Worthy is the Lamb
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I had this friend in college who was head over heels in love with his girlfriend. They had dated throughout high school and after graduation, they both ended up at the same college. I’m not sure how that decision came about, but knowing my friend, I imagine he asked her where she was going to go to college and when she said “Frostburg” - he decided “then so will I.” It was rare not to find the two of them together. You are probably familiar with the saying “he worships the ground she walks on” - well that was the case here.
He was completely devoted to her. We would occasionally tease him, because that is in the man code, but he would just smile and say something like “she completes me.”
And as romantic as that may sound to some of you, there is a great flaw in that way of thinking. The truth is she did not complete him. They were compatible, they shared interests, there was an attraction, I would even say a strong bond - but she did not complete him. The reason is simple - there is an empty part in all of us, a spiritual longing, that no other person can fill. That is way too much pressure to place on any one person anyway - because that other person has their own issues, shortcomings, deep longings to deal with.
My college friend is happily married today with grown children of his own and I’m sure he can’t imagine life any different or better - but it was not his high school sweetheart that he married. That relationship lasted a couple of years before it amicably came to an end. At some point, he realized that this person whom he worshipped could not satisfy the deepest longings of his heart - and she realized the same of him.
I think Krista realized that after our first date!
There is only One worthy of our complete devotion and adoration - only One whom we are to worship, and that is God. It is only in God that we find our complete purpose, only in Him whom we find healing and wholeness. God deserves and desires the #1 position in our lives. The idea that someone or something else is worthy of our worship just leads to disorder and trouble.
Jesus taught us this by example when Satan tried to tempt Jesus into giving him the #1 spot in exchange for the world. Jesus replied:
“It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”
Worship belongs to God. Worship is the acknowledgement and celebration of God’s character, power and perfection. Worship is what we give God in response to the mighty works of salvation he has done for us. Because He is “the great I am”, the ultimate, the Creator of All Things, He alone deserves our praise and worship.
O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
Only God is worthy of worship.
You have been created to worship. It is in your DNA. Every person worships someone or something. Sin disorders God’s good order - and so men and women have a tendency to worship man-made things - idols - which draw us away from God. But when our lives are in order, we discover our true purpose which is to bring glory to God - and we do that well when every aspect of our lives are expressions of worship.
When we are not just going through the motions, but instead joining together with other believers in true authentic worship - we find that it changes us. Have you ever been moved during worship? Filled with inexpressible joy? Your heart warmed? When God’s love is so present that tears flow? It is a powerful and wonderful thing to under the weight of God’s glory.
As powerful and wonderful as it can be to experience worship here on earth - imagine how much more awesome worship is in heaven.
This is what John, the writer of the book of Revelation, describes in chapters 4 & 5. Both chapters go together - to understand the significance of what is happening in chapter 5 from today’s reading, you must first see what is going on in chapter 4.
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.
John’s eyes are opened and he is able to see the unseen realm - the heavenly kingdom. He is called up, in the Spirit, to the throne room of God.
Have you ever heard someone share a near-death experience? Someone who has died and is brought back to life? I’ve listened to quite a few over the years and one common description that I hear is how vivid the colors are in heaven. How everything is so much duller here on earth compared to the brightness and richness of color of what is to come.
I think of the colors John must have seen and how challenging it would be to describe what he saw using common language.
v.v. 3-8 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
What John sees is beyond what words can accurately describe. The One sitting on the throne is God and John is trying to convey a scene of beauty, splendor, power, and majesty. There are twenty four thrones on which sit twenty four elders who we will later come to know represent the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob’s sons) and the twelve apostles. This is representative of the Old and New Testament community of believers - the recipients of God’s promises. The four living creatures appear to be a high order of angels, likely cherubim, and their proximity to the throne reveals their importance. They match in description the four living creatures found in the first chapter of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel described them in more detail - how they moved to and fro like flashes of lightening and went wherever the spirit wanted them to go. They very well may be the same league of angels the prophet Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6:1–3 “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”” They are full of eyes - meaning they see everything - nothing is hidden from them.
What is clear is that the primary purpose of these four living creatures is worship.
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
God is seated on the throne, powerful angels singing “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” and the crowns of the 24 elders symbolize the rewards and honor they have received, which they willingly cast down before the throne as they sing “worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and praise!”
Chapter 4 shows the rightful worship of God in heaven by the angelic and human beings He created. Now we move to chapter 5.
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. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
What is the scroll written on front and back and sealed with seven seals? In the Roman world, a scroll with seven seals was typically a last will and testament or a deed. We also can look back at the end of the book of Daniel for clues as to what this scroll contains. Daniel receives a prophecy from God regarding the end times and is instructed in Daniel 12:4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.””
We also find a clue in Ezekiel 2:9-10
And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
This scroll is God’s complete will and plan which is ready to be enacted. But who is worthy enough to open the scroll - who is able to enact God’s plan?
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.” 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. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 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. 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, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
First, let me just point out - your prayers are heard in heaven. This Temple scene with a golden bowl of incense symbolizes our prayers filling the atmosphere of heaven.
But back to the main point: The lion of Judah, the Lamb who had been slain, Jesus the Christ is standing before the throne - scroll in hand - and all angelic beings and the 24 elders are worshipping Him. A horn symbolizes power - he has 7 - complete power. He has 7 eyes - his is all knowing. He alone is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll.
In this scene, John is communicating a very bold and clear point: Jesus is God. All of creation is bowing down before Him, singing songs of praise. He is worthy.
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, 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!” 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!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Jesus, the Lion of Judah, the Sacrificial Lamb, our Lord and Savior, is presented with HIs inheritance - an inheritance we find in Psalm 2:7–8 “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” To claim His inheritance, he must break each seal and open the scroll. In the chapters to come, we find that each time a seal is broken, and event happens on earth.
But our take away today is this - Jesus is worthy of our praise and worship. When we worship, we are joining in with the company in heaven, and we are giving honor and glory to the king of Kings and Lord of Lords! His will be done, one earth as it is in heaven.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants too.
The last days are in His hands. We can rest assured in His promises - knowing that our God will make all things new. Amen.
