All Creation Worships The Lamb

Transcript

GR 1521
03-08-09
All Creation Worships the Lamb
Revelation 5:11-14
Gil Rugh

Revelation chapter 5 in your Bibles. As we conclude Revelation 5 we will be ready then to move into chapter 6. And from chapters 6-19 we will be unfolding the judgments of God on an unbelieving world, the time of tribulation, the time of God's wrath poured out on the earth, climaxing with the return from heaven by Christ and the host of heaven with Him, including us as we return to earth with Him for the establishing of His kingdom.

Chapters 4-5 have lifted our attention from the earth to heaven. In chapters 2-3 John was given messages to seven individual local churches. And then a door was opened for him and he was ushered into heaven to behold things and record things there. We saw the focal point in chapter 4 being with God the Father on the throne, and then in chapter 5 God the Father is on the throne but the attention is centered on God the Son, the Lamb of God who has provided redemption. What these chapters do is clearly not only bring our attention and our focus to the wonder of God and the splendor of heaven, but it puts this life in proper perspective. A life that has its pleasantness, has it joys, but it also has its sorrows, its trials, its difficulties, often characterized by misery and suffering and so on. But we are reminded, God's intention for His creation is glory. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden there was no ugliness, there was no misery, there was no pain, there was no sorrow. It was beauty and splendor and the privilege of walking with God in the cool of the evening. And the glory was lost and marred when man rebelled and sin entered the creation on earth and brought with it all the misery and sorrow and destruction and death.

Jesus Christ in His work of redemption has provided for the restoration of creation, for the salvation of human beings and for the restoration of all creation to its intended glory. There is coming a time when the creation will reveal with a fullness and a clarity and a beauty that has not been seen since the Garden of Eden, the beauty of the God who created it.

Turn back to Romans 8:16, Paul says, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. He has worked through the whole plan of salvation up to this point—our sin and wretchedness and lostness in the first three chapters, basically; then the righteousness He provided in Jesus Christ; and then the new life to be lived out as the children of God. And that's what he's continuing in chapters 6-8. We are the children of God, note verse 17, and if children heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Then that great statement, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. You see this life may have its suffering, sometimes we may think we get more than our share of the sufferings and trials and difficulties, but as God's people we never lost perspective. The sufferings, the trials, the difficulties, they are temporary, brief, for a moment, if you will. And as Paul says, they are not worthy to be compared, they are nothing in comparison to the glory that will be revealed to us.

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God, that time when we will be unveiled before all creation as the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. You see the redemption that God has provided for us in Christ extends beyond us, for the work of Christ is sufficient now only for our salvation as believers, but for the lifting of the curse from the creation itself, so that it can enter into the fullness of the glory God intended for it when He created it.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. That time when we will be fully placed as sons and enter into all the privileges and honors and glory that goes with being a son of God. We are sons of God today as believers in Jesus Christ. We have not entered into the full enjoyment and all the privileges in glory that God has prepared for us. That will happen when we are placed with the full privileges and rights of sonship as glorified saints.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Then he goes on to continue that reminder, during this time of difficulty and trial the Spirit helps our weaknesses. During this time God is causing all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him. So there is a sovereign plan of God being carried out. Sometimes it seems like it is grinding on, but it's moving exactly on schedule so that God's work can be accomplished exactly as He intends it to be accomplished.

So you come back to Revelation 5. And here we are lifted from earth to heaven and see something of the splendor of that scene that we shall enjoy in heaven before we return to this earth with Christ in the fullness of His glory to share as heirs of Christ and heirs with Christ of the glory that will be His in the establishing of a glorious kingdom. So in Revelation 5 all heaven joins in the worship of the Lamb, in giving Him glory in anticipation of the establishing of His kingdom on the earth. Now at this point we are seven years away from that, between chapter 5 and chapter 19, the return of Christ and the establishing of the kingdom in chapter 20. But all heaven is worshiping Him in anticipation of when His kingdom will be established on earth because that's what all history is moving toward—the time when Christ returns to earth and establishes His kingdom, which is an eternal kingdom.

We saw in verse 9, they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. We see here the work of redemption accomplished by His death on the cross, the Lamb slain. You were slain, you are worthy. He is the only one who could take the scroll, which brings to conclusion God's purposes and plans for creation, because without the work of the Lamb there could be no redemption as the final chapter. Now the penalty for sin has been paid and that work of redemption has impacted people everywhere. One Savior for all men everywhere. And so here we see that work of redemption has had its impact in purchasing for God by His death people from every culture, every nation, every language and so on.

