The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World

I would like you to take your Bibles this morning and turn in them to Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

! How many of you are into cold chills?

! I mean, you know, you get that little, just undeserved little rush of emotion on occasion.

How many of you have those?

Some of us leave, kind of let, you know, we run on a very straight line.

I mean, everything's kind of mellow all the time, but others of us, it's like, whoosh,

whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, you know.

Anyway, I'm into cold chills, and I can't help but reflect on the passage this morning and

the emotion that it has elicited in my own heart in study and in prayer as we think about

the conclusion to this year, and we frame the Christmas story with communion.

I want you to turn to this passage in Revelation chapter 5, and I want you to follow along with

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

me as I begin reading there in chapter 5, verse 1, and we will carry down to verse 8.

Revelation chapter 5, verse 1.

Revelation 5:1

And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll.

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look

into it.

And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look

into it.

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 the seven seals.

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 seven eyes, which are the seven spirits

of God sent out into all the earth.

And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.

And when he'd taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before

the lamb, each holding a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll, to open the seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language

and people and nation.

And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.

Let us pray.

Father God, this morning as we come again in prayer, we do so because we know that apart

from you we can do nothing.

We're thankful for the blessing of being together this morning, and we're thankful in particular

for the ministry of the indwelling spirit, for the blessing of being able to hold the

word in our hand, for the privilege of being able to pray together that the word of God would

have free course and that it would have an effect upon our lives, that our affections this

morning would be stirred to glory in the Lord Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of His grace and salvation,

that as we together consider Calvary and we consider what you have done for us,

that our desires would be set on eternal things rather than things of this earth.

that our time around the table, taking the elements that remind us of our Savior's sacrifice for us,

would stir our hearts to look forward to the day that we will see you face to face and be like you.

that our thinking about you and our interest in the day in which we will see you would cause us to live a life that brings glory to your name.

So allow the word of God this morning and the work of the Spirit in the lives of your people to make a lasting difference.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, as we take up the passage of Scripture this morning in Revelation chapter 5,

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

we have to admit that one of the basic principles of Bible study is that we pay attention to context.

And context is always an important thing because it helps us frame the ministry of the Word of God

and understand what we are actually looking at.

And as we look at this passage this morning,

I want you to kind of mark the fact that the book of Revelation is a book that kind of gives us a broad overview

of the way in which the story ends.

It tells us, and at one point in the book of Revelation,

John the Apostle pens these words that the book of Revelation talks about things that had happened,

things that are happening, and things that will happen.

And so as we think about the book of Revelation,

we understand that it is a wonderful and intriguing window

through which God gives us a little picture into the future

and helps us understand not only what the future is going to be about,

but it really gives us a big picture of the grand theme of the whole Bible.

It tells us things that we need to pay attention to.

And really, when you stop and think about what is the central theme of Scripture,

without question, we would say without a hesitation, it's Jesus Christ, isn't it?

He is the center of the story, and the entire Scripture revolves around Him.

So I want you to understand that as we pick up here in chapter 5,

we find that the first three chapters of the book of Revelation have been given to a large degree

in giving explicit instructions to the seven churches regarding their spiritual state.

Following that, we have chapter 4 in which John the Apostle opens up

and gives us a picture of the glory of heaven,

and you would say in some sense that chapter 4 in particular is about God the Father.

Woven into that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

And then we come to chapter 5, and it begins in a very interesting way

because we have a question that is posed by an angel to John the Baptist, or John,

regarding, okay, who can open the scroll?

And the idea of having all of history kind of unfold in front of him,

something that was dear to John's heart at the moment,

he suddenly finds out that there is no immediate response to opening the scroll.

And how does he handle it?

How does he handle it?

What does it tell us happens in the Scripture?

Here's an adult man who is doing what?

He's not sniffing. He is what?

He's sobbing. He's crying.

Loudly.

Why is it? Because of his interest and affection

in seeing what God was going to do

and seeing the glory of God, and here is this kind of path that he was on.

Suddenly it comes to a halt.

And why did it happen that way in part?

How many of you discovered that on occasion

God has kind of brought a pause

in the things that he's been doing in your life,

and it actually amplifies what lies in front

to a certain degree, doesn't it?

And here it plays out that way,

that John, anticipating, hearing what was coming next,

suddenly there's a pause.

And when the pause is not immediately fulfilled

or that question is not immediately fulfilled,

it kind of amps up his emotion.

And in the backdrop of that, he really begins to sob

until he is given some encouraging news.

What is that news?

You look there in the passage,

and in Revelation chapter 5,

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

it says,

Weep no more, verse 5,

because we want you to know

that the lion of the tribe of Judah,

the root of David,

has conquered,

so he that he will open the scroll,

and he's going to lay it all out before you.

When you hear those words,

the lion of the tribe of Judah,

the root of David,

what kind of thoughts go through your mind

with those words?

Lion, tribe of Judah.

You think about the Old Testament passages

that speak about the coming Messiah

and his power and his glory and his significance,

and you're kind of struck by that,

and this is exciting.

The one who's going to bring all of history

to its culmination

and is going to bring the power and glory of God

to the forefront is going to be the lion.

And yet we find that on the heels

of that verbal announcement,

then John is given insight that's rather stunning.

You look there, and it says,

In between the throne, verse 6,

and the four living creatures,

now just imagine this,

here's an announcement,

don't cry, John,

because the lion of the tribe of Judah

is the one who's going to open the scroll.

Now, having heard that with his ears,

he looks, and in verse 6 he says,

And I saw a lamb standing

as though it had been, what?

slain.

He was slain.

As I was praying and thinking through

those words in particular,

I had to stop and think

that for the most part,

the vast majority of you who are sitting here

really have no idea what goes into preparing food

that comes from animals.

You really don't understand

what that word lamb slain means

in a visual, visceral way.

Because the truth of the matter is,

I would venture to say

there are very, very few of you

that have ever slaughtered your own food.

Raise your hand if you have.

Raise your hand.

Get them up high.

You've slaughtered your own food.

It is a difficult process.

Would you agree to me?

How many would say,

hey, when your mom said,

go out there and catch that chicken

and whop off its head,

you thought, yes!

Chickens are easy compared to lambs.

Do you understand that?

How many of you have slaughtered

anything larger than a chicken or a rabbit?

Okay.

We got a couple goat killers in here.

I can see it now.

A couple.

Mathea goats?

Lambs?

Yeah.

It's a hard work, isn't it?

Huh?

Huh?

And so here's this image.

John sees the lamb slain.

And what he means by that

is that he sees in this lamb

the evidence of the fact

that the lamb had been sacrificed.

And the imagery must have been

absolutely stunning.

By the way,

when you stop and think about

the imagery of the book of Revelation,

just off the top,

what are some of the things

that stand out to you?

I mean,

the catastrophic things

that happen in the book of Revelation

are pretty stunning,

aren't they?

Fire from heaven,

you know,

blood up to the bridles of the horses.

You know,

you think about all the people

that are dying left and right.

It's just,

it's pretty graphic.

And yet here,

the most significant

of all the images

is not all that,

but it's the lamb,

the lamb,

the lamb.

And I want you to understand

that God wants us to remember

for all eternity

that our salvation

cost his son his life

as our sacrifice.

It's interesting to Mark

that prior to the book of Revelation,

Jesus is only mentioned

four times as the lamb.

One of them is in John chapter 1,

John 1:29

verse 29,

where John the Baptist

sees Jesus

and what does he say?

Behold,

the lamb of God

that takes away

the sins of the world.

Four times prior

to the book of Revelation,

we have Jesus spoken of

as the lamb.

And yet,

and mark this

because it's significant,

in the book of Revelation,

Jesus is spoken of

28 times as the lamb.

28 times as the lamb.

That's stunning

when you stop

and put it together.

And as you think about

what is being said

about the Lord Jesus Christ,

it would seem

that the thing

that the Spirit of God

wants us to understand

when we think about Christ,

in particular,

in the scope of eternity,

we remind ourselves

of his sacrifice

on our behalf.

Eternity is going to be

a great place.

Isn't it going to be?

There will be no sorrow.

There will be no tears.

There will be no sickness.

There will be no sadness.

It's going to be a...

How many of you,

on occasion,

think to yourself,

I'd like to go now?

It's going to be great.

But there,

throughout all of history,

when we look at

the Lord Jesus Christ,

we will look at

a reminder

of what he did

to get us there.

And it's important.

Well, I want you

to take a minute

and appreciate

what this issue

of Christ being our Lamb

really communicates

by appreciating this title

in the light of Scripture.

And so allow me

to skip over

what God did

in providing a covering

for Adam and Eve

back in the Old Testament,

in the book of Genesis,

when he sacrificed animals

and gave their skins

to Adam and Eve

to cover their nakedness

and even step forward

beyond Abraham's instruction

to his...

or instruction

regarding his son

and his sacrifice.

And I want you

to move forward,

if you will,

to the book of Exodus,

just in your thinking,

and stop and consider

what God said to Moses

in relationship

to the Passover Lamb

and the sacrifice

of that Lamb.

