It is now my fourth trip through the book of Revelation and the phrase that stands out to me is found in Revelation 5:6, “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain.” In the midst of the throne stands a lamb.
The reason this is significant to me is because of Isaiah 53:6, “And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” This verse identifies the Father as the one who placed all mankind’s sin on to Jesus. The Father was Lord and God Almighty under the old covenant. Do you remember when the disciples asked Jesus about John the Baptist? Jesus said, “Of those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John. Howbeit, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.”
Clearly the kingdom of heaven came after the kingdom John lived under. And Jeremiah 31:31 tells us “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” A new covenant would make the previous covenant old. This verse then defines two covenants: a new one and an old one. Hebrews 8:13 says exactly this, “In that he says a new covenant, he has made the first one old.”
Think of it this way; a covenant is a contract. The old covenant was a contract the Father God made with the Children of Israel. As with any contract, this contract was governed by laws. To be great in any contract is to be a studious keeper of the laws that govern the contract. Thus, John the Baptist kept the old contract between God and the Jews as well as any man. Jesus said, “Of those born of women, there has not arisen one greater than John.”
However, Jesus went on to say, “He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.” Now the contract the Father God established with the Children of Israel established a kingdom on earth. According to 2nd Corinthians 4:4, Satan is the god of this world. So, by establishing a covenant with the Children of Abraham, the Father established a kingdom inside Satan’s kingdom. Going back to Isaiah 53:6: The Lord of the old covenant laid the iniquities of all mankind onto Jesus. This makes the kingdom of God the Father’s kingdom. When Jesus kept His Father’s contract perfectly and died under the penalty of disobedience that fulfilled His Father’s contract. A fulfilled contract goes out of force.
Now, just because a contract has been fulfilled does not make it a bad contract. The Ten Commandments were the heart of the Father’s contract. To be great in the Father’s kingdom one had to strive to keep the Ten Commandments and offer sacrifices to cover breaches in the behavior the contract spelled out. To be great in the kingdom Jesus established after the Father’s contract was fulfilled is to keep the law of the new covenant. The Ten Commandments are not bad commandments to keep; they are just not necessary to live in covenant with Jesus. A new covenant means new commandments and to be great in the kingdom of heaven is to strive to keep the commandments of the new covenant but even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.
Hebrews 12:24 informs us Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant. This is what the book of Revelation is all about. Going back to the three times of man I spoke of in an earlier post, Jesus appeared in the fullness of time. Galatians 4:4 states, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son.” The phrase, fullness of time, speaks of the end of the second age, when it was time for Jesus to be born, so the old covenant could be fulfilled, and the new covenant begin. Jesus was born 1,967 years after the establishment of the old covenant, lived 33 years, and died in the 2,000th year. Jesus carefully orchestrated the events of His life so as not to be killed before it was time and so that He was killed when it was time. We are again at this fullness of time stage.
Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant and He is also its Lord. In Philippians 2:9 we are informed Jesus was given a name above every other name when the Father raised Jesus from the dead. This is the name, “Lord.” It is the highest name of God. 1Timothy 6:15 identifies Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and in Revelation 19:16, the name that is written across the sash Jesus wears is the name, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That’s Lord, squared, and is a greater authority than the Father had under the old covenant.
As Lord of the new covenant, Jesus has reserved judgment till the end. The last seven years are the time when Jesus judges all mankind based on obedience or disobedience of the commandments of the new covenant. It has now been 1,993 years since Jesus established the new covenant with all mankind. There are seven years to the end of the age. 1,993 years is the fullness of time of the new covenant. The next few years are the time of Jacob’s trouble, then the 1,000 year reign of Christ begins.
In Matthew 7:13, Jesus says, “Broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrow is the way that leads to life.” In John 15:10 Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love.” This is a very narrow definition of life. The only way for mankind to abide in Jesus’ love is to keep His commandments. All other paths lead to destruction. Keeping the Ten Commandments will not lead to life under the authority of the new covenant.
Now, again, in Galatians 4:4, Paul tells us, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son,” but Jesus was not the Father’s Son when the Father sent Jesus to earth. Neither was Jesus begotten of God in Mary’s womb. The book of Genesis tells us everything begets after its own kind. This means God begets God so there had to be a point in time when Jesus was not God. In Psalm 2:7, Hebrews 5:5 and Acts 13:33 we find the words, “You are my beloved Son, this day I have begotten you,” so there was a specific day when Jesus was begotten by God but throughout history, that day was significant. Thus, Jesus has been God’s Son from the very beginning, long before he was begotten of God.
