Tag Archive for Revelation 5

One Day

2018-05-10 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 5:8-14,
all creation worshiping the Lamb.

One day
all evil,
all deception,
all distraction will be gone
completely and
forever.
All will be light.
All will be truth.
We will see all reality like the morning sun,
pure and unclouded.

We will see Jesus Christ for all He is, the
transcendent,
unseeable,
unimaginable God in all His
beauty and
perfection.
And as we see Him,
we will become like Him.
Through all the universe,
seen and unseen,
all that is not of Him will be
burned away forever.

When that happens, all creation will be swept up
into one mighty response to its Creator,
full heart and
full voice.
Praise will roll like a tidal wave
through all reality.
We, all of us, will lift Him up for
all that He is and
all He has done.

But even then, our response to Him will be
small and
inadequate.
Through an endless eternity, His magnificence will draw us up into
lives of ever-increasing
thanksgiving,
worship, and
love.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Enthronement Hymn
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Lamb of God

2018-05-03 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 5:1-7,
John’s vision of the Lamb of God

The stage is set.
The glowing introduction has built to a climax.
We eagerly await the next moment,
when we will finally meet the One so long promised:
the Mighty Conqueror,
the Root of David,
the King of all Kings,
the Lion of Judah.
At last we are about to see the One who is worthy
to bring to living reality all the
magnificent plans and
magnificent promises of our sovereign, loving God.
All the sprawling creation is about to meet
the One through Whom it was created,
its hope,
its Redeemer.

But behold the Man!
The Lion is a Sacrificial Lamb.
The Mighty Conqueror is One slaughtered,
still bearing His wounds.
The King of all Kings is a Servant.
The Lord of all Lords is a homeless peasant, without
power,
status, or
any attractiveness whatsoever.

Yet this One has overcome
all evil
everywhere,
for all time.
This one has conquered
through self-sacrifice, not self-fulfillment,
through complete dependence, not complete self-sufficiency,
through weakness, not strength.

And this One stands with His arms outstretched,
calling to each of us and all of us:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me,
he must deny himself, and
take up his cross and
follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24, NASB)

This is our all-conquering hero.
This is our Leader,
This is the One against whom
all rightness,
all success
all victory is measured:
He is Christ crucified.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Christ Crucified
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics