Often we Christians will talk of what it will be like to behold Christ in heaven. We try to imagine what it will be like when we no longer “see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1Cor.13:12). Sometimes we’ll close our eyes and ask the Spirit to place but a drop of heaven upon our tongues so that we might taste, here and now, something of the reality that awaits us there and then. What will it be like to look upon Jesus? What will we see? How will we process it? How will we respond? Will we see the King? Will we bow before the Light? Will we hear in “real time” the Shepherds voice? I’m thinkin’. But, if the Revelation to John makes any thing clear, it’s that we will behold the Lamb.

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain . . .   
                                                                              (Revelation 5:5-6a ESV)

The One introduced as the Lion of tribe of Judah . . . the One who is identified as the Root of David . . . the foundation and substance of the royal line . . . He who is King of Kings . . . when this One was beheld by John’s eyes, John saw a Lamb . . . a Lamb as though it had been slain.

Isn’t that kind of remarkable? In the vision John had of Christ when he was on the island, he saw the Ancient of Days . . . he beheld the glory of the Sovereign Judge . . . his senses tried to process the majestic sight of Him who walks among the churches. But when John is transported beyond earthly realms and escorted through the portal of heaven and encounters the risen Christ again, he sees a Lamb.

Don’t quote me on this . . . but doing some quick math with my handy-dandy Bible concordance it looks like Jesus is referred to as “the Lamb” or “a Lamb” some 32 times in the ESV New Testament. Only 5 of those references are outside the book of the Revelation to John. So that leaves 27 references to the risen Christ as the Lamb as John encounters heaven and is given a vision of concerning what is to come. It seems like, for eternity, we will never be far removed from the cross and One who paid the price for our redemption.

Oh the wonder of the Triune God. That they, in their Sovereign determination, would determine, before time began, that the Son would be the Lamb. That Jesus would play a role for just 33 years . . . 33 years is not even drop in the ocean of eternity . . . a role with which He will be identified forevermore. That the greatest event to ever occur on the earth will be immortalized for eternity in heaven. The Lamb, a continual memorial of the sacrifice . . . the Lamb, a forever tribute to the love of God . . . the Lamb, a never ending catalyst for awe and worship.

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”    (Revelation 5:11-12 ESV)

O’ that we might renew, or for some, that they might start, this heavenly activity of beholding the Lamb of God. That we would behold the Lamb even as we look upon the manger . . . that we would behold the Lamb even as we give and receive gifts . . . that we would behold the Lamb as we experience the joy . . . that we would behold the Lamb, the One who was slain . . . that men and women believing, might be possessors of eternal life.

Behold the Lamb . . . by His grace . . . for His glory!