Let me summarize

the Exodus passage

for you this way.

each family

was to choose

a young lamb.

Young.

They were to take

that lamb

into their home

and live with it

for four days.

Would it be easier

to take a knife

and slit the jugular

of an animal

that you just arbitrarily

picked out of the room

and did it

in five minutes?

Or would it be harder

to take that lamb

into your house,

have it live

with you?

Could you keep

the kids

from petting that lamb?

Don't pet that lamb.

It's dying in three days.

Don't pet that lamb.

It's got a day to live.

Don't mess with that lamb.

I mean...

And after four days,

that lamb died.

And that lamb's blood

was put on the doorposts

and over the lentil.

As you work your way through

the scriptures,

you understand not only

in the book of Exodus,

but also in the book

of Leviticus

and Numbers

and Deuteronomy,

the issue of sacrifice

was one in which

the Old Testament saint,

in particular,

when he was engaged

in sin offering,

one of the things

that actually he did

was that he went

and put his hand

personally on the head

of that sacrificial lamb.

And in doing so,

he was recognizing

that it was his sin

that was the consequence

that was causing

the death of that animal.

Very visceral.

Very emotional.

Very personal.

For you who have been involved

and have been involved

on occasion

in killing an animal,

I trust you never

found pleasure in it.

It was difficult to do.

It was necessary.

I want you to imagine

just what it was like

to realize that the reason

that little lamb

was being sacrificed

was because of your,

are you listening,

willful, intentional

rebellion against God.

So when you think about

Jesus Christ,

the lamb,

I want you to play this forward

in a very personal way

by stopping and recognizing

that the lamb

was an innocent victim

and was dying as a substitute

in the Old Testament.

And so,

when we think about Jesus

as our lamb,

I want you to understand

that we are going

to remember forever

that God's lamb

died in our place

and as a substitute

for our sins.

Do you understand that?

In the scope of eternity,

when I look at Jesus,

I cannot separate

the image that I see

from the reality

of what He has done for me.

And He will have that

etched into my conscience

and to my heart

for all of eternity.

I would propose to you

that in eternity,

there will be something

in relationship

to seeing to the lamb

that is much,

that is a blessing

in comparison

to our thinking today.

Our thinking about

Christ as the lamb

is very, very inconsistent

up and down.

Would you agree with me?

How many of you confess

that one of the things

that frustrates you

on occasion

is how fleeting

your appreciation

and emotional affection

are for Jesus?

Right?

I mean,

some days it's hot,

some days it's cold,

some days you're caught up

in Thanksgiving,

and other days you're just

as moody and as sour

as they come,

and you stop and think,

man,

well, when we think

about Jesus in heaven,

none of that up and down

will be there.

It will be with a joy

unfettered and unbridled,

and we will enjoy Him forever,

thinking about what He's done

for us.

He,

our sacrifice,

and the substitute

for our sins.

As I said earlier,

in the act of sacrifice,

particularly in the burnt offering

and the sin offering,

the offerer had to lay his hand

on the head of the sacrifice,

and that act

was a symbolic way

of indicating

the transfer of sin

from the sinner

to the sacrifice,

and the act was also

an admission of something else.

It was a recognition

that someone else

was going to die

in your place,

and so later on this morning

when we take the cup,

one of the things

that we will be doing,

we are admitting

that Jesus died for us.

That cup is a reminder

that you have salvation

because of His blood.

Going back to the imagery

in the book of Exodus,

you remember

when the blood of sacrifice

was sprinkled

on the doorposts

and the lentil.

It was later

sprinkled on the altar

and once a year

on the mercy seat.

This sprinkling

communicated the effect

of the blood

on sin.

And I want to communicate

several different passages

or relate several

different passages,

kind of drive that point home.

What does blood do for sin?

In Exodus chapter 12,

Exodus 12:13

verse 13,

when God spoke

to the nation of Israel

regarding that night,

He said,

when I see the blood,

I will pass over you.

And wherever blood was

against the posts

and the lentil,

death did not come

into that home.

I think about the passage

in Hebrews chapter 9,

Hebrews 9:22

verse 22,

and I want you to go there

just for a moment.

You're there in Revelation,

so turn back just a little bit

to Hebrews chapter 9,

Hebrews 9:22

verse 22.

2.

The author of Hebrews

makes a summary statement

regarding the Old Testament

sacrifice,

and he says this,

without the shedding of blood,

there is no,

what?

Forgiveness.

Why are your sins forgiven?

Are they forgiven?

Because you have done

some nice things

to kind of compensate

for those bad things.

I chuckle

when I talk with individuals.

I have to confess

that I don't laugh out loud.

I think that would be inappropriate,

but I kind of chuckle

when I talk to people

and say,

well, how are your sins

going to be accommodated for?

Well, I'm hoping

my good outweighs my bad.

It doesn't work that way.

One sin against

an infinitely holy God

is infinitely offensive

and your paltry

little peanut effort

doesn't amount to anything.

But the blood of Christ does.

And here in Hebrews chapter 9,

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

it says,

without the shedding of blood,

there is no forgiveness.

And then mark what it says

there in verse 26.

As it is,

he has appeared once for all

at the end of the ages

to put away sin

by the sacrifice of himself.

By the sacrifice of himself.

So when we think about Jesus

as the slain lamb,

forever in all of eternity,

carrying the marks

of his sacrifice,

we must think of him

as the sinless substitute

for our sins

who died in our place

that we might have

everlasting life.

So I want you,

as we come together

on this thought,

to kind of revel

in his work on our behalf,

to stop and just kind of

flesh it out a little bit

and think,

well, just how significant

is it that Jesus died for me?

I want you to recognize,

for one,

that the book of Revelation

speaks about the fact

that he was slain for us

from before the foundation

of the world.

When did God plan

his son's sacrifice?

How many of you

would prefer

that someone put a lot of effort

into thinking about

your Christmas present?

Don't go there.

I understand that.

What happened before Amazon?

I can remember

with my father,

you know,

it's father and son thing.

We would go out,

guess what night?

Christmas Eve to shop.

I mean,

it's like dad

in the last minute,

it's like,

ah,

I've got to do this.

He hated shopping.

He hated it desperately.

He passed on the genetic code.

And, you know,

so would you rather

that someone rushed out?

What happens

when you buy Christmas Eve?

It's generally panic buying

and it's the leftovers

on the shelves.

How many of you

understand that?

And one of the things

that Christmas Eve buying

always cares for

is that at least

you keep the tag with it

because you can curse

the person

with the responsibility

of taking it back afterwards

if they don't like it.

When was our salvation planned?

Look in the Bible,

if you will.

Just go forward a little bit

to Revelation chapter 13,

Revelation 13:5

verse 5.

Revelation chapter 13,

Revelation 13:5

verse 5.

I want you to kind of

chew on this passage

a little bit.

Revelation chapter 13,

Revelation 13:5

verse 5.

How did I do that?

From before the foundation

of the world,

I am,

I am,

verse 7.

How do I get?

Verse 8.

Okay, there it is.

And all who dwell

on the earth

will worship

everyone whose name

has not been written

before the foundation

of the world

in the book of life

of the Lamb

who was slain.

And by the way,

so ask yourself the question

when we sing that song,

the Lamb slain

from the foundation

of the world,

where does that come from?

From this passage.

And I want you to recognize

that what it is saying here

is that Jesus,

the plan for Christ's sacrifice

in our stead

was something

that was foreordained.

It was planned before.

It was planned before.

That Jesus would die

for my sins.

He would die

for your sins

before I ever

committed them.

He had me

in mind

when He died

on the cross.

All of us,

our names

written in the book

of life.

I have to confess

that it's hard

to get our head around,

isn't it?

Stop and think about that.

Not only was He slain

from before the foundation

of the world for us,

but He was also slain

specifically

for our sins.

Implicit in that

holy title,

the Lamb,

is the idea

that Jesus is our substitute.

When I think about Him

as the Lamb,

when I see Him

as the Lamb,

I will be reminding myself

that Jesus died

in my place

and it is worthy

of consideration

often.

Who is Jesus?

He's the one

who died in my place.

Furthermore,

as we mark the fact

that we will see Him

forever as the Lamb,

every time we look

on Him,

we will see Him

as the Lamb

and we remind ourselves

over and over again

of our close relationship

to the fact

of what He has done

for us

even in our

eternal existence.

I want you to turn ahead,

if you will,

to Revelation chapter 1,

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

not 21.

Revelation chapter 21

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

and I'm going to

ask that you kind of

follow with me

as I read

verses 1 through 7.

Revelation 21

Revelation 21:1–7

verse 1 through 7.

Then I saw a new heaven

and a new earth

for the first heaven

and the first earth

had passed away

and the sea was no more

and I saw a holy city,

new Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven

from God,

prepared as a bride

adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice

from the throne

saying,

Behold,

the dwelling place

of God is with man.

He will dwell with them

and they will be His people

and God Himself

will be with them

as their God.

