Thursday, May 9, 2019
Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:1-10
It's a
moment long-hoped-for; it’s that which you know deep down is going to happen,
but it’s been so long since first that hope entered your mind, and then seeped
down into your soul. It’s surreal,
strange, odd, and dreamlike, this hope of all things becoming new…stepping-into
privileged, rarified air.
John’s
vision carries him to God’s throne room, where the scroll of God is playing
central role. Throughout the ages of humanity,
no person has been, or is worthy to open that scroll; not Moses, Elijah, nor
any of the prophets, patriarchs, apostles or politicians have the resume’ to
even approach the throne, let alone handle the eternal record of humankind’s
sin.
And John
weeps! He weeps for his own sins, and
ours. If sin cannot be cleansed, washed
away in a flood of righteous mercy, there is nothing else but judgment in which
all will perish, for there is none righteous, no, not one![iii] But, one of the 24 elders, perhaps Peter, or Andrew,
maybe Joseph or Abraham, steps forward and bellows, stop the weeping…there IS one…ONE!
And, suddenly,
the moment is electric with hope fulfilled.
The Lamb, Jesus Christ steps forward to receive and fulfill the words
written in the scroll of God. Hope will
not only be eternal, it will be lived, because the incontestable promise of God
is here; it is now, not someday!
The long
haul of daily living and hoping for the realization of a long-held dream to be now,
not then, is something placed inside us as a hard-wire. We humans are, above all else, people of
hope. Prisoners of the holocaust speak
of losing hope. When every shred of life
had been sucked-out of one of their comrades, they would give away their
possessions, smoke their last cigarette, climb into their bed, turn to the wall…and
never wake up. That is why John wept; if
there was no worthy person to save us, hope was just a mirage, an illusion that
would vanish like the morning mist.
But this
drama in Heaven is better than any Hollywood movie ending, because this is not
an ending…it’s the opening of eternity.
For You Today
Is your “hope-tank” running on empty?
Look up; your redemption is close…and it’s certain…it’s written in God’s
scroll!
Go to VIDEO
[iii] Romans 3:10
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