(“Christ Delivering Up the Kingdom to the Father;)
Who is the One who sits on the Throne? And Who is the Lamb?
By O. F. Fauss

This first Scripture reads as follows: “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all ” (I Corinthians 15:24-28).

This entire passage is dealing with the very first statement in verse 24, “Then cometh the end….” The end of what? Let us notice just what is in question. Verses 20-23 reveal that the plan of redemption is the question, the means by which God provided to save man from his fallen state, and the sentence of death that passed upon all mankind in Adam. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all remain alive” (verse 22).

In John 1:1-3, we find that God, the Word in the very beginning, finally became flesh (verse 14), in order to redeem man. John said His glory was the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Paul said, “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” In other words, God the eternal Spirit, (for God is a Spirit, who is invisible) revealed and manifested Himself in flesh. He became visible in the body of flesh, which He Himself had begotten. In the man Christ Jesus, we find the mediator between God and fallen mankind (I Timothy 2:5).

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself (II Corinthians 5:19). “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death….” (Colossians 1:20-22).

The second passage in our subject is Revelation 4:2 and 3, “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Then we read in Revelation 5:6, 7: “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, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.”

In the Book of Revelation, the lamb is a symbolic picture of God’s plan of redemption. When John turned to see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, a symbol of the King of kings and Lord of lords, he saw a lamb as it has been slain, a symbol of redemption.

John never saw two persons; he saw Jesus as both Lord and Savior.

Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).

So when the mystery of God shall be finished (Revelation 10:7): God’s dealing with men on earth, then the need of a Mediator shall be no more, and we shall see Him as He is-the one that sits upon the throne (Revelation 4:2, 3; 5:1, 6, 7; 19:4); “the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending; He that liveth and was dead, but is now alive for evermore; the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:17, 18, 8). We shall be complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:9, 10; 1:19).

Throughout eternity we shall behold the “exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us [in redeeming us] through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

We shall see the glorified body of Jesus, revealing the glory of the eternal God, as He sits upon the throne. The God who sits on the throne and is worshipped in Revelation 19:4 is the same one mentioned in Revelation 21:5, who shall be their God and wipe away all tears (See verses 3 and 4). And He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end in verse 6 and chapter 22:13. He then tells us that His name is Jesus, in Revelation 22:16. His throne is called the throne of God and of the Lamb in verse 3. We shall see His (not their) face; and serve Him (not them).

In conclusion, let us notice the last of the references in question: I Corinthians 15:28, “. . .that God may be all in all.” We find in Colossians 1:15 that the glorified body of Jesus is the very image of the invisible God, and that by Jesus “. . .were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (Colossians 1:1618). This is the fulfillment of the words, “. . .that God may be all and in all.”

THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY WORD AFLAME PRESS, 1985, PAGES 231-234. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.