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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Pastoral Pings (Plus) ~ The Lamb Who Wipes Away Our Tears

          Today began with grief. It is of the beloved-little-friend-is-going-away variety, although I am sure there is a fill-in-the-blanks kind of loved-ones-going-away-scenario that would unite a lot of us in empathetic fellowship.
          While bringing this grief to God in prayer, preparing to continue meditating on the significance of the 144,000 mentioned at the beginning of Revelation 7, my eyes were drawn to the closing expression of this chapter:
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7)
          As soon as I gave thought to this verse it fell into a musical expression that may make it easier to remember. However, I only got as far as considering the first line of the stanza, so here are a few thoughts.
         I can see why the book of Revelation has taken such care to introduce us to this figure of the heavenly throne room, the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have a picture to hold on to. Now we can simply say, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”[1] and add to this our own expressions of praise and worship.
          “Look, the Lamb of God who will be our shepherd forever!”
          “Look, the Lamb of God, the Shepherd of Israel, will guide us to springs of living water!”
          “Look, the Lamb of God who brings us to the Father who will wipe away every tear from our eyes!”
          “Look to the Lamb in the midst of the throne!!!!”
          Why would we take this one little phrase and hang on to it as a lifeline of hope? All it says is that “the Lamb” will do something. Why would we allow such a small phrase, speaking of a little creature, give us hope that the sufferings of this life are not even worth comparing to the glories yet to be revealed?[2]
          The reason that the figure of “the Lamb” gives us such great comfort, and hope, and confidence about the coming heavenly kingdom, is that we have entrenched in our hearts and minds the picture of this Lamb as already described in the book of Revelation.[3]
          We also have the larger context of what we are taught about this Lamb of God in the whole of the Scriptures. This is the Lamb of God who is the Shepherd of Psalm 23. This is the Lamb of God who was born of the virgin Mary, who came into the world with such gentleness that a smoldering wick he would not snuff out, and a bruised reed he would not break.[4] He was a gentle shepherd. He was THE gentle Shepherd.
          Jesus Christ, the glorious Lamb of God, is enthroned in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father,[5] yet standing before the throne,[6] standing in the midst of the throne, standing between the throne and the living creatures, and the elders, and the multitudes.
          The primary contrast with the Lamb is not the world, but ME! The focus is that there is “the Lamb”, that one and only Lamb of God, who stands in the midst of the throne, before the throne, the immediate expression of God to the Church, the immediate High Priest of the Church to God, the one who is opening the seals so that all can be accomplished in order that the whole will of God is fulfilled.
          It is not ME before the throne, although I am most certainly represented there. God is not looking to me to know what to do. He is not waiting on me to say the right prayers in order for him to know that he can do what he desires. Everything rests on the one who is before the throne, in the midst of the throne, between the throne and every other creature in heaven and on earth.
          There is a song for the present times that begins with the phrase, “Yahweh is my Shepherd, I shall not experience want.”[7] Scripture makes it very clear that Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God.”[8] In whatever ways we would think that the one who sits on the throne is our invisible Good Shepherd, we can see the Lamb in the midst of the throne as the image of the Good Shepherd, the Father expressing his shepherdly heart through Jesus’ shepherdly heart.
          Faith tells us to walk with Jesus as our Shepherd through the trials of this earthly life because Jesus has promised to be with us always, to the end of the age, through the gift of the promised Holy Spirit.[9]     Hope tells us to set our minds on heavenly things, fixing our eyes on Jesus, looking to things above, because the end of the race is assured in the promises of God.[10] The Lamb “will be” our shepherd, he “will” guide us to the springs of living water, and he “will” wipe away every single tear from all our eyes. Faith walks in fellowship with the Holy Spirit in the moment, while hope continuously reminds us of the certain goodness ahead.
          I conclude with the apostle Peter’s beautiful summary of these things:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.[11]
         
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)





[1] John 1:29
[2] Romans 8:18
[3] Revelation 1 – his transcendent glory; 2-3 ~ his lordship over the church; 5 ~ the Lamb looking like it had been slain, with seven horns and seven eyes, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David, the only one who can break the seals and open the scroll
[4] Matthew 12:20
[5] Hebrews 8:1
[6] Revelation 5:6
[7] My paraphrase of Psalm 23:1
[8] Colossians 1:15
[9] John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:20
[10] Colossians 3:1-2; Hebrews 12:1-3
[11] I Peter 1:3-9

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