Verse 10 continues that declaration of praise to Him. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. He not only purchased us for God, but in purchasing us for God it was so that the purposes of God might be brought to completion in and through us. The redeemed are those who experience the ultimate purpose of God in bringing glory to His creation, the unredeemed have a totally different destiny. That will be brought out as we move through Revelation as well.

We are a kingdom and we have been purchased for God, we have been, as Colossians 1, transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son. That kingdom has not yet been established on the earth, that is yet to take place. What is being done now is there are people being redeemed from all over the world in preparation for the establishing of that kingdom. And we will be at the center of that kingdom because we will be ruling and reigning with Christ, sharing in His rule at that time. So it is a yet coming kingdom, and at that time also we have been made priests to our God. And we talk about the priesthood of the believer and we've referred to this in our previous study, but we remind ourselves, the fullness of our priesthood will be realized in that kingdom because there we will serve before the very throne of God, as we saw here with the inhabitants of heaven and the twenty-four elders before the very throne. When the kingdom is established on the earth we not only rule and reign with Christ, but we will rule and reign as priests before Him, right before the throne of the Father. Now we have access, as Hebrews 4 tells us, to the throne of God which for us is a throne of grace because Jesus Christ through His sacrifice becomes our high priest. But in the kingdom that priesthood will be fully realized and we will come before the very throne of God in our service for Him.

And then we're told they will reign upon the earth. Now we come to the book of Revelation, we noted we interpret the book of Revelation like we interpret the rest of the Bible. We don't go off and say this is different kind of writing and literature and it means something different. I take it what heaven declares here is clear, they will reign upon the earth. Where will we reign? Upon the earth. It's not difficult to understand. Where will the kingdom be? Well I take it, it will be where we are reigning. It wouldn't be any good to be reigning on the earth if the kingdom is not here, would it? We're sharing in His kingdom, we're sharing His rule. We will reign upon the earth. It's that future earthly kingdom that we're talking about and our roles in that kingdom. We've already seen in chapter 3 where he said we will sit down with Christ on His throne, even as He sat down with the Father on the Father's throne. We share His rule, His authority. And at that time we also function as priests who have immediate access to God.

Come back to Daniel 2. We'll be saying much more about the kingdom when we get toward the end of Revelation, but just in case the Lord comes before then. Remind ourselves we will be back in Daniel numerous times in our study of Revelation. Just the timing of this kingdom. In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Jews are in the Babylonian captivity, Daniel has been taken captive. And Nebuchadnezzar is given a vision, he has a dream in the night. And he doesn't understand what it means. He sees this image of a man, it is glorious with various metals, starting with gold. As he seeks an answer from his wisemen, only Daniel can give him the answer because God is the interpreter of dreams. So Daniel comes and tells him what his dream was, because Nebuchadnezzar is no dummy. He knows if he tells the wisemen what the dream was, they'll make up an interpretation and he won't have any way of knowing whether it is genuine or not. So he says if you are able to really tell me what the dream means, you ought to be able to tell me what the dream is. Right? Smart man, not a nice man.

So Daniel comes and tells him. Just note verse 31, you, oh king, were looking and behold there was a single great statue. That statue was large and of extraordinary splendor. Keep in mind, when Nebuchadnezzar looks at the kings of the earth, and he is an unredeemed man at this point, he sees them with splendor. Its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, his breasts and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of bronze, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Now note here. You continued looking until a stone was cut without hands, it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like the chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found, but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

We have now the interpretation. And he starts with the head of gold, and he sais that represents you, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian empire. And what happens is this statue and the various parts of the statue with the various metals represent the succeeding empires, starting with Babylon. That's the first kingdom. Verse 37, you, oh king, are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. Verse 39, after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, Medo-Persian, the Persian Empire. Then a third kingdom of bronze. So you see there is a decline in the quality of the metals and their value. You have Greece and while you have the decline we have strengthening here because when you get to the fourth empire, verse 40, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron. It's not as valuable as gold but it is much stronger. It shatters and crushes all things.

Verse 41, we get down to the details. You saw the feet and the toes, part of potter’s clay and part of iron. It will be a divided kingdom. It will have the toughness of iron and yet the brittleness of clay. Now as we'll see when we get further along, we have what we call the revived Roman Empire or the final phase of the Roman Empire and its ten-nation confederacy with the ten toes. Strong and weak in its mixture. And down in verse 44, in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. That kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Then the summary in verse 45.

Now if you take a normal literal interpretation of prophecy you have to say that kingdom hasn't happened because that final kingdom that the God of heaven will set up on this earth replaces all the kingdoms of the earth. That's not present. Some have tried to make this a spiritual kingdom so we have the kingdom of God present on earth today and it's in the hearts of men. From Roman Catholicism you have the pope functioning as the Vicar of Christ, overseeing this kingdom. But there is no room for that kind of change here. Babylon was a literal earthly kingdom, Persia was a literal earthly kingdom, Greece a literal earthly kingdom, Rome a literal kingdom. The kingdom that will destroy all these kingdoms and replace them is the kingdom on the earth. That will be permanent. It isn't here. Did you read today's paper? Did you turn on the news? We're not in the kingdom. But that kingdom is coming and that's the kingdom we're talking about.

Turn over to Daniel 7. I just want you to note in Daniel 7 Daniel now, the servant and prophet of God, is given a dream and vision. And he sees the same information that Nebuchadnezzar saw but with different symbols. Nebuchadnezzar saw it as a beautiful, awesome, striking image of a man. Daniel sees the coming empires of the world from God's perspective, they are wild beasts. And each of these kingdoms, rather than being represented by a metal and a beautiful statue, they are wild beasts. And so they were, verse 3, four great beasts coming up from the sea different from one another. And so they are described. And then when you come down to verse 7 you have that fourth beast. Remember in chapter 2 it was that fourth empire strong as iron, here it's a fourth beast dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong. It had large iron teeth. And at the end of the verse it had ten horns. So just like Nebuchadnezzar's man had ten toes, doesn't say ten but it's an image of a man in the same way and you come down to the plural toes. Some say, it didn't say ten toes. Well, take off your shoes and count. How many toes are on a man? I mean, here we're told he had ten horns, ten horns the same as the ten toes. And then it's in the days of those kings you carry it one step further of a dominant king among the ten here. And then verse 14, you have the establishing of the Son of Man's kingdom. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. And all the Old Testament prophecies, and we'll look at a number of those as we get to the time of the kingdom.

You come back to Revelation 5, this is what heaven is anticipating, this is what heaven is celebrating as the Lamb comes and takes the scroll from the hand of the Father on the throne. We are ready to unfold the climatic events that the Lamb has made possible because He was slain. There can be redemption. God's plan for His creation will not be frustrated by sin because the Lamb provided the penalty that has purchased us from the penalty of sin and, if you will, purchase creation from its slavery to sin and its consequences. That's why in the kingdom the desert will blossom like the crocus, or like the rose as it was perhaps originally translated, better the crocus. The curse will be lifted and it will be a great earth. Can't wait to get to that point, but we're not there yet.

Come to Revelation 5:11, then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Here for the first time in chapters 4-5 we are told that this heavenly scene includes more than the four living beings around the throne, more than the twenty-four elders. There are ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands upon thousands. You can't count the host that are here. Angels, thrones, elders, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. This is an awesome scene. You think about it, here now is the throne of God and you have an innumerable number of heavenly residents gathered there in the presence of the throne. What an awesome scene as they are all declaring with a loud voice.

Come back to Daniel 7:9, the throne room here. I kept looking until thrones were set up, the Ancient of Days took His seat. So you have here God the Father, before whom God the Son will come in verse 13, to receive the right to the kingdom. Look at verse 10, a river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, myriads upon myriads were standing before Him. You see the awesome scene that Daniel saw was coming in anticipation of the coming kingdom. And that's what we are talking about in Revelation 5. We are ready for the unfolding of the final events so that the kingdom can be established. So, if you will, we can see the end from here because at this point now all heaven knows exactly where we are. And with this action things unfold. So you just see the innumerable host of heaven gathered here, the splendor of the scene.

Come back to I Kings 22, this is where a prophet of God named Micaiah tells what he saw in heaven. Verse 19, Micaiah said, therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne. And note here, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. You see we come in when these prophets are given the vision of heaven and the throne room of God. You have the host of heaven present there. What a scene it will be. We had the song, “I can only imagine” what it will be like and we get a glimpse here. Then you study a passage like this and I find myself sitting at my desk as I prepare for this and I start to think what it will be like being part of that. This world is going to seem like all its troubles, all its difficulties, here I am going to be there and part of that scene, the presence of God Himself and countless angels.

Go over to Psalm 68, one more passage on this and then we have to move along. Look at verse 17, just a reminder. The chariots of God are myriads. You'll note in the margin of your Bible if you have the note that I do, the chariots of God are myriads, twice ten thousands, thousands upon thousands. We're going to be overwhelmed with the wonder of heaven, the splendor of God and then to look around and see the host of heaven there. How do I even begin to start counting? You don't, you can't. So we get these glimpses of the throne room and of the honor that will be ours to come before the very throne of God. And remember our destiny is to serve as priests, those who have access, ready access to the presence of God through eternity.

