"The Lamb Stands!"by Sharon L. Clemens

* All scriptures within this study are linked to BibleGateway.com.

The coming of Jesus Christ to the earth was the most phenomenal event in human history. God became flesh--and dwelt among us [John 1:14]. Our Lord's sacrificial death, to pay the penalty for sin, is the turning point in God's plan of the ages; and Christ announced the atonement "It is finished." [John 19:30]. [Hebrews 10:10-14], tells us that "after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, {He} sat down at the right hand of God..."

     But is that the end of the story? IS CHRIST SEATED, CONTENT TO WATCH THE UNFOLDING OF GOD'S PLAN WITH NO ACTIVE PART YET TO PLAY? IS THE WORK OF THE LAMB COMPLETELY FINISHED? Christ's work of atonement is indeed finished; His work of restoration will not be complete until He returns. Patiently, He waits for the predetermined time, extending His mercy to mankind.

Understanding the relationship between Christ's first coming and His return is crucial. Dr. McGee would remind his listeners again and again that the first and second comings are two parts of one complete work of Christ. Although He purchased His creation with His blood at the atonement and pronounced it "finished," the restoration of all things to His original purpose will not be accomplished until He returns to set up His earthly kingdom. All things lost in Genesis will be restored in The Revelation!

     Since Christ's ascension, He has remained at the Father's right hand. However, Christ will not remain seated; He waits for the day when He will return to defeat His enemies and take back what is rightfully His. His love makes Him patient; His holiness demands that He return to judge. Prepare...the time is coming when THE LAMB WILL STAND. He will arise from the midst of the throne. When He does, it will be to release the wrath of heaven on a sinful and rebellious earth.

THE LAMB'S WORK IS NOT YET DONE

"And I [John] looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, STOOD A LAMB AS THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN,... Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb,... And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood..." [Revelation 5:6-9]

      Students of Bible prophecy know that yet to come is a seven-year period of time known as the Tribulation. This time period is also known as The Seventieth Week of Daniel [Daniel 9]. During that time, the wrath of God is poured out on a Christ-rejecting world to prepare for the Lamb's return. Christ Jesus, as redeemer of creation, has the right to unleash God's wrath by taking the title deed to the earth, the scroll, from the Father. On the scroll is written the judgments determined. [See also [Zechariah 5:1-4]. The wrath takes the form of a series of 3 judgments: The Seals, The Trumpets, and The Bowls. The lost of the world cry out, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne {the Father} and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" [Revelation 6:16-17] None of the lost will be able to stand against the Lamb, when He stands to take action.

THE LAMB'S WORK OF REDEMPTION IS DONE; NOW JUDGMENT OF THE LOST AND RESTORATION OF THE REDEEMED BEGINS:


'...because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained." [Acts 17:31]


WHEN CHRIST JESUS RETURNS TO THE EARTH, IT WILL BE TO TAKE BY FORCE THAT WHICH HE REDEEMED, AND TO RESTORE ALL THINGS TO HIS ORIGINAL INTENTION AND PURPOSE.

The restoration was not intended for His First Coming; He will finish the restoration of His creation at His Second Coming and establish His earthly kingdom:

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made know to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him." [Ephesians 1:7-10]

HIS WRATH IS THE TOOL OF JUDGMENT AND VENGEANCE AGAINST THOSE WHO TROUBLE CHRIST'S REDEEMED:


   "...since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed." [2 Thessalonians 1:6-10]

"...and how you [believers] turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." [1 Thessalonians 1:9-10]

     Since the return of Christ to heaven at the ascension, Christ Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the day when the cup of God's wrath will overflow. For over 2,000 years, our Lord has waited, lavishing upon us His grace and mercy. He will be seated, UNTIL it is time to defeat His enemies:

"The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.' The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!" [Psalm 110:1-2]

John MacArthur comments on the reference of Christ making His enemies His footstool: "Footstool was an ancient Near Eastern picture of absolute victory portraying the idea that one's enemy was now underfoot [cf. [Pss. 8:6, 7]; [47:3]; [Is. 66:1]; [1 Cor. 15:27]. This anticipates Christ's Second Advent [cf. [Rev. 19:11-21] as a conquering king [cf. [Heb. 10:13]]." {MacArthur Study Bible}

THE KING IS COMING!

     When our Lord returns, it will not be as the gentle carpenter of Galilee; it will be as the conquering King! [Revelation 19:16] When God's wrath is completely poured out, Christ will mount His white horse, symbolizing victory, and descend from heaven. He will take His Kingdom by force [Zechariah 12 and 14] and utterly defeat the armies of man that defy Him:

"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens [the Father] shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: 'Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession." [Psalm 2:1-8]

"Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying 'It is done!' And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth."
[Revelation 16:17-18]

"And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!'" [Revelation 19:6]

"Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'" [Revelation 11:15]

     Only when Christ returns will the plan of God be completed. Are we ready to receive our King?

In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon

[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@verizon.net]