NO GREATER LOVE!
He left His glorious home of happiness, peace, and love to come to a sin-infested world to suffer poverty, hatred, shame, cruelty, and a horrible death. To save you! What more could He have done?
This is our final lesson on the study of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14; here, our focus is on the sacrifice Jesus made to save a dying world.
To get the full picture, Review our previous videos on Three Cosmic Messages at SabbathSchoolDaily.com.
You may also obtain the study guide for these lessons at Sabbath.School or ssnet.org.
Let Us Invite God’s Presence:
Holy Father, we thank you for Jesus. Help us realize and understand that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. Open our eyes so we might see that He is our only passport to eternity. In Jesus Name, Amen.
When we look carefully at the book of Revelation, we discover that it contains many symbols.
In Revelation 12:3, 4, 7, We read about the dragon in heaven.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, (Revelation 12:3-4, 7)
In Revelation 14:6, we read about angels flying in the midst of heaven.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— (Revelation 14:6)
Reading further, in Revelation 17:3, we find a woman riding on a scarlet-colored beast.
Revelation 17:3
3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:3)
These symbols are images designed to help us better understand the magnitude of what will happen in the end times. Review our entire series of Lessons on the Cosmic Message at SabbathSchoolDaily.com
The symbols in the Book of Revelation are significant; they unveil what will happen just before Christ Returns the second time.
There is another image or symbol found many times in the Book of Revelation. What is that image? What does it represent?
For the answer, we read the following text from the Book of Revelation:
Revelation 5:6
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst 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)
Revelation 5:8
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Revelation 5:8)
Revelation 5:12
12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)
Revelation 7:17
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:17)
Revelation 14:1
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)
Revelation 15:3
3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! (Revelation 15:3)
Revelation 19:7
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7)
Revelation 21:22-23
22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (Revelation 21:22-23)
Revelation 22:1
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
Revelation 22:3
3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (Revelation 22:3)
What is the common image in all these verses? It is the Lamb. Whom does the lamb represent?
John, in his introduction to the Book of Revelation, tells us what this book is all about. It is all about Jesus. It is a revelation “of Jesus Christ” This book shows us Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb. But, He is not just any lamb. Revelation 5:6, 12, and Revelation 13:8 tells us He is the Lamb who was killed. He is the lamb that was slain.
Revelation 5:6
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst 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)
Revelation 5:12
12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)
Revelation 13:8
8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)
The Lamb is the image of our Savior, the one who died on the cross to save us. This fact is the most important teaching of the Bible. It is the heart and soul of every message in the Bible, including the Three Angels’ Messages we have been studying in Revelation 14.
Without the Lamb, there is no message. Therefore, the message of salvation cannot be proclaimed if it does not include the Lamb, Jesus crucified, Jesus sacrificed for our sins as the main focal point.
Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, in his manuscript “The Closing of the Cosmic Conflict: Role of the Three Angels’ Messages,” states:
“We must intentionally place the Lamb that was slain at the very center of our doctrines and mission and at the heart of every sermon we preach, every article we write, every prayer we make, every song we sing, every Bible study we give, and in everything we do. Let the love revealed by the Lamb on the cross transform the way we treat each other and move us to also care for the world.”—Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, “The Closing of the Cosmic Conflict: Role of the Three Angels’ Messages,” unpublished manuscript, p. 70.
In other words, aside from the imagery or symbols of the beasts, of a dragon making war, of plagues, of persecution, and of the mark of the beast, what must remain front, and center is the Lamb, the Lamb slain. Jesus, the Lamb, is the central theme of the Bible. He is the one most important in the salvation of the human race. Hence, the theme of the three angels is ultimately about what Jesus has done for us, is doing now, and will do before it’s all over.
Accepting Jesus as our Savior and having him in our lives is the most important thing. Have you accepted him as Lord and Savior of your life? Has he been the central theme in your life? If not, why not place him there today?
Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church
7902 Wheatly Street
Houston, TX 77088
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