At the end of Revelation, when the redeemed of God are all secure in heaven, God will wipe away all the tears of his people. It’s a great promise, and it reminds Christians that while weeping may endure for the night, joy comes in the morning. Whatever pains and sorrows we have now are temporary. There is an end of suffering for Christ’s people.
Even in the present world, Christians are not to mourn as those with no hope do. In Revelation 5:4, the apostle John is weeping over the sinfulness of man and that no one is worthy to carry out the purposes and plans of God. The plans include the salvation of the nations. An elder comes and points him to the one whom men can place their hope in.
The elder says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” This is a reference to the victorious Christ. He is the Savior of men, appointed by God.
The lion of the tribe of Judah points us to the human lineage of Christ. Jesus was of the tribe of Judah. Jacob prophesied that the tribe of Judah was like a lion for its power and that the “scepter would not depart from Judah.” David was of the tribe of Judah, and he was a powerful king.
But one greater than David was promised to come into the world and be king forever. He is referred to here as the “Root of David.” This points to the divine nature of Christ. He was a descendant of David in his human nature, but was before David in his divine nature. The prophet Micah said a ruler will come forth from Bethlehem, “whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” Jesus told the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Christ the Savior is the eternal Son of God. The angel told Mary about her child: “He will be called the Son of the Most High – he will be given the throne of his father David and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
When the angel speaks of these great truths about Christ, John looks and “between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). The Lamb is the one that all attention is now focused on in heaven. He still bears the marks of his death but is standing.
The title of Jesus as the Lamb is used 28 times in Revelation. John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The sacrificial lamb in the Old Testament symbolized the innocent and unblemished victim offered up for the sins of people. Isaiah spoke of the Savior to come: “He is like a lamb led to the slaughter… the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all upon him.”
Here is Christ in heaven, bearing the marks of his crucifixion for sinners, having passed through death, and now stands victorious in heaven. How is he victorious? By taking away our sin. Colossians 2 says, “God canceled the debt that stood against us with its legal demands by nailing it to the cross.” We all have such debt from sin that there is no hope except Christ.
That is indeed good news, but that’s not all. Paul goes on to say that God, by Christ’s death, “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Christ.” The devil and his legions were put to open shame because they had hoped to destroy Christ but were utterly defeated by the death of Christ.
The power of the devil, sin, and death were all overcome by the death and resurrection of Christ. It is a great salvation by a great Savior. The degree of gratitude we have is proportionate to how terrible we view that which we were delivered from.
Can there be any greater deliverance than being freely delivered from such oppression as sin, death, and the devil hold men under? What soul hasn’t suffered terribly from these oppressors? Can you ignore such a great salvation or treat it as a common thing?
Thomas Watson said, “We may prize other things above their value. That is our sin… But we cannot raise our esteem of Christ high enough; he is beyond all value… Christ is more precious than the world, than the angels, than heaven.”