Revelation of Jesus 18, Seven seals 5

The Book of Revelation begins with the words, “The Revelation of Jesus” and shows us that Jesus, who was introduced to the nation of Israel as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), is the hero and main character of the Revelation story.

As we read the book of Revelation we soon notice the profusion of names and titles for Jesus. All of those names and titles are an attempt to show just how multi-faceted He is. Just in the first chapter of Revelation Jesus is called “The Alpha and the Omega”, “He who is and who was and who is to come”, the “Faithful Witness”, the “Firstborn from the dead”, the “Ruler over the kings of the earth”, the “Son of Man”, the “First and the Last”; seven titles in just one chapter!

But by far the most prominent name for Jesus in the Book of Revelation is the Lamb; Jesus as the Lamb appears 25 times in Revelation; this is all the more remarkable when we consider that in the rest of the New Testament Jesus is only referred to as a Lamb 4 times!

The Lamb

In one of the most amazing and profound verses in Revelation, we learn that Jesus is “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). It is this symbol that has the power to portray all that Jesus did in taking upon Himself the sins of the world.

The recurring symbol of the Lamb in Revelation also reminds us that this is not primarily a story about beasts, horns, dragons, and other enemies of God. The story Revelation is all about “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” who actively seeks out His enemies in order to reconcile with them and bring them back to life for “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).

You can read the full transcript of this video here: