SELECTED SCRIPTURE READINGS
I have one simple desire on this Christmas Day. I want to present Christ to you ! I shall not do that by way of
my customary systematic exposition of a text, but by
tracing some of the names of Christ
used in the Scripture : Christ , the Lamb and the Lion . In Revelation Chapter 5 we find
the only place where these two
names are used in the same context .
The result of
our Christmas meditation should
be a renewed sense of worship and glory to God .
Christ was born
to stir up worship in us . The news of
Christ’s birth caused the angels to say : “Glory to God in the highest! “ (Lk
2:14) . The understanding of who Christ is restores meaning
and purpose in life . We were
made to worship . North Koreans were made to worship , but unfortunately many of them they worship
only a dead human leader . We were made to worship the One , true , eternal God , who is not like a man
, but who has manifested Himself for our sakes
in the man Christ Jesus . Jesus
is the exact imprint of God (
Hebr. 1:3) . He said : “ If you have seen me you have seen the Father”
( Jn 14:9) . Beholding Christ
invokes worship .
That is what Mary did in
response to what the angel told her when he said that she was going to be the bearer of God’s Son ,
and when she spontaneously composed the Magnificat ( Lk 1: 46-55) “ My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour…”
. That is worship !
I want
you to feel
what the shepherds felt after they had seen that baby in the manger at Bethlehem , the sight of which left
them glorifying and praising God
(Lk 2:20) . That is worship !
I want you to understand what that righteous and devout worshipper of
God, Simeon understood when he saw that baby presented in the temple :
[29] “Lord, now you
are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;[30] for
my eyes have seen your salvation [31] that you have prepared in the presence
of all peoples, [32] a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory
to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32 ESV) . That is worship !
May God
deliver us from the boredom
or the artificial hype that now generally surrounds Christmas . This boredom is seen in articles such as I have read on the BBC internet news
on Friday (23/12/2011 ) , entitled : “ War on Christmas : Is this festival under
attack ? “ [1]
. A
picture in the article had Santa Claus in the crosshairs , which told me
that they were aiming at the wrong guy !
His Name is Santa , and not Christ! He is fiction , Christ is
real!
What interested me in particular were
the responses of many
hundreds of readers to this article. Some were just cynical
, some were atheists , and others were
Christians. Some said that Christians had hijacked an ancient pagan winter festival and had made it their own. There is of course some truth in that. I have never yet figured out what decorated
trees and Santa Claus have to do
with the Christmas story . Others criticized the unrestrained commercialism of
Christmas , – there is also truth in
that ! Some criticized
Christianity itself with a heavy
sarcasm and disdain. And, of course , there was not a little wrangling with each other as the many criticized each others comments about the meaning of Christmas .
I searched
hard among the comments
of these hundreds of readers to
find some glory. There were some traces , but I must admit that I came away with a
sense of what
always feel when I come to this time of the year . There is so little
real glory and worship that
shines from this momentous event ! What has happened in Bethlehem
2000 years ago has been trivialized so much , that it now lies
buried beneath a heap
of cheap ‘Christmas magic ‘ .
The fact is that that this baby of Bethlehem is the
Lamb of God , the Lion of Judah. I have chosen to look at these two names because
they help us to understand
Him whom we too have come to
worship .
The story of Christmas is the story of Jesus and this
story begins in eternity. He came
from that eternal glory which He
had with His Father before the world existed (see John
17:5) . From that place of utter perfection and glory He came (He was incarnated / born) into a world of finite realities and fallen beings.
After His baptism , at about the age of 30 He began
to proclaim that the kingdom of God was near . By that He told us that mankind had
been alienated from that kingdom , and that He had come to open the
door back into that kingdom .
In this process
Jesus points to Himself as “ the Way , the Truth , and the Life
“ ( Jn 14:6) , the
door for the sheep ( Jn
10:7) by which people could
re enter into that paradise that was lost in Genesis 3 . The Bible records that people
to whom He says these things find
it difficult to believe Him ( Jn 1:11).
This is because mankind by its fallen nature is so
spiritually dead that they will not believe. (Eph 2:1) . Fallen people need something more than human ability to believe .
Any self effort to understand God
and the nature of our relationship with Him will
only result in creating another false religion/ cult . That is precisely what has happened in the world . Fallen mankind in response
to that spiritual vacuum has gone of in search of God , but
our sinful hearts will always
create idol gods that suit us
. The world is in a spiritual mess! We need
help !
We need revelation
! That is
what the Bible provides . That is
why the Bible is important . The Bible claims to be a God
inspired book ( 2Tim 3:16)
We need to be helped to believe . We need Grace from God to
have faith in God. Like helpless babies
we must be helped. Babies can do
nothing for themselves. That is why the beginning of the Christian life is
likened to a birth – the new birth ! “ Born to raise the sons of earth , born to give them second
birth” [2]
We must understand who Christ is
and where He has come from . If
Christ is who he says He is , then we had better listen to Him !
We must understand what
Christ came to do. Christ was born to die ! The cross becomes the
all important focus. Why did Jesus die ? He died
to take away sin –the obstacle between God (the Creator) and men (the created) . Without the removal of this obstacle it is impossible
for us to
have a relationship with God .
But how did Christ manifest Himself to
this world ?
Two names are
used to describe the nature of
Christ : He is both a lamb and a lion! What do we mean by that ?
a.
Christ the Lamb :
This metaphor ( lamb) was well understood in Israel . We first come
across it in Genesis 22. Abraham has a very difficult task at hand . He is
commanded by God to offer up his only
son , Isaac, on an altar. Abraham obeyed and trusted that God
would provide “a lamb for a burnt
offering” in the place of Isaac (Gen 22:8). This happened in fact (Gen
22:13) , and it is illustrative
of the doctrine of “substitutionary
atonement “ : one dies for another !
This is what Jesus did . He was
born to die for you !
Another prominent
reference to a lamb is found in Exodus
12 – the Passover Lamb . This story
also illustrates what Jesus
came to do . His blood shed for us causes the righteous wrath of God to “ pass over” us . In the
OT the institution of the Passover became a ordinance throughout their generations ( Ex 12:14) . In the NT , Easter which corresponds to the Jewish
Passover has culminated in the
institution of the Lord’s supper / Communion
- an ordinance of the Christian church
until Christ returns - a constant
reminder that Christ died for our sins .
The fact that Christ
is referred to as a lamb points
to other important realities . Please note that Jesus
did not come into this world in a spaceship from outer space and as
a grown person ! He
came to us as a humble baby -
a lamb ! He was born to a human mother ,
Mary . And is it
incidental that shepherds who care for ordinary sheep and lambs should be among the first to see
the new born King ? Is not all
this a part of the divine logic and a part of the
divine symphony that
conducts the events of the world and of the
universe with such astounding wisdom and harmony ?
However it is
really John the Baptist who first makes
the OT-
NT connection when he
first sees Jesus. ( See John 1 : 29-36) . When he saw
Jesus for the first time he immediately declared : “ LOOK, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the
world !” That was a prophetic utterance , and by this John helped us to see that the
Passover lamb of the
OT found its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus
Christ !
But it is in
the final book of the Bible (
Revelation) that the term
“ the Lamb” with respect to
Christ is used in an unprecedented
fashion ( over 30 times!!!) . “The
Lamb!” . This is John’s favourite
title for Jesus who by now no longer dwells
on earth , but who at this time is the ascended Christ! In heaven , He still is the Lamb of God !
b.
Christ The Lion
We have seen
that the
text in Revelation 5 brings the metaphors
of “ lamb” and “lion”
together .
Two natures meet in Christ , and here I am not
referring to the classical formulation of the
ancient creeds of the church that in Christ both the “divine and human“ natures meet . That is so. But there are two other aspects that meet in Christ : the
tender and the tough - the Lamb and the
Lion - the Saviour / Redeemer and the Judge!
The tribe of Judah is traditionally symbolized by a lion. In Genesis
49:9 Jacob, when blessing his sons refers to
Judah as a young lion . Jesus
was born in the line of king David
in the tribe of Judah . ( see Matthew’s genealogy in chapter 1)
We need a balanced view of the person and nature of Christ , and
here is the other side to His being. He is
a Lion! A lion is
feared. When the Lion roars all
the other beasts of the earth must remain silent. In the prophecy of Amos, the Lord
God is frequently compared to a lion .
Amos 3:8 says : “ The lion has roared , who will not fear ? The Lord God
has spoken ; who can but prophesy ?”
Here is an aspect of Christ’s person and work that we must not miss . Yes , it is true that He has come as our
gentle Saviour into this world . As the lamb He has not come a Judge , but as
Saviour . He came to die for our sin .
That is the Good News , the gospel , the message of
Christmas that brings peace and joy to
the world . However , this is not a
message that you can listen to in a detached manner . It is a message that you must embrace with all your heart . Like a child you
must say : “ Oh
come to my heart , Lord Jesus , there is
room in my heart for Thee!”
The truth is
this : If this message is not embraced , then remember that the Lamb will be the Lion to you . The Lion has roared . He has spoken . He has finished His work . What God needed to say to
fallen humanity He now has said .
He has sent you a Lamb . Embrace the Lamb , because if you don’t God remains your enemy, and at the end of
days you will face a lion ! For a true Christian , He will of
course for ever be the Lamb upon the
throne.
If you have not embraced Christ
yet , then I want to ask : Are
you listening ? You must listen ! Right now , at this time there are
so many people who will not hear
this message , and it will do them no good to
ignore it . Embrace the Lamb ! Now !
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16273917
by Daniel Nasaw
[2] Charles Wesley : Hark the Herald Angels sing
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