He will wipe away

every tear from their eyes

and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning

nor crying

nor pain anymore

for the former things

have passed away.

And He who was seated

on the throne

said,

Behold,

I am making all things new.

Also He said,

Write this down

for these words

are trustworthy and true.

And He said to me,

It is done.

I am the Alpha

and the Omega,

the beginning and the end

to the thirsty

I will give

from the spring of water

of life without payment.

The one who conquers

will have this heritage

that I will be His God

and He will be my Son.

Now I want you to think

through with me

carrying from these verses

here that we've already read

forward on to the end

of the chapter more or less

and mark several different things.

For one,

we find that He is our God

and we are in relationship

with Him

and blessed because of that.

That's what we found here

in the first seven verses.

But I want you to understand

that also when we think about

who we are in eternity,

we will recognize ourselves

in relationship to the Lamb

because as it says there

in verse 9,

look at it,

Then came one of the seven angels

who had the seven bowls

full of the seven last plagues

and spoke to me saying,

Come and I will show you

what?

The bride.

Who's the bride?

That's who we are.

Isn't that right?

I couldn't help as I was

studying to remind myself

of one of the things

that I have often said

to our search committee

as we continue looking

for God's man.

I said,

You know what?

The Father loves this bride

because it belongs to His Son

even more than the search committee does.

The bride.

The bride.

The bride.

We are referred to

as the Lamb's bride.

Furthermore,

I want you to recognize

in verse 14

that the foundations

of the holy city

will carry

the name of the Lamb.

The underlying stability

that we will enjoy

in all of eternity

is there because

of the Lamb.

Our worship

will be centralized

on the Lamb.

Look at verse 22.

And I saw no temple

in the city.

And by the way,

to the Old Testament saint,

how important was the temple?

Buddy,

it was supremely important.

I saw no temple.

Why?

For its temple

is the Lord God,

the Almighty,

and the Lamb.

Our paths,

our decisions

will be governed

by the Lamb.

That's what we find

in 23 and 24.

And the city

has no need

of sun or moon

to shine on it,

for the glory of God

gives it light,

and its lamp

is the Lamb.

By its light

will the nations walk,

and the kings

of the earth

will bring their glory

into it.

And so this morning,

when we take the bread

and we take the cup,

what I want you

to stop and think about

is just how significant

Jesus is

to your life.

I want to add something

as I close.

You will not think

those kind of thoughts

effectively

apart

from a humble

dependence

upon the Holy Spirit.

And so this morning,

as the men come

and we take the elements

together,

the thing that I want you

to do is think about

the Lord Jesus,

the Lamb,

slain from before

the foundation

of the world

for your sins,

and we celebrate

that fact this morning

as we take these elements.

We are going to...

Go ahead, men.

Have a seat for a minute.

We're going to sing

and celebrate

the Lord's table together.

Behold the Lamb

who bears our sins

away,

slain for us.

We remember the promise

made that all would come

in faith,

find forgiveness

at the cross.

So we share

in the bread of life

as we drink

as we drink

of His sacrifice

as we sign

of our arms of peace

around the table

of the King.

Let me take a moment

in prayer.

Father,

Holy Father,

this morning

as we gather

at this table,

we remind ourselves

that You,

in eternity past,

planned for our redemption

through the bloody

sacrifice and death

of Your Son,

the Lord Jesus,

on our behalf.

And this morning

as we take the bread

and we take the cup,

we want to do so

with consciences

that are clear.

As believers

who have come by faith

to recognize

that salvation

is in the Lord Jesus Christ

alone.

And as we take

the bread and cup,

we bear testimony

to that.

Our desire also

is that, Lord,

as we take the bread

and cup,

our thoughts

would reflect

that Your purpose

in saving us

was for Your glory.

That our lives

and our obedience

would draw attention

to Your power

and Your grace.

Give us an ambition

and affection

for godliness

in the days to come

that brings honor

to our Son,

the Lord Jesus.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

And when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Drain the cup that all may enter in to receive the life of God.

In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying,

This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

Let's stand together.

Amen.

As we rise together to come

Our call to follow in the steps of Christ as his body here on earth.

As we share in his suffering.

And we'll pray

We'll to them again

And we'll join

The day's of high

And at the day's of the day

To the day's of high

The Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain,

was sent to heaven and therefore the rain.

At the end of the age, when the earth will be,

we will gather the nations before you.

And lives of all men will be fixed on the Lamb

who was crucified with wisdom and mercy and justice.

You'll reign the Father's side and the angels will cry,

Hail the Lamb!

And the earth will reply,

You shall reign

As the King of all kings and the Lord of all kings.