Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”- Revelation 5:6-10
In Revelation 5, the apostle John portrays Jesus as a wounded Lamb. Why should our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appear before the heavenly assembly in his wounds? The answer is because His wounds are His Glory! They symbolize everything that gives us hope and gave Him glory! That He was able to overcome the temptations of the world, namely darkness, evil and the sinful nature of man, to remain Holy and thus receive all the glory, honor and power bestowed upon him by the heavenly Father for all of eternity. I love this image because it reminds me of His greatness and my weakness and sinfulness all at the same time. While He was able to overcome, often I succumb to the temptations of my flesh. While He stood strong in the face of temptation, I often fall in my own weakness. While He deserves all of His eternal treasures, I must humbly seek His mercy upon my soul.
The scriptures above reveal glimpses of the praise that will pour out non stop, day and night, for the King of Kings in the heavenly realms and which all believers will be a witness of. The whole of the worthiness of that praise to me is summed up in these scriptures from Romans 5:6 and 5:8 “You see, at just the right time, when we were all still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly and ” But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I love that our faith didn’t then and doesn’t now require us to get it all together, or to figure it all out, or to pull ourselves up out the ditch we had fallen in to in order for our Savior to be willing to die for us, to relieve us all from the punishment that was rightfully due us for our rebellious nature towards God. In fact, he did just the opposite. He took our sin upon Himself so that we could become righteous in His eyes.
So the wounds He suffered on the Cross are His glory, but they are also ours. For without them, we wouldn’t stand a chance and our sin would condemn us to a place of eternal separation. We would never enter the place of glorious praise and honor to our Eternal King for those who believe. We should never be ashamed of the gospel because He wasn’t ashamed of us on the cross to carry the weight, and to pay the unimaginable price, for our sin so that we could be reconciled back to the God who created us. Even when we were still sinners, and at the perfect time, He was willing to die for you and for me. I would say He was busy working things out for the good of all of those who love him, as Romans 8:28 says.. I can never fully understand this eternal sacrifice in my human condition. But I can try to live my life in a way that says thank you Lord Jesus, thank you, for what you did for me on the cross. Amen!
Prayer: God You love for us through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is incomprehensible. All we can do is say thank You! We didn’t deserve it, but we accept it and are in awe of it. Amen!
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