Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week 

Revelation – The Lamb becomes central

Revelation 5v6-8  “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne … he took the scroll [which no one else was worthy to open] and the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb.”

In heaven is a scroll. It is the scroll that states the destiny of the world. There is a lot of detail contained in it, and so both sides are written on (5v1). It is sealed with 7 seals so that only a part of it is released at a time (5v1). But seals can only be broken by authorized persons – who has that authority?

With this, the focus of heaven shifts to a Lamb. It looks as if it had been slain and is standing in the centre of the throne. This is a clear reference to Jesus: “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1v29). He is the one who has been slain for our sin: and yet he rose again. He still has signs of his crucifixion on his hands (as shown to Thomas in John 20v27), yet he is now standing right in the centre of heaven.

Moreover, Jesus is the one declared to have the authority to break the seals of the scroll of world history. The history of the world and the future of the world lie in his hands. You may not know what lies ahead, but Jesus does. You may not understand why various things happen in life, but Jesus has a plan. In the chapters that follow, we will see how tough life on the earth can be, but the difficulties we face do not undo the truth of Jesus being in ultimate authority.

Finally, the elders and the creatures who were worshipping God on the throne are seen and heard worshipping Jesus as they fall before him and sing a new song (5v9). Their song of praise celebrates his authority over history and his salvation of people of every nation. This praise party is joined by “thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand” angels who sing, “worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive … honour and glory and praise.” This mega praise party is further joined by all of creation singing, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”

As we worship, we are joining in the activity of the angels. Even if we are physically alone in the room as we do so, we are not spiritually alone – you have one huge backing choir!!

Let’s turn our eyes to Jesus, join with the heavenly creatures in bowing down, and join with all the angels in song!

With love and blessing,

Roland