On Good Friday, it might seem like jumping to the end of the story to discuss Revelation, but just as the reality of Resurrection Sunday makes Good Friday good, so too does the reality of what is attested to in John’s Revelation.
I recently read the book, “Reading Revelation Responsibly” by theologian Michael Gorman. In it, Gorman argues that there are two primary points about Jesus in the prophetic book: First, that Jesus Christ is God in a true trinitarian sense, and second, that Jesus the Lamb is worthy of worship.
As I was reading, I came across the phrase “the Lordship of the Lamb.” In my haste, I initially misread that as “the Lambship of the Lord.” When I realized that I had transposed a few words, I was still struck by the truth of the statement both ways.
Christ, Our Sacrificial Lamb
Examples of sacrificial lambs are replete throughout the Old Testament, and every single one of them foreshadows what Christ would do on Good Friday. To give just a flavor of this rich Christology, let’s look at one memorable story.
Going back before the law, before the first Passover celebration, Abraham was directed by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, his son of promise (Gen. 22:1-14). Critics and skeptics will point to this as an example of how supposedly wicked the God of the Old Testament is, that he would demand child sacrifice. People of faith know that isn’t what is going on here.
When Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain, Abraham says by faith that God will provide a lamb (22:8). The author of Hebrews tells us that by faith Abraham believed that if he did go through with the sacrifice, that “God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Heb. 11:17–19). This means Abraham not only believed that God would provide a lamb, but if Isaac had to be the lamb, that God would raise him from the dead.
However, when God did provide a substitute for them, it was a ram (Gen. 22:13). Is this an error? No, it was prophetic.
After Abraham and Isaac offered the ram as a burnt sacrifice, Abraham called the name of that hill “The Lord will provide,” and we are told, “it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided’” (22:14). Notice how both of those statements are future tense.
We are told earlier that the sacrifice was in the land of Moriah (22:2). When the people of Israel settled the land, Moriah became the site of Solomon’s temple in the city of Jerusalem (2 Chron. 3:1). God did provide a sacrifice in that land, and Abraham was right on both counts. It was a Lamb, and he did rise again.
God orchestrated this story and documented it for us in scripture not because Abraham would sacrifice his son, but because God would.
The Work of the Lamb
This gracious God as described in Genesis was so unlike the other gods of the people in the Ancient Near East. These other faiths believed their gods created humanity because they needed people to serve them, worship them, and otherwise work for them.
But this God—the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and Omega—does not need us to work for him. In fact, he created us knowing full well that it would be he who worked on behalf of us.
Why would he do this?
At our recent Kingdom Come 2026 conference, historian Bill Federer closed his remarks with a gospel presentation. He explained that God created us for love, out of the overflow of his all-loving nature. But he is also all-just and by his very nature must judge sin. So how can God love people he knew would sin?
God’s plan was to send the Son, the second person of the Trinity, as the Lamb. Federer said, “The Lamb is God’s way to love you without having to judge you.”
The Good News of Good Friday
The good news of Good Friday is this: God loves you, and he doesn’t need you to work for him, or sacrifice for him, because he has already done that for you.
That’s why we can join with the hosts of heaven and say, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12).
This Easter, let’s worship and wonder at the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the “Lambship” of our Lord.
