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By fulfilling the Lord's plan of salvation for His people, Jesus became worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. By fulfilling the prophecies that were written about the Messiah, Jesus proved that He really was the Son of God and that He was worthy to open the seals.

The lamb represents Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. Standing after being slain reminds us of His resucrrection after He was crucified. The horns represent the power to rule over heaven and earth that was given to Jesus. The eyes remind us that the Lord sees all and knows all. We cannot outwit Him or do something that the Lord does not know about. And finally, the number seven represents completeness. In other words, the Lamb has the qualities of perfection that the Lord posseses. These are the undeniable proofs that Jesus truly is the Lamb of God and was not just a person whose life happened to coincide with the predictions that God gave to His prophets about the Messiah.

The titles fulfill the prophecies and the promise that were given during the Old Testatment times that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David. The title of "Lion," which is generally known as the king of the jungle, tells us that the Messiah is the greatest in the tribe of Judah. Though at least two of the Messiah's ancestors were hailed as kings of the Israelites (David and his son Solomon), the Messiah still is greater in all aspects than anybody else and therefore has the right to be declared as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." The title "Root of David" signifies the fact that even though Jesus came many years after David, the fact that Jesus has been "present" even during the time when the world was being created by the Lord makes Him older than His descendant and therefore becomes the Root. We have proof of this idea in Mark 12:37 when Jesus told the people: "David himself calls Him 'Lord.' How then can He be his son?"

Celebrating the Lord's Supper reminds us of the promise that we will one day join the Lord in His heavenly banquet to receive our blessings.

We celebrate the Lord's Supper to remind us that Jesus offered His life on the cross to to atone for the sins of mankind. With this in mind, it is only right that we should forgive those who have offended us before we partake of the Lord's body and blood as we celebrate the Lord's Supper. We have no right to hold a grudge against someone because we should follow Christ's example of forgiveness. If He, as a human being who was suffering under the hands of the people who captured Him, was able to forgive Peter denying Him thrice thus sending Him to His death alone, then why should we hold a grudge against others?

It should fill us with sorrow because we have to realize the fact that a great price was necessary to pay for our sins plus the fact that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, who was without sin, had to pay that price. However, we should also be filled with joy because our sins have been paid for by Jesus and we now have the promise and the hope that we will one day be taken up to heaven to join Jesus when he comes back.

The law that forbids the Jews from drinking blood stems way back to the Old Testament times which is why the contemporary idea that the disciples were to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ was very radical. Nowadays, we are used to this concept (literally or figuratively) of partaking of the body and blood of Christ especially the Catholics since they do it every week. We are aware of the concept that we do this as a reminder of the price that the onle begotten Son of the Lord had to pay for our redemption and liberation from sin and we accept this wholeheartedly. But we can just imagine the shock that the disciples felt when they first heard this idea coming from their Teacher. I think the Lord really intended to shock them to ingrain the idea into their hearts and minds so they will always remember and to keep them from backsliding into their old and sinful ways. Also, I think the Lord intended to make the idea as contmporary and as shocking as possible to remind His people of the gravity of the sacrifice that was paid to free us. In fact, now that I think of it, the very idea of eating and drinking someone's body and blood would have shocked even the people nowadays had Jesus was alive today and this was the first time He stated this idea to His disciples.

The Passover meal was to celebrate the passing of the angel of death over the houses of the Israelites the night before they were released from slavery by the Egyptians. Like the Last Supper, it reminds us of events that took place before the people of God were liberated from slavery. One of the main difference between the two, is the fact that the Last Supper was the advent of a liberation on a grander scale. The Last Supper is a celebration not just for Israelites but for everyone who believes that we have been liberated from our bondage to sin and for paying the price of death because of our sins.

The blood of the lamb protected the Lord's people who were being oppressed in Egypt from being visited by the angel that was sent to kill all the firstborn in Egypt. In the same way, the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross as the Lamb of God protects us from experiencing spiritual death. Though our mortal bodies will one day die and return to the earth, we the believers and followers of the Lamb of God have been given the hope and promise that one day we will be taken up to the heavens to join our Lord. The blood of the Lamb of God has protected us from paying the ultimate price for our sins. And because of the protection that has been given to us, we have been assured of victory! Yay!

We have been released from the bondage of sin and from paying the ultimate price that we all have to pay because of sin, which is death. Of course we all know that we will still die and give up our physical bodies someday. What we gained when the Servant gave up His life for us was the hope that we will someday wake up and, along with all the others who obeyed the commandments of the Lord, be taken up to heaven to join the Lord. But even though we have been liberated from our bondage to sin, we still are in danger of being enslaved again. Our freedom does not ensure us that we are immune from the temptations that Satan will throw at us; neither are we free from Satan's temptations. In fact, we are more in danger of being tempted by Satan because he will attempt to bring us back to his folds. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. The role of the Holy Spirit is to augment our moral values. The Holy Spirit will be the small voice at the back of our heads that will try to remind us if we are going in the wrong direction or if we are making the wrong choice. The Holy Spirit will be our guide and our reminder. In a way, the Holy Spirit will keep us away and stand between us and the shackles of sin.

In the same way that the sacrifices during the Old Testament times were dedicated to the Lord and not to Satan, the Servant paid for the ransom of our enslavery to sin to the Lord. We were enslaved to sin when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge between Good and Evil but Satan's role during that time was to tempt them to eat a forbidden fruit. If Satan's aim was only to enslave us to sin, he would have declared himself successful thousands of years ago. But he didn't so I figure that Satan tempted Adam and Eve to try to get the upper hand in his quest to usurp the Throne of Heaven from the Lord.

There are people today, especially the youth, who think and act as if they own the world. Fueled by the influences of different cultures and practices around the world that is seen in different forms of media, including the internet, they are given the idea that they are, in all aspects, in control of everything that happens in their lives. This way of thinking is very popular and commonplace because it counters the human instinct of our fear of the unknown. Another thing that I noticed with the wanton and irresponsible access and use of the media of different cultures, practices, and traditions around the world is the fact that, as Christians, our own values, beliefs, and traditions are in great danger of being corrupted. Some of the more popular beliefs that threaten to corrupt us are the concept of reincarnation and past lives which lessens the gravity of a person's mistakes because they have an unlimited chance of redeeming themselves, and the concept of spirit quests and contacting the spirits of the dead because if we led a life of crime and end up as bad spirits, we have a chance to be redeemed and led into the light by the people who have the means to contact us. The problem that I see with these beliefs and practices is the fact that we lose our responsibility and accountability of our actions with regards to the fact that we are, as Christians, slaves of the Lord. Maybe it's because of our rebellious nature, maybe it's because of our tendency to worship idols and other gods during the times when we're not in trouble. Whatever the reason is, I do know of Chrisitans whose beliefs have already been corrupted by practices and beliefs that stemmed from other cultures and/or religions. We have to keep in mind that we are slaves of the Lord. He bought us out of our slavery to sin and to satan. He paid for us with the blood and the life of Jesus. As such, we should allow the Lord to take control of our lives. In the same way that we did not allow human slaves to make decisions and actions aside from those that are within their rights as slaves, we too, as slaves of the Lord, should not go past our rights.

Jesus, Peter and Paul used the analogy of slavery to illustrate our bondage to sin and the gravity of the price that Jesus had to pay to set us free from that bondage. The concept of slavery is a perfect analogy because we too, like the slaves that lived during their time, were born to slavery. We did not choose to be bonded to sin and the price that we had to pay for being sinners. When we were born, we were not given the choice whether or not we should live as a person bonded to sin. The slaves during their time too were mostly born as slaves because their family have been slaves for quite some time. We were only freed from that bondage primarily when Jesus Christ gave up His life for us on the cross and finally when we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior.

Luke 24:25-27 tells the story of Jesus Christ showing Himself to two of His disciples who were on the way to Emaus. While they were on their way, Jesus Christ Himself explained to His disciples His mission and the reason why He came to earth in the first place and why He had to suffer and die at the hands of the people who hated Him. And the amazing fact is that He talked about all those things by basing them on scriptures that were written about Him. This tells us of the fact that Jesus was not just acting upon a personal mission that He decided He should do. He was not just a rebel or a revolutionary who decided that He should act against the system and coincidentally or intentionally used the scriptures to make Himself look like He was the Messiah that the people were waiting for. If He was just intentionally using the scriptures He would have missed out on some of the things that were supposed to be written about Him. For example, He couldn't have ensured that the guards who were there during His crucifixion would fulfill the scripture that none of the Lamb's bones will be broken by not breaking His legs. There was no assurance that they wouldn't do it because it was the norm during that time and because Passover was fast approaching. He couldn't have been so sure that He would die even before those guards would break His legs to speed up His death. If it was coincidental, it would have been the same thing. Not everything that was written about Him would cocme to pass. I think the odds that they would all be fulfilled are so slim that it would be easier for a person to win a lottery - maybe even win it twice in a lifetime - than fulfill everything that was written about a person hundreds of years ago. That is why this is my favorite. Jesus Christ Himself showed His disciples that He knew what He was doing. That He really knew the Father personally and that He knew that His life is a personal mission of salvation for the people of the world.