In John 1:1 we find Jesus was God in the beginning and was with God (the Father) but He became man to die on the cross to redeem mankind from the curse of death of the law. The old covenant law, which as you remember, was the Father’s contract between Himself and the Jews, passed a sentence of death onto anyone who could not keep the law perfectly. No one could keep the law perfectly, which is why the sacrificial system was attached to the law, which meant all mankind was held under bondage to the law even though the covenant was only with the Jews.
This is how God extended His kingdom to encompass the whole human race, the whole world. He entered into a contract with a specific group of people but His contract condemned any man who could not keep that contract. Since no man could, the contract, or covenant, between God and the Jews, was extended to encompass the whole human race. When Jesus came to earth to die under the penalty of disobedience for the Jews, His death was likewise extended to all humanity and the righteousness He earned by keeping the law fell to all mankind.
Moreover, when Jesus established His covenant, it was established with all mankind as all mankind wore the righteousness of Christ. 1John 2:2 states “He propitiated our sins but not ours alone, He propitiated the sins of the entire world,” which made the new covenant of the entire world and brought the kingdom of heaven to earth to encompass the whole world. Now there are competing kingdoms on the earth.
This makes the new covenant an aleatory covenant. Mankind must choose which kingdom it wants to live under. If people choose to keep Jesus’ commandments, they will abide in the kingdom of heaven. If they choose not to, they will live subject to Satan’s kingdom. The old covenant was not aleatory. It was a simple contract, made with the Children of Israel and all Israel was subject to it, like it or not. No Jew could opt in or opt out; they were under contract with the Father. The new covenant is a whosoever will covenant. So even though all mankind has opportunity to establish citizenship in the kingdom of heaven, only those who keep Jesus’ commandments actually do.
Jesus came to earth as a man to keep the law perfectly, then die under the penalty of disobedience, in order to redeem all mankind from the law. Then Jesus ascended into heaven to present Himself before the Father spotless and blameless. Jesus died a second time to cleanse mankind of sin. Now remember, Jesus died the first time to fulfill the law and redeem mankind from the curse of the law, which was death. The second time Jesus died for sin. Being a man, Jesus was really dead and the Father God begat Jesus. In other words, He infused His own life into Jesus, making Jesus His Son. Furthermore, the Father gave to Jesus His own name and His throne. Jesus rules over the new covenant age from the throne of His Father, with His Father’s authority and power.
“Of those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John. Howbeit, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.” Jesus said, “He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John,” but why? John was born under the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was a kingdom established by the contract God established with the Children of Israel. It was a limited kingdom.
When the Father God raised Jesus from the dead, He gave to Jesus His name, the name of Lord, and His power, the power of almighty God and Jesus established the new covenant with this power. It was unlimited due to several factors, not the least of which was this kingdom encompassed the whole human race and was built on the fulfillment of the old covenant. You might say Christians stand on the shoulders of the old covenant saints. Therefore, the least in the new covenant is greater than the greatest of the old covenant.
What does it mean to be in the kingdom of heaven? If the new covenant was made with the whole human race, does that not make the whole human race citizens of the kingdom of heaven? I don’t believe so. Again, in John 15:10, Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” However, in Revelation, chapters 2-3, we find Jesus addressing seven churches. Jesus is not pleased with any of these churches and threatens to vomit one church from His mouth but not because they are breaking the Ten Commandments; He is not pleased with them because of doctrinal issues. Yet each of these churches is represented by a golden lamp stand in His hand.
It seems clear perfect behavior is not a requirement of the kingdom of heaven. Faith is the requirement. In 1Thessalonians 4, Jesus returns to call the dead in Christ back to life. The phrase, dead in Christ, means believers in Christ. It was the Christ who died on the cross to deliver mankind from the law. These believers did not transition from life to being present with the Lord; they died and rested. Jesus calls them back to life, but also calls them to understanding and repentance. Jesus descends with a command, the voice of an archangel, and a trumpet.
