren't producing fruit.

So I have written about those who have rebelled and how meaningless false teachers are. How do we contend in our faith so we don't rebel? Jude gives us three ways.

1. knowing the truth - We learn the truth from studying the Bible. If we don't study the Bible we don't  know the truth. It's as simple as that. We must understand the basics of the Bible so that we can recognize when there are false teachers and prevent the wrong teaching.

2. growing personally with Christ - Knowledge is something that is certainly important, but our personal relationship with Christ is essential. Through our personal relationship, God has given you the Holy Spirit. When we are unattached from God, we may know everything, but understand nothing. Attached to Christ, we are given spiritual understanding as well as experiences with Christ that underscore our faith.

3. remaining unified on the essentials - Christians can disagree on certain things. Like worship music, methods of worship, methods of outreach etc. But, we always must defend the truth of the basics of our faith.

I simply encourage you to contend in your faith. Overcome rebellion and the sinful desires of the world that entices us that we may be a light to all who struggle in those things on a daily basis.

Be like Gaius

I learned about a new character in the bible today. His name was Gaius. Have you ever heard of him? The book of 3 John was a letter that was written to Gaius to affirm and thank him for his Christian lifestyle, and to encourage him in his faith.

Do you remember those "Be like Mike" commercials? Well we should want to be like Gaius. He was the perfect example of God's children living by the standards of the gospel.

Other than 3 John, there is no other mention or information about Gaius. We know that he is someone whom John loved dearly. Gaius most likely opened up his home to John and showed him great hospitality during his travels.

John would have really appreciated these actions, because traveling preachers depended on expressions of hospitality to survive.  Hospitality is a lost art for many people today. I am not the best at hospitality either. I am a clean freak and really enjoy cleaning up, but when somebody makes what I cleaned up messy, I can easily become annoyed. Hospitality is something that I know I can work on and improve. Hospitality is an active and much-appreciated way to show your love.

In an individualistic time, it is even more important today. In a self-centered society, many lonely people wonder if anyone cares whether they live or die. If we find a lonely person we need to show them that we care.

Here is what John wrote to Gaius in 3 John:

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good healthy and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth. (3 John 2-8)

You can see from these powerful words how loving and hospitable Gaius must have been. I  encourage you to live in such a way that would reflect what John had to say when he wrote his letter to Gaius.

Easily forgetten

One of the things I find to be the most fulfilling parts of my life is intentional face to face conversations. I am not talking about, stopping on the side walk and catching up for a quick 45 seconds. I am talking about intentionally meeting up with friends that you have and asking them if they want to get coffee and catch up. 

It has become easily forgotten to be intentional about these types of actions. Why? Let's be honest here, it take way less time to send a text to one of your friends to check in on them to see how they are doing. It's just so much easier. You can send a text from anywhere. It's so convenient. It's not like you have to drive somewhere to meet up with that person either. 

Don't get me wrong, I love getting a good text message, but when something is communicated to me face to face, it's so much more meaningful. You can intentionally text people to catch up with them, but that intentionality doesn't even compare with meeting face to face. 

You might wonder, how can I meet up with some of the people I want too when there is no time? Simply, just call them. Phone calls are extremely fulfilling as well. There is a lot of power in a phone call or a FaceTime conversation. Both are intentional. Both take more effort than sending out a text. 

Think about how meaning it would be to your parents for you to give them a nice phone call rather than a text. If you are thinking that you don't have enough for a 5 minute phone call you are full of it. There are plenty of times to make a quick phone call. Walking to class, driving to or from work, (bluetooth) or on a Sunday afternoon after church. If your busy for 24 straight hours I would love to meet you.

I try to make a couple of phone calls a day and intentionally meet up with friends a couple times a week. It really doesn't matter to me how busy I am because the fulfillment I get from these things fuels me. We are called to love one another and carving out time to pour into/get poured into is loving one another. 

I was encouraged to write about this today from John. When John wrote the book of 2 John, it could basically fit on one piece of paper. There are only 13 verses! Check this verse out...

I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be made complete. (2 John 12)

John probably could've made 2 John so much longer but he didn't because face to face conversation was going to be more impactful to the lady he was writing it to. John says that he has much to write, but the only way that his joy would be made complete would be through face to face conversation. He could not be more right in saying that. 

Our joy is made complete in face to face conversations. 

I encourage you this week to intentionally reach out to someone and catch up. Grab a cup of coffee or grab a bite to eat. Call a friend or your family, FaceTime a friend or your family, etc. 

Be intentional about relationships and you'll be fulfilled. I have no doubt.