Even though we will still have to undergo the death of our physical bodies one day, the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave us the hope of being taken up to the heavens with Him on the day of His second coming along with all the other good people who lived on earth during the course of history. The servant gave us this hope when He took upon Himself the sins of mankind. I believe that before the servant's sacrifice, all we would experience at the end of our days was death itself and nothing else. But now that we have Christ who is mediating for us in the heavenly temple, we can rest assured that as long as we obey the Lord's commandments and accept Christ as our savior, we will one day wake up and join Jesus Christ and His angels and all the good people who lived on earth. That for me is more than sufficient.

The Servant took upon Himself the sins of the whole world and sacrificed Himself as an atonement for the sins that He took even though He was perfect and without blemish. In so doing, He became the intercessor of the people. His sacrifice was so great and so complete that it was no longer necessary for the people to offer any other sacrifice as an atonement for the sins that they have committed. As long as they believe in the fact that they have been saved through the Servant's sacrifice, their sins will be forgiven and this will continue until the end of time.

Matthew 26:28: For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 1 Corinthinans 15:3: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures 1 John 3:5: But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin Galatians 1:4: who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father and finally, 1 John 4:10: This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

The Lord removed the sins of the whole world. Furthermore, He did not just remove the sins of the people who were alive at the time the text was written. Jesus' sacrifice was so complete that He took the sins of every single person who believed in Him and were willing to accept Him as their savior. Unfortunately, like the parable of the sower and the seeds, there are some people who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. In fact, I know a group of people who turned their backs on worshipping the Lord and now are members of a group of satanists. Why did they do that? According to them, the power and abilities that they received since they worshipped Satan is more powerful than anything that they've experienced before. Plus the fact that the lack of guidelines and restrictions makes them feel like they're having lots of fun. It is on these groups of people that I think Jesus' sacrifice es being wasted. They have everything going for them, they don't even have to bring an animal everyday to a temple just to have their sins forgiven and yet they turn their backs on their savior. I feel pity for them but I cannot force them to worship the Lord if they don't want to. I guess the only thing we can do for these people as Christians is to pray for them and to show them and make them feel our love as Christians that comes from our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

There are some people that think that the Lord is barbaric and bloodthirsty because of His demand for His people to offer Him daily sacrifices consisting of the slaughter of animals. And because of this, the Lord is no different from the gods that demand the sacrifice of animals and virgins and children for their appeasement. My opinion is, there's a world of difference between the Lord and those other gods. The main difference being the fact that the Lord authorized those sacrifices for the atonement of our sins as opposed to the demand of the gods for their appeasement. The reason why the Lord demanded the sacrifice of animals for the atonement of the sins of the people was to remind them that the wages of sin is death. The fact that the Lord did not demand the lives of the people who committed the sin already showed His abounding love for His people. He did not want them to obey Him out of fear, rather, He wanted them to obey Him out of love. The requirement for an animal without blemish reminds us of the fact that only a perfect, unblemished, holy being could atone for our sins. In His mercy (and not in His anger), the Lord required the sacrifice of animals for the atonement of the sins of His people. Therefore, we should always remember this fact and keep it in our hearts: The Lord is kind and merciful.

Though an animal sacrifice was hardly a sufficient substitution for us human beings, much less as a means of atonement for our sins, the Lord was merciful enough to allow us to sacrifice animals as a substitution of our own selves. Why did the Lord allow it? Because the Lord knew that the price of sin is death. From the very beginning when Adam and Eve sinned, we have already been paying for their sins with death. And yet, even after all these years, we cannot seem to make the connection that we die because we sin. If we did, we would've been afraid to commit a sin in the first place. Nowadays, sin is all around us. And the sad fact is, some of these sins are being advertised and endorsed by big celebrities. In some countries, advertisements about alcohol and cigarettes are rampant. Movies that focus on the nude body of a woman is considered as an art, as long as it's "tastefully done." And recently, it's bad to shoot and kill a neighbor and yet it's ok to destroy and kill hundreds of lives in a nieghboring country. All in the name of pride and freedom. This is the sad fact that we're facing nowadays. A thousand years after Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind, the world still is in a state of chaos. In fact, we've become worse than what we were during Christ's time. And the amazing thing is, even if that's the case, the Lord is still merciful enough to honor the sacrifice that His only Son made on the cross a thousand years ago. Christ's sacrifice was so complete and so perfect that His blood still substitutes for ours in the heavenly temple. Now if we could only find a way to make the world repent for their sins...

Of all the reauirements that were used before as sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people, the only aspect that is still needed for us to do nowadays is to confess our sins. The rest which includes the sacrifice of an animal without defects, the pouring of the blood on the altar and so on, are not necessary anymore. Jesus Christs has taken over that role for us. We have no more need to bring an animal without defect to the temple because nothing could be more perfect than Christ himself. In fact, Christ is so perfect that His sacrifice is still more than enough to atone for the sins of the world even after all these years.

For many people who were raised in urban areas, the conept and reality of animal sacrifice -- and yes, even the concept and reality of animal slaughter -- is as far from their minds as the concept of stocks and bonds are to a farmer or a fisherman. For a person who is raised in a rural setting, as some of us have answered, the concept of animal sacrifice or animals being led to the slaughterhouse is both a reality and a necessity. It is necessary because they need to have their animals slaughtered for them to be able to raise an income and feed their families. For example, thousands of fishses and lobsters and mollusks and the like everyday are caught and processed by fishermen to feed the people who prefer seafood. And I can just imagine how many cows and pigs are processed everyday to bring meat to our tables. It is for this particular reason which is, I think, behind why animal sacrifice is so repulsive for many of us nowadays. For a lot or people, especially those who live in the fast-paced urban setting, the concept of animals being slaughtered to bring food to our tables is not that concrete. And because the urban way of life can be too fast-paced nowadays for people to spend some time preparing their food, this concept becomes further obscured by fast food chains and trays of microwave meals. Thus, for them, the reality of animals dying in an unnatural manner almost becomes limited to dogs and cats being accdentally run over by vehicles, lab animals or pests such as cockroaches and rats. But we have to remember that people back then were familiar with, and accepted the fact that animals needed to be sacrificed both for their physical satisfaction and for their spiritual salvation. Besides, during that time, the people who occupied the earth weren't suffering from lack of available resources. During their time, they had still had more than enough to go around and they had more than enough so that they can afford to offer some of their animals to be sacrificed and burned everyday.

Anger is a common response to sin because sin usually violates rules and regulations that have been clearly set by higher authorities. In our case, the commandments that have been laid out by the Lord have been violated by His people. This displeases the Lord especially if a particular sin is repeated over and over by different generations (an example would be the tendency of the Israelites to worship idols and other gods). The same thing would apply to us humans in case a person ciolates a certain rule or regulation that we have set in our society. But even if that's the case, we should not give in to the sudden emotional outbursts that sometimes accompany our anger. We might be tempted to put matters into our own hands expecially if we feel that the justice system in our community is weak. Furthermore, Satan might capitalize on our emotional outburst and use it to his advantage. What we should do, rather, is to use our anger as motivation to pursue justice. In the same way, the Lord never acted towards His people in anger even though we have displeased Him countless times already. Imagine if He gave in to a sudden emotional outburst because His people displeased Him one time too many...the entire human race would have probably been wiped out a long time ago.

Jesus did not just atone for the sins of the Israelites during the time when he was alive. Jesus' sacrifice atoned for the sins of the whole world and encompassed every single person who lived from the beginning when the world was created until the end of time. In so doing, every single person who loved and feared the Lord and believed that they were saved through Jesus' sacrifice were saved. And the fact that it was the Lord and not the Israelites who chose Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world (he was even rejected in his hometown) truly makes him the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.

The Lord viewed His relationship with His people not as a friendship, a partnership, nor a brotherhood. The Lord viewed His relationship with His people as a marriage. This is the reason why He viewed spiritual unfaithfulness as an adultery. In a marriage, we are expected to be faithful to our partners. To engage in extra-marital relationships is considered as adultery. This is similar with our relationship with the Lord. To engage in other "relationships" other than that with the Lord is to be considered as adultery. Nowadays, we are still very much tempted to commit this kind of sin with the Lord. We are taught early on the virtue of compromise, especially when it comes to religion. We are taught to be open and accept people's religion as a choice, and there's nothing wrong with that. But with this attitude, we are tempted to also compromise our own faith in the Lord. We are greatly tempted to compromise our faith and our religion with what is widely and popularly accepted in the world. For example, the practice of contacting the dead, belief in faith healers, and our tolerance of wiccan practices put us greatly in danger of compromising our own faith.