"And I looked, and behold, in the midst (literally, "in the middle") 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, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth." (Revelation 5:6)
This is all I saw yesterday as I read our text in another book: "And I looked, and...in the middle of the throne...stood a Lamb as though it had been slain...." One can only drop to one's knees.
There are Biblical passages which speak of Jesus, "....seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens," or, "at the right hand of God." Our text, however, "places" Jesus where He has always been, "in the midst/middle of the Throne...." From, "days of eternity," as Micah relates, Jesus, Son of our Father, is in the Father and Holy Spirit, "in the Middle of the Throne." But at a point in time/space history, this Glorious Lamb, our Lamb, came to us, not as a victim, but rather as a willing sacrifice, the sacrifice for my sins, for your sins. And today I say with John, "Behold! The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!"
I read the other day Leviticus 16. The most "moving" portion to me of that Day of Atonement offering is when the innocent goat is driven into the wilderness. "Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man." Then Hebrews 13 tells us of the sacrificial animals whose blood is shed in the Tabernacle, "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood. Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."
But now, my friend, our Glorious Lamb, "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," is nowhere but, "in the middle of the Throne," of the Universe. And glory of glories, we are "there" with Him in this moment. Whatever surrounds you today, whatever the, "cares of this life," we are even right now, right here, right there, the ones whom Father has so graced that He, "has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...in the middle of the Throne." Did Jesus not tell us, "....that where I am, there you may be also"? Please permit me one more: "To him who overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His Throne."
"Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sinned had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow."
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
