Last week we began a journey that we
did not finish, considering the first of what I called three ramifications of the Lamb’s victory in Revelation 5:1-14. Just as
the fall in Genesis 3 had universal ramifications, so did the
victory of Jesus Christ on the cross, which is what I am referring to as “the
Lamb’s victory” (His being “slain”
and what that has accomplished). It bears repeating again that Revelation 4-5
is, as Greg Beale put it, the theological
heart of the book of Revelation.
That is because the truths found here are meant to stir up the people of
God to face anything for the glory of their King. They are meant to give God’s people everything
they need to endure in the face of any temptation or persecution. We must
saturate our hearts and minds with these ramifications of Christ’s victory if
we are going to endure temptation and persecution. May God stir up our hearts with these truths
today so that we may endure anything for the glory of our King!
[5:1] Then I saw in the right hand of
him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back,
sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a
loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
[3] And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open
the scroll or to look into it, [4] and I began to weep loudly because no
one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. [5] And one of
the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven
seals.”
[6] And between
the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb
standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes,
which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. [7] And he
went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
[8] And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden
bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they
sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its
seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from
every tribe and language and people and nation, [10] and you have made
them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
[11] Then I
looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders
the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of
thousands, [12] saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and
blessing!”
[13] And I heard
every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and
all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be
blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” [14] And the
four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:1-11 ESV)
I.
The Lamb will Finish His Story (5:1-7)
History
is His-story, God’s story that is. One
thing that is clear in this chapter is that Jesus,
by virtue of His victory on the cross, has earned the right to finish history. Because He has conquered, He is worthy to
take “the scroll of destiny”[1](called
such because it contains what God has determined to be the destiny of the
world) and execute its contents. As we
will see, God’s plan for history includes both redemption (for His people) and judgment
(for His enemies), but the big idea here is that the destiny of the world is
now in the hands of the Lamb who was slain.
Because
the destiny of the world is in the hands of the Lamb, I can trust that whatever befalls me (because I am part
of that story) is part of His good and wise plan. God’s plan for History includes working all
things together for my good as one of His followers (Romans 8:28). No temptation
or trial is meaningless. They are all God
approved to make me more like His Son.
II.
The Lamb will Have His People (5:8-10)
What
we also see in this chapter is that Jesus,
by virtue of His victory on the cross, has ransomed a people for God. Once the Lamb takes the scroll, there are
three consecutive songs sung to the Lamb.
The first song is sung by the heavenly council that we saw in Revelation 4:1-11. They are further described as “each having a golden harp and golden bowls
full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (8a). In response to the Lamb taking the scroll,
they sing a “new song” that explains
the nature of the Lamb’s victory. This
is how He “conquered”: He was “slain,” and
in being slain, His BLOOD “ransomed people for God from every tribe
and language and people and nation” and He “made them a kingdom and priests to our God” who “shall reign on the earth.” The Lamb’s victory has purchased a
multi-ethnic people to be the subjects in God’s kingdom.
God
has always desired a people, or a kingdom, to be His treasured possession. When God first created man and woman, His
desire was that they would “be fruitful
and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion” (Genesis 1:26-28). Instead of filling up the earth with a
kingdom for God, they rebelled against their Creator and filled the earth up
with rebels and sinners as subjects of Satan’s kingdom instead. God, however, still desired a people to be
His treasured possession. He chose a man
named Abraham to be the father of this kingdom and promised to make his
offspring into a great nation and to bless all nations with salvation through
the coming Messiah (Genesis 12:1-3). He kept this first promise by delivering the
Israelites from slavery in Egypt through the blood of the Passover Lamb and
after defeating the armies of Pharaoh, God expressed His heart’ desire for this
people in Exodus 19:5-6: “[5] Now therefore, if you will indeed
obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among
all peoples, for all the earth is mine; [6] and you shall be to me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak
to the people of Israel.” We see the
same Exodus imagery being alluded to here in Revelation 5.
The Israelites, however, would fail
to be this kingdom of priests because even though they were free from slavery
to the Egyptians, they were still slaves to
sin, just like you and me. There
would have to be a greater Passover Lamb who would ransom people from their
greater bondage. This is what we see
being celebrated in Revelation 5:8-10:
a greater Lamb (Jesus Christ)
effecting a greater deliverance, ransoming a people for God. But this is not just an Israelite people that
are being ransomed. The blood of the
Lamb who was slain has ransomed and secured a multi-ethnic multitude for God from “every tribe and language, and people and nation.” His victory has accomplished everything
necessary to purchase these subjects and secure their place in God’s
kingdom. These people are the people of
God’s new covenant, who are God’s new creations and will dwell in God’s new
heaven and new earth. That is why the
song about them is called a “new song.”
There
are several applications that flow
out of the certainty that the Lamb will have His people. First, in order to be a part of this people,
or kingdom of God, a person must be ransomed
by the blood of the Lamb. We do not
become part of God’s people by anything that we do, but by what He has
done. Being a member of a church doesn’t
make you a member of God’s kingdom; being ransomed by the blood of the Lamb
does.
Second,
if we have been ransomed by the blood of the Lamb, we are and will be made into priests to our God. That we are
priests implies that we have a job to do.
We exist to serve God and take His saving message to the nations. If we really believe that the Lamb will have
His people, then we should have all the confidence we need to count any cost to
take this gospel to the ends of the earth.
The success of the church is not in question. Jesus will build His church. His sheep will hear His voice. If this is true, then what are we waiting
for? Also, the truth that we will be made priests is a great
encouragement to believers who are struggling with sin and suffering. We may struggle and fall, but in the end, sin
will not win! The victory of the Lamb
has secured your destiny as a child of God.
He who has begun a good work in you will
be faithful to bring it to completion (Philippians
1:6). Notice also that the golden
bowls of incense, “which are the prayers
of the saints,” are “full.” Every prayer that His people have uttered in
their trials and temptations are accounted for and have been heard. In Revelation, these are normally prayers for
vindication and relief from suffering.
This picture reminds believers that God has heard their prayers and will
see them through.
Thirdly,
if churches are the outposts of God’s coming kingdom in this world, then
churches should be marked by great diversity.
This people are a multi-ethnic multitude from all over the world. If we are going to show a world that needs
this ransom how God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven then we should
pursue becoming a diverse bunch of people who learn to unite around the
gospel. Worship will not be segregated
in heaven, and it should not be on earth.
Finally,
if we have been ransomed by the blood of the Lamb, then our ransom should amaze
us at least as much as it does the
angelic hosts. They are amazed at our
ransom. Are you? Am I?
If we were honest, many of us live like the work of Christ on the cross
means very little to us. To many of us,
His work on the cross is nothing more than “eternity insurance” that we once
signed up for and now don’t have to think about that much. This should not be so.
III.
The Lamb will Have His Glory (5:8-14)
The final ramification of the Lamb’s
victory that we see in this chapter is that Jesus,
by virtue of His victory on the cross, will have the glory that He
deserves. “When” the Lamb takes the
scroll, it initiates an awesome time of worship in heaven. Heaven goes nuts! As I said, verses 8-14 contain 3 songs to the
Lamb (the last song being to both the Lamb and the One on the throne), with
each song being sung by an expanded
audience in order to amplify the
reality of the Lamb’s worth. First there
is the song of the four living creatures
& the twenty-four elders (8-10).
All four living creatures and twenty-four elders fall down (what they did before the One on the throne in chapter 4)
and sing a new song. They give the Lamb glory because He has conquered on the cross.
Then
there is the song of the angelic multitude
(11-12). The audience is now expanded by “the voice of many angels” (11).
How many? They number “myriads of myriads” and “thousands of thousands.” It is an innumerable host. Their song is a seven-fold ascription of worth to the Lamb who was slain. They too give the Lamb glory because He has conquered on the cross.
Finally,
there is the song of the universe (13-14). The vision is now expanded to include all of creation. There is a great significance that all
creation is singing this song. All
creation has been “in bondage” and
has been “groaning” under the curse (Romans 8:18-23) since Genesis 3. But just as the fall had universal
ramifications, so does the victory of the Lamb!
The victory of the Lamb will crush the power of the curse over creation!
This song is to both to “Him who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb” and is a four-fold ascription of worth that should be theirs forever and
ever. Putting this together with chapter
4, we see that the Father is worthy because He created everything and the Lamb is worthy because He redeemed everything! We could say that the Father is praised for
His work of creation and the Son is praised for His work of new creation. At this song, the four living creatures shout
“Amen!” and the twenty-four elders once again fall down and worship.
Don’t
we celebrate when championships and wars are won? The victory celebrated in Revelation 5 is the greatest victory in
the universe. May we celebrate what the
Lamb has accomplished as well. He will
have His-story; He will have His people; and He will have His glory. None of these certainties are in
question. My question for you today is
this: is the Lamb receiving glory from your life right now? 1
Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether
you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” You exist for the glory of God. It’s what you were made for. That truth isn’t meant to keep you from
having a life, it’s meant to help you truly live! Know that the Lamb will have His glory in
your live, one way or another. He will
have it sooner or later. Every knee will
bow before Him and every tongue will confess Him as Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Give
Him glory by surrendering your life to Him today for your eternal good. He is worthy of it because He has borne all
of your sins on the cross and has ransomed your for God by His death. As His priests, let us take the good news of
His kingdom to this broken world!
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