…and of the Lamb

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.

Revelation 22:1–2a

No doctrine is as troubling as the Trinity. There is only one God, not three, but this one God reveals Himself as a God with three personalities. This doctrine is only held in balance if we keep the realization of the singular God in focus. So, when we get to heaven we will not see one throne with three separate gods seated on them. We will only see one God, one throne, and one Savior. Jesus is the only God we will ever see.

The disciples asked Him to show them the Father and he said, “Anyone who has seen me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9). This was not a temporary state of affairs, that then they could only see Jesus but later they (and us along with them) shall see the Father. Even in heaven we will only see the Lamb of God. The image of the throne of God in heaven represents His authority in Revelation — there is no appeal beyond the throne. But who is there on the throne? “A lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (Rev. 5:6).

G. Campbell Morgan called this our “Wounded God,” pointing out that there was no escape from the realization that Christ has entered into our suffering, and redeemed us from sin by His own blood.

It is impossible to pass from this contemplation of the ascension of Jesus to the centre of all government, and to see in Him man’s wounded God, without becoming conscious of a great comfort and of a great strength. The comfort ever comes as we behold on the throne of the Eternal, One Who bears amid the dazzling splendour, marks that tell of His having suffered and died for us men, that He might bring us into union with His unending joy and eternal Love.

Moreover when the work presses, and the battle thickens, and the day seems long in coming, it is good for the heart to remember that the present conflict is with defeated foes, and that there is no room for question as to the final issue, for the Man of Nazareth is not only seated in the place of authority, He carries forward the work of active administration. This is a fact too often forgotten amid the turmoil and the strife. High over the throne of earth, stands that throne of the Eternal, and seated on it is the ascended Man, watching, ordering, preventing, and through all the apparent chaos, moving surely towards the ultimate triumph of the Infinite Love. He initiates the true policies, selects the proper agents, an even when man least understands, moves ever onward.

(From The Crises of the Christ, by G. Campbell Morgan, New Jersey, Fleming Revell, 1936, p. 404.)

And such a vision places our situation in perspective. The vision of the victorious Christ working for our redemption, even when we scarcely can conceive of what He is doing and are caught up in the tyranny of our temporary concerns and problems, is a comforting one. He understands, sympathizes with our struggles, but has done what is necessary for us to have victory.

The vision of the one God we will have for eternity, is the vision we need today. Christ Jesus is alive forever, and He has won our victory.