The Lion and the Lamb
Many people are somewhat confused about who Jesus really is. Some have made Him out to be some fictional character who grants our every wish and His only desire is to give us what we want. Some think of Him as some sort of Santa Clause who brings us nice gifts, whenever we ask for stuff. That's not the God of the Bible. While God is good and very generous, there is another facet of God, that we don't like to talk about very much. Not only is Jesus the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, (John 1:29); He is also the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. (Revelation 5:5).
Jesus is our loving Savior, who left His home in glory to be born into this sinful world, for the specfic purpose of being crucified and resurrected on the third day, to save us from our sins. Now, that's what I call love. But make no mistake about Him, because He is just as much God as He is the Son of man because He was born without sin. Jesus is Holy and His holiness is not to be trifled with.
The only reason you and I can come into the presence of this Holy God is because we have been justified through the shed blood of Jesus. Without the redemptive work of Calvary, mankind would be eternally lost. But "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeths in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life." (John 3:16) That is love, pure and undefiled.
Still, we cannot afford to take God's love for granted. God is not a toy and is not to be played with because He is just as much Lion as He is the Lamb. Jesus went into the temple and turned the money-changers tables over and whipped them as a means of cleaning out God's house. He saw how they were desecrating the temple by selling their wares. While some saw this as an act of anger, it was love that caused Him to do it. Jesus said, "My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers." (Matthew 21:13)
What is demonstrated here is the juxtaposed Lion and Lamb. God loves us enough to die for us and save us, but He hates and destroys sin, which is of Satan, the liar. God loves us so much He knew that we couldn't keep the law and the penalty for sin was death, so He made a way of escape for us. Because He is holy, God could not tolerate sin and iniquity, therefore. in order to save us from sin, He sent His Son Jesus to die in exchange for us. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
In case you were a little confused about Jesus, I wanted to take this time to set the record straight. God is not some genie in a bottle that we take out whenever we want him to grant us our wishes. God is also not an angry ogre who is waitng to smash us the first chance we mess up. God is love, but we must never forget that He is first Holy. God is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lamb of God. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Forever.
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