If you have been to a charismatic church in the last 3 years the likelihood is you will have sung the lyrics below.

“Our God is the lion, the Lion of Judah. He’s roaring with power and fighting our battles, every knee will bow before Him.”

It’s a brilliant song, and this Sunday we sang it in church. It’s a song I have sung many, many times over the last number of years but as I was singing this chorus today I felt the Lord highlight something to me.

The start of the chorus “Our God is the lion….” is always sung with strength as we think of a God so powerful that no one can stop and no one can stand before. Our hands are raised, and our voices strain as we declare His greatness. The imagery helps us to not just see the power of God but also the smallness of us. We picture this powerful God ready to rule over the chaos of this world we live in. I like the battle imagery and I certainly like that I am on the side of the lion. Front footed people like myself love to sing lines like this.

After we sing these first two lines we go on to sing;

“Our God is the lamb, the lamb that was slain. For the sins of the world, His blood breaks the chains”

This line I tend to sing slightly less strongly. My hands might still be raised but my volume can drop. Why? Well, probably because the image doesn’t ‘seem’ to describe the same power. This line speaks of the death of Jesus, the lamb who laid down His life. The reality is this, along with His resurrection, is the most powerful act in the history of the world but it still goes against my human descriptors of what victory looks like. (although when it mentions chains breaking I’m all in again!)

So what’s the issue?

If I am being honest I find the switch between the two comparisons unsettling. If you had never set foot in a church before, and if you had no clue about the nature of God revealed through the Bible you might be forgiven for thinking the author of this song was confused. And if we think the author of the song was confused then we might go on to wonder if God Himself was confused because speaking of God as a lion isn’t just a modern day comparison of Jesus, we are using a description used of Him in the bookends of the Scriptures, Genesis and Revelation. Again, this image of the lamb is used throughout the scriptures and the song particularly reflects the verses we find in Revelation 5. God, in His word, uses both descriptors which therefore begs some questions;

Is God a lion or a lamb?

Is He both? And if so, how?

Does He switch between the two?

Or is He some weird mix of the two?

Is He half lion, half lamb?

A lambion?

These are natural questions our human minds go to; at least my brain does. The natural characteristics of a lion and a lamb are so opposite to us that we simply can’t put them together. Lions are powerful, terrifying, regal, they have no rival in the wild and they require us to keep our distance. Lambs are cute, skippy, playful, and are food for many a willing predator. How can God be both?

The reality is that each of us will likely feel more comfortable with either the imagery of the lion or the lamb. Some of us feel very comfortable with the Lion image used to describe God. We trust in His power, His royalty, His unrivalled nature, and we charge forward into our everyday knowing that we can scale any wall with God ahead of us. There’s nothing wrong with that. Some of us feel much more comfortable with the image of the lamb to describe God. We love His closeness, His intimacy, His vulnerability with us. We love that He isn’t an imposing figure who causes fear in us but instead is a humble God. There’s nothing wrong with that either.

I’ve talked about the use of imagery to describe God in this blog before. Imagery is helpful because it helps us to picture God in a way that makes sense to us but imagery becomes unhelpful when we make that image the fullness of God. The imagery of the lion is great in many ways but it can conjure up the image of God as some kind of grumpy, proud, unpredictable killer who is watching for weakness and who can strike at any given moment. The image of the lamb could make us think that God Himself is weak, that He is vulnerable to attack, and that He lacks any power to make any difference in our lives and the world around us. Perhaps those of us who are more comfortable with the lion image are scared of a ‘weak’ God but in the process have missed the intimate, sacrificial, gentle nature of the God who comes close. Perhaps we personally feel the need to keep driving and powerfully pushing through and forward regardless of what is ahead of us when really we need to meet the lamb who draws close and in weakness brings strength? Maybe those of us more comfortable with the lamb image are literally scared of God, we are worried He’ll devour us and win so doing we do not trust in His power to act or intervene. Perhaps we hold back thinking that God is only a comforter rather than a King.

So what should we do?

Once again we must remember the Kingdom of God doesn’t follow reason or human understanding. God can be fully one thing and another. He can be the most extreme version on one side and the most extreme version on the other all at the same time. He can be justice and mercy, powerful and gentle, lofty and close.

He is be the lion AND the lamb

And is so much more than our human versions of these two animals. Even the best lion and lamb on the earth cannot come close to who He is. I guess my encouragement to us today is to embrace the fullness of God without rejecting the parts we don’t understand. Let’s not miss the intimacy He has for us or empty Him of His power. He is not weak, He is strong. He is not angry, He is love.

To finish let’s look at the last line of that wonderful chorus.

“and every knee will bow before the lion and the lamb Every knee will bow before Him”

Amen!