We had this vision years ago, when God brought us together – it was a picture of a field of sunflowers. Now, as most of you know that follow us, we use sunflowers in almost everything! That was something God personally gave to us. Sunflowers are very unique flowers as they literally rotate their faces during the day toward the sun. When the sun rises and sets in the evening, the sunflower has followed it’s rays all day!

It was a picture to us of how we should follow the SON from morning till night, how we need to constantly set our eyes upon the Son and remain in His light to grow and mature. And another amazing thing about sunflowers is they feed off each other! They follow the path in unity. Again, a symbol of how God wants the body of Christ to follow Him and grow in His light together!

Psalm 34:5– “They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.”

We had a dream years ago, when God brought us together and it was of an army – God’s army! There were women in groups of two’s and they were ready to fight, but they didn’t have swords and armor. When we think of God’s army, we often see us as warriors in battle, black artillery and shield and sword in hand! And that is true!! We are called to be God’s army and we need that spiritual armor for the battle we are in, BUT for my sister and I, we saw a different side, too. We saw the fight strong and mighty, but with a gentleness that was just as strong as the fierce warrior, a different light to it.

It got us thinking about the nature of Jesus. We see throughout scripture that He is referred to as the lion and the lamb! He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, fierce and strong! But, He was also slain for our sins and offered Himself as the sacrificial lamb for our redemption. He had two very different natures, however both supernaturally powerful and both very needed to complete the full picture of redemption, salvation and eternity.

Although the Bible gives many references to Jesus as the lion and the lamb, there is actually only one verse that showcases both.

READ– Revelation 5:1-7

So, both the lion and the lamb refer to Jesus. He was the Lion of the tribe of Judah, as well as the lamb who was sacrificed for our sins.

Revelation 5, which we just read, takes place in the heavenly throne room. After receiving the command to write to the seven churches in Asia Minor, John is “caught up in the spirit” to the throne room in heaven where he is to receive a series of visions that culminate in the ultimate victory of Christ at the end of the age. He notices that there is a scroll in the “right hand of him who was seated on the throne.” The scroll has writing on the inside and is sealed with seven seals.

An angel proclaims with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” John begins to despair when no one comes forth to answer the angel’s challenge. One of the 24 elders encourages John to “weep no more,” and points out that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has come to take and open the scroll. The Lion of the tribe of Judah is obviously a reference to Christ. The image of the lion is meant to convey kingship. Jesus is worthy to receive and open the scroll because he is the King of God’s people. Out of the tribe of Judah came the Kings of Israel. Christ is the “lion of the tribe of Judah” which means He is the ultimate, true, and eternal King. The roaring lion speaks of strength, majesty and royalty.

As the Lamb of God, He is the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin. His victory at the cross is symbolized by his appearance as a “Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). Before the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were commanded by God to take an unblemished lamb, slay it, and smear its blood on the doorposts of their homes (Exodus 12:1–7). The blood of the slain lamb would set apart the people of Israel from the people of Egypt when the death angel came during the night to slay the firstborn of the land. Those who had the blood of the lamb would be spared. Fast-forward to the days of John the Baptist. When he sees Jesus approaching him, he declares to all present, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus is the ultimate “Passover lamb” who saves His people from eternal death.

So when Jesus is referred to as the Lion and the Lamb, we are to see Him as not only the conquering King who will slay the enemies of God at His return, but also as the sacrificial Lamb who took away the reproach of sin from His people so they may share in His ultimate victory.

For my sister and I, we have always seen Gods Army as fierce and powerful, yet gentle and it got us thinking how different the body of Christ is. Some of us are more physically strong than others. Some of us fight differently; have different strengths and different weapons. We all know people who just have strong personalities and aren’t afraid of confrontation. And we all know people who have softer personalities and refrain from conflict. Neither is right or wrong, but just handle situations differently.

Much like the lion and the lamb, as God’s children, we, too possess everything He does. While we need the fierce warriors with swords drawn to battle the enemy armies, we also need those meeker sacrificial lambs to bring peace into situations, as well.

We wanted to talk about those differences in our characteristics because sometimes I think we only view spiritual warfare and battle like swords, shields and fatigues, when the quieter spirit who watches and observes and fights a different way is just as strong and powerful and can sometimes see things coming the other’s can’t.

Let’s look at the attributes of a Lion: A Lion symbolizes royalty-power, dominion and strength.

Some attributes we pulled off line about lions are:

1. They are very protective– Lions are extremely protective of their territory, their “pride.”

God is extremely protective of His people, too.

1 John 5:18– “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

Psalm 138:7– “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.” 

2. Lions are Brave– They are very courageous and willing to fight for what is theirs when they need to. What are we willing to fight for? Is it a job, marriage, children? Are we willing to be brave against the enemy and remember that the victory is already ours?

Romans 8:37– “Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything!”

3. Lions are part of a Pride – Lions are part of a tribe or family, a team. They instinctly know it is better to travel and do life with others. Like lions, we need to surround ourselves with Godly influences that will lift us up, encourage and motivate us to fight when we don’t want to, seek God when we’re tired. We need others to show us things we may be biased and blind to.

1 Corinthians 1:10– “I urge you, my brothers and sisters, for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree to live in unity with one another and put to rest any division that attempts to tear you apart. Be restored as one united body living in perfect harmony. Form a consistent choreography among yourselves, having a common perspective with shared values.” 

1 Corinthians 12:14– “For the body is not one member, but many.” 

Ecclesiastes 4:9– “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.”

4. Lions are Loners– While lions are known to be a part of a pride, they are also known to spend time alone. They often times separate themselves from the other lions and can be seen just laying in the sand or desert all by themselves. That shows us, too that we need that alone time with God While being fierce and ferocious, if we are not filled up with our own time with God, we can easily grow weary.

Matthew 6:6-7– But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Luke 5:16– “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”

As Jesus serves as the Lion of Judah, we are also fierce warriors, ready, equipped and armored to fight the battle that has already been won. We are fully equipped and ready! God has given us everything we need to reign victorious. It’s up to us if we will fight for those things God has placed in our hands.

Eph. 6:10– READ (Armor of God)

Next blog, we will discuss more of the attributes of the Lamb of God and how we relate!