June 1: VOLUNTARY

Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Revelation 5:7

This is the pinnacle of the magnificent enthronement ceremony presented in chapters 4 and 5. The act of taking of the scroll completes the transfer of power from the Father to the Son. This transference of authority demonstrates the Father’s full acknowledgement of His Son’s utter triumph over the very worst that our enemy can do. In this highly symbolic act, the Father commits to the Man, Jesus Christ the Kingship over the universe. Taking possession of the scroll had to be voluntary: it was voluntarily given and it was voluntarily received.

This moment provides a bright spotlight on a central element of divine rulership. This element can only be described as a total absence of coercion. Included with this concept are the absences of trickery, lying, manipulation, force, or deception of any kind. Jesus has been called the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) to contrast Him, as a man, to the first Adam. Every conceivable temptation was levied at Jesus, yet He remained sinless. He stood against temptation and chose not to sin because of His great love for His bride-to-be. It’s interesting that, after Eve’s deception-prompted sin, Adam chose to sin because of his love for his bride. Knowing that she would die, he chose to die with his bride (contrast this with Jesus, who would choose to die for His bride). As soon as Adam sinned, the breakdown intended by the enemy began manifesting its destructive effects in their relationship. Fear. Blame. This is why the Lord called out to Adam right away and presented to him and Eve the first clues to the plan of salvation: substitutionary punishment of death and a second chance to walk in obedience. By disobedience to God, Adam had allowed Satan to usurp the authority originally given to him. But divine mercy provided a way to express repentance and receive forgiveness, followed by divine grace to provide the necessary power to walk the walk of obedience. Christ was taking back that which Adam had lost through Satan’s cunning.

Christ took the sealed scroll in a single, formal, ceremonial act for all to see. Thus, He was, in every possible way, invested with the office of “Supreme Ruler”. This office is in keeping with the established precept of “co-ruler with God” laid out for kings in the book of Deuteronomy.

Satan knows that disobedience to God results in death, and he knows that his own death is inevitable. This is why he works so diligently to maintain his coersive, life-stealing deceptions. Exercising the power to kill is his central focus, and he is altogether incensed by the ideas of forgiveness and restoration. Therefore, he persists in leading people astray and then accuses them before God for going astray. The “undoing” of death angers him, but Jesus has proven to the universe His power over death. And now, as the great controversy speeds toward its conclusion, playing out on this stage called Earth, the citizens of God’s kingdom continue to multiply. Glory to God!

But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Romans 5:15