Residency and citizenship are two different things. The least of the kingdom of heaven establish residence in the kingdom of heaven through faith in the Christ. The great in the kingdom of heaven establish citizenship. As far as the kingdom of heaven is concerned, residents have the authority to establish citizenship, and since believers in the Christ were lied to about the commandments of Jesus, when the time of Jacob’s trouble begins, Jesus calls the residents of the kingdom back to life and gives them the opportunity to establish citizenship.
This is the purpose of the voice of the archangel. The voice of the archangel is instruction. Because the believers in Christ failed to keep the commandments of Jesus during their lifetimes, they are given a second chance and are offered instructions on how to correct their behavior. For 2,000 years, Christians have been instructed to ignore the commandments of Jesus by church leaders. The trumpet call of God is the call to repentance. So, Jesus descends with a command, the voice of instruction, and a call to repentance.
Now earlier I explained how after the crucifixion, Jesus presented Himself before the Father and the Father sacrificed Jesus as our Passover Lamb upon the altar of heaven. You remember how in Hebrews 8:5, Moses is instructed to construct the tabernacle strictly according to the pattern showed to him on the mountain. This is because the true tabernacle: with the true altar of sacrifice, is in heaven, where Jesus was sacrificed for the sin of all mankind. Isaiah 53:6, “And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” foretold this event. Jesus died, but was raised from the dead by the Father as He infused His own life into Jesus, making Jesus His Son. The Father then highly exalted Jesus, giving all power in heaven and earth to Jesus and placing Jesus on His own throne.
This is what we see in Revelation 5:6, “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain.” The throne is the throne of Almighty God. It is the life of God that courses through Jesus’ veins and He wields the power and authority of God. John doesn’t see the Father sitting on His throne; John doesn’t see the Father on His throne and Jesus sitting on a throne at His right hand; what John sees is a lamb as it had been slain. He sees Jesus standing in the midst of His Father’s throne. All throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth, He said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” and, “I and my Father are one,” so in heaven, when John looks at the throne of the Father, he sees Jesus.
The Church, for two thousand years, has not seen the Lamb. The Church sees the Christ; they see the Jesus who died on the cross to redeem mankind from the curse of the law, the one with holes in His hands and feet. This is not what John saw in heaven. He saw a Lamb, as it had been slain. John was a Jew; the Jews sacrificed lambs every year at Passover. John knew what a slain lamb looked like. Moreover, John lived in Israel when crucifixion was common practice. He would not confuse a crucified man, with a slain lamb.
The Church has attempted to keep the Ten Commandments of the old covenant law and live in the old covenant age in the kingdom of God. It has failed to keep Jesus’ commandments and live in the new covenant age in the kingdom of heaven. The Church fails to live in Jesus’ love. Of all the peoples of the earth, it is Christians that should know how to live in the new covenant. Because of this, it is Christians that Jesus judges first. He will descend with a loud command to call the dead in Christ up from the grave. He will judge all Christians together. We are now 1,993 years into the new covenant age; we are at the fullness of time of our age and any day now Jesus will descend from heaven with a command, “Dead in Christ, arise.”
He will also descend with the voice of an archangel, which is the voice of instruction, because the dead in Christ have not strived to keep the law of the new covenant even though they lived in the new covenant age. The dead in Christ must see their mistake and repent, which is the trumpet call of God. The trumpet call of God calls the dead in Christ to repent. Then the dead in Christ must practice obedience in order to establish citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.
As the dead in Christ go out preaching the message of the new covenant, living Christians will see their mistake and repent and go out preaching the new covenant, the great harvest of the earth will be reaped, and Jesus will return to call those who have washed their robes of white in the blood of the Lamb home but not to a great rest. These people must be prepared to return with Jesus at the end of the age as conquering armies and occupying forces for the thousand year reign.
We are living at the fullness of time of the new covenant age. When John was caught up to heaven, He saw a Lamb standing in the midst of God’s throne. This Lamb is the God of the new covenant age and King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The life of the Father sustains Him and He wears the glory of His Father. This Lamb is returning with a command and He issues it with all the authority of heaven.
The church of the last 2,000 years has made a grave mistake in not recognizing this Lamb. Jesus does not set at the right hand of God; He does not set at all. He stands in the midst of His Father’s throne and the Father’s scepter is in His hand. It is not the Father’s commandments we need to keep; it is Jesus’ commandments.