Daily Bible Reading: Job 31-23, Zechariah 8, Revelation 5-6

Jesus, The Eternal Lamb

The language of Revelation 5 is so majestic and powerful. We are taken right into the throne room of God and given a picture of what is to come; the drama surrounding the opening of the seven seals that will trigger the beginning of end time events. John, who was given this revelation while on the island of Patmos, weeps because no one was found worthy to open the sealed scroll. But then he was told not to weep because the Lion of the tribe of Judah could open the scroll and its seven seals. When John looked for the Lion, what he saw was the Lamb, who of course is Jesus. It is on the basis of Jesus becoming the Lamb of God that he is the Lion. No only did John see the Lamb, but it appeared as though it had been freshly slain.

In the Old Testament a lamb had to be brought to be slain so a person could receive forgiveness for a sin or transgression. Lev. 17:11 says, "It's the blood that makes atonement for one's life." This principle is echoed in Heb. 9;22. "The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." That is why God sent his own son, Jesus, to die, to become the once-for-all lamb by shedding his blood. That blood is so precious that it appears in heaven as though the Lamb had just been slain; a constant reminder of the price of our forgiveness. 1 Pet. 18-19. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."

When I was growing up in church we heard a lot about the blood of Jesus and sang songs such as "There is Power in the Blood," "Oh, the Blood of Jesus," and Andre Crouch's awe-inspiring song, "The Blood that Jesus Shed For Me - It will never lose it's Power." In modern times there are very few songs about the blood of Jesus. Yet without that blood there would be no redemption and we would not have the hope set before us of spending eternity with him. Not only that, but the power to live our daily lives in a God-pleasing way comes from the very fact that Jesus shed his blood and that blood is present in heaven today.

I have never been a poet, or even a lover of poetry, but in 1981 the Lord gave me a poem about his blood. Here it is.

The Cleansing Blood

There is a stream which flows free

From the cross of Calvary,

It flows for the cleansing of my soul.

It flows as free today as it did yesterday

That I might plunge in and be made whole.

As I walk in the light as He is in the light,

Moment by moment I am cleansed in my soul.

The blood that Jesus shed when he died,

Is to me daily applied,

That I might constantly have life and be whole.

In the midst of the throne is a lamb, freshly slain,

There through eternity shall it remain,

The price it cost to redeem my soul.

I will join my voice with the thousands of thousands

And ten thousand times ten thousand,

As we sing the song of the lamb who made us whole.

Let's echo the words from Rev. 5 anew. "Worthy is the lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise." He alone is worthy.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - Job 33, Zechariah 9, Revelation 8-9

God is good all the time,

Naomi Brinkman