November 24, 2019 – Revelation 5:5–6

“See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.…” Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain.
—Revelation 5:5–6

There meet in the person of Christ [other] diverse qualities that would have been thought incompatible in the same subject.53
Supreme obedience with supreme dominion over heaven and earth. Christ is the Lord of all things in two respects: as God-man and Mediator, his dominion is appointed, having it by delegation from God. But he is Lord of all things in another respect; since he is (by his original nature) God, he is by natural right the Lord of all and supreme over all as much as the Father. Thus, he has dominion over the world in his own right.
And yet in the same person is found the greatest obedience in the universe to the commands of God: “I do exactly what my Father commanded me” (John 14:31). Never anyone received commands from God of such difficulty and that were so great a trial of obedience as Jesus Christ. One of God’s commands to him was that he should yield himself to those dreadful sufferings that he underwent. And Christ was thoroughly obedient to this command of God: “He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Never was there such an instance of obedience in human or angel as this, though he was at the same time supreme Lord of both angels and humans.
Absolute sovereignty and perfect submission. Christ, as he is God, is the absolute sovereign of the world, the sovereign disposer of all events. The decrees of God are all his sovereign decrees, and the work of creation and all God’s works of providence are his sovereign works. It is he who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
Yet Christ was the most wonderful instance of submission that ever appeared in the world. He was absolutely and perfectly submissive when he had a near and immediate prospect of his terrible sufferings and the dreadful cup that he was to drink. The idea and expectation of this made his soul sorrowful even unto death, putting him into such agony that his sweat was like drops of blood, falling to the ground. But in such circumstances he was wholly submissive to the will of God: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39); “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (v. 42).
—Jonathan Edwards

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