Every nation has a center. The center of a nation is its capital, the place where the central government is located. The New Jerusalem also has a center, which is the throne of our redeeming God, the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1).
We have pointed out that in the first section of this book (1:1—11:19) the throne of God is the center and that in the second section (12:1—22:21) the temple of God is the center. We have also considered the phrase “out of the temple from the throne” (16:17, see messages forty-nine and fifty, pp. 568-570, 572-573, 575-576). At the end of the book of Revelation, the throne of God is in the temple. Thus, the throne and temple have become one.
Our God is not only the God on the throne for His administration, nor only the God in the temple for His expression. He is the very God on the throne in the temple for His expression through His administration. God’s throne is for His administration, and God’s temple is for His expression. The fact that the throne is in the temple means that God’s administration is for His expression. All that God administrates is that He might be expressed. In eternity future God’s throne will be in the center of New Jerusalem, and His expression will extend to the circumference. Therefore, our God is both the God of administration and the God of expression.
Revelation 22:1 says, “And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.” The throne of God and of the Lamb, one throne for both God and the Lamb, signifies that God and the Lamb are one—the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, God the Redeemer. In eternity, the very God who will sit on the throne is our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction. This depicts how the Triune God— God, the Lamb, and the Spirit, symbolized by the water of life—dispenses Himself into His redeemed under His headship (implied in the authority of the throne) for eternity.
Notice that there are not two thrones, one for God and another for the Lamb. According to the traditional terms used in Christianity, the reference to God and the Lamb means that two distinct Persons, God and the Lamb, are on one throne. How could God and the Lamb sit on one throne? Do they sit side by side? In 21:23 we find a clue to the correct answer to these questions. In this verse God is likened to light and the Lamb is likened to a lamp. The light and the lamp cannot be separated; neither can they stand side by side. Rather, the light shines out from within the lamp. Therefore, God as the light is in the Lamb as the lamp. God and the Lamb are not sitting side by side; rather, the very God is within the Lamb as the lamp and shines out through Him.
I would like to see how those who use the traditional teachings of the Trinity to oppose us would explain how God and the Lamb are on the same throne. It is better not to use the term person; for by using it we become entangled and are not able to understand the Bible thoroughly according to the pure Word. The Bible reveals that God is the light and that the Lamb is the lamp. Eventually, because the light is in the lamp, these are not two entities; they are one entity in two aspects. It is very difficult to explain the Trinity in human language because we simply do not have the vocabulary or the terminology to express it adequately. Although we do not have the proper words, we do have a picture of God as light and of Christ, the Lamb, as the lamp. The fact that both are sitting on one throne indicates that They are not two, but one.
The One on the throne is both the God who created and the Lamb who redeemed. Hence, we may call Him the Lamb-God. This means that He is the redeeming God. This redeeming God is on the throne of His administration that He may dispense Himself into all His redeemed.
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