In Scripture, Jesus Christ is sometimes referred to by animal names. One doesn’t ascribe a name to the Lord of all Creation if it were not a praiseworthy and venerable pronouncement.
"Lion of Judah"
Jesus was known as the Lion of the tribe of Judah for his strength, mightiness, supreme worthiness, and majesty. Even today, to be called a lion is a compliment for any man. In fact, the word "lionize" means to treat someone as a celebrity. In his books, The Chronicles of Narnia, renowned Christian writer C.S. Lewis symbolized Jesus as the main character, Aslan, the magical lion who sacrifices himself to save one of the Pevensie children and resurrects himself to save Narnia from the spell of the evil White Witch.
"Lamb of God"
For centuries before Jesus’s birth, Jews who had committed sins would make amends with God by bringing a sin offering to the altar. This took the form of an animal, usually a lamb free of any defect or blemish. Because the punishment for sin was death, the sins of the individual were laid upon the innocent creature, who was then killed upon the altar as an atoning sacrifice. Though it was the individual who sinned and deserved death, the lamb was offered as a substitute.
This is the picture of what Jesus Christ did for us. Although we have sinned, the perfect Lamb of God suffered the death that was rightly meant for us. Although we were the ones who belonged upon that cross, it was Jesus himself who took that place. He did that to spare us the punishment we deserved. Jesus didn’t die for us—he died instead of us. Perfect for imperfect; sinless for sinful, right for wrong. If you acknowledge your sin, and accept Jesus’s substitution for your wrongdoing, God is faithful to forgive you. Leave your sin at the foot of the cross beneath the Lamb’s nail-pierced feet, and accept the embrace of the heavenly Father who now regards you with Jesus’s own righteousness, and welcomes you into His family as a child of the Almighty God!
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)
"Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5)