Come back to Revelation 5. Then I looked, verse 11, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice. I take it when you take this size number all saying with a loud voice at the same time, this is going to be a thunderous scene. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. One thing that impresses you as you look at the throne room of heaven, attention is on the Father and the Son. You know it's not all about us. We talk about coming to worship God and we're filled with ourselves, our problems, our needs. We think worship is all about God serving me. It's really all about focusing my attention on Him, giving Him glory, giving Him honor. And that's what heaven is doing.

So they join in proclaiming worthy is the Lamb that was slain. This repeated reminder here, not only on the Son of God, but on Him as the Lamb that was slain. He is worthy, He is the Lamb that was slain. Seven qualities that are His and show Him worthy of praise are declared here. Worthy is the Lamb to receive power, omnipotent power. He has power, I Corinthians 1:24 says, Christ the power of God, using this basic word. And He will take full power and demonstrate that power. He is worthy to receive power. So you see where this is all going. And it's in the context of redemption because remember that Christ was enthroned in heaven before He was born at Bethlehem, Isaiah 6. But now He is the Lamb of God that was slain. God's justice and righteousness, His demands have to be satisfied before redemption can occur. So here now as the One who has accomplished redemption, He comes to receive power.

Riches, this would include spiritual riches. Back in chapter 3 verse 18, the church at Laodicea, they thought they were rich. Christ says, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may become rich. Riches are His and are found in Him. II Corinthians 8:9, for your sake He became poor that you through His poverty might become rich. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul says it was his privilege to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. And true riches are found in Him. And now all riches, all will belong to Him as the redeemed creation now comes under His authority as the redeemer.

Back in this continuing list, the third one is wisdom. Wisdom is seen in all that He has done, the wisdom that He showed in providing our redemption. That verse in I Corinthians 1:24 where I noted Christ the power of God, also says Christ the wisdom of God. Because in Him all redemption is accomplished, which is what I Corinthians 1 is about, man thinking he is wise, thinking the plan of God is foolishness, the message of Christ crucified as God's plan of redemption is to fallen man foolishness, but to us who have been redeemed we are talking about Christ, the One who is truly the wisdom of God and the power of God. And that wisdom will be fully seen. We know of it now as the redeemed, but it will be fully on display when His kingdom is established. An awesome wonder of the work of redemption and its accomplishment.

The fourth is might, as all heaven declares worthy is the Lamb to receive might. Different word than power. It's His strength, the strength that is behind all that He does. Go to Ephesians 6. These are things that already are Christ's, but He will receive them in a fullness with the accomplishing and bringing to completion the work of creation because there it will all be seen. We will look over a redeemed earth and everything will be as god intended it to be when He created it. Wonderful. Ephesians 6:10, I like this verse because he uses three different words here for strength, might. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. That last one is the one we are talking about now in Revelation. We are to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. That's my resource, puny, weak me in the battles I have against the spiritual forces of darkness. I'm not on my own. His strength is available to me, I can be strong in the strength of His might.

II Thessalonians 1:9. Here he talks about the sufferings of the Thessalonian believers and their perseverance in the face of persecution and affliction that they continue to endure, verse 4. And Paul says these sufferings, these persecutions, it's a plain indication, verse 5, of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering. You see it is yet future. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well. When? Now, Lord. When the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord, note this, and from the glory of His might, His power. That's our word that we're talking about translated might, ischun in Revelation, His might. Unregenerate people will suffer eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might. We will see that might on full display, but they will not be there to see it and to behold it, to wonder at it because they will be in an eternal hell. That's Revelation 19. You see scripture is all anticipating this. You are suffering now, be of good cheer, this just indicates you truly belong to Him because all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, we saw in our study in Timothy. So this is just an indication that God considers you worthy of the kingdom because of the salvation you have entered into in Christ.

You have come to obey the gospel in contrast to those in verse 8 who do not obey the gospel. We'll see Him revealed from heaven with His mighty angels when we get to Revelation 19. You'll note here the end of verse 9, from the glory of His power. What an awful destiny. I mean, for us as believers this is as bad as it will get, this life. For the unbeliever this is as good as it will ever be. We have glory before us, they will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might, His power. We will be there in the presence of the Lord, in the fullness, in the display of His glory, the manifestation of His might and power.

Come back to Revelation 5. Honor. This word is often associated in the New Testament with Christ's work of redemption. Hebrews 2:9 says Jesus because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor. Because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor. Again you have to keep in mind He's crowned with glory and honor as the creating God before He was born at Bethlehem. But now He is crowned with glory and honor as the Redeemer, the God Man who by His death provided our redemption.
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In John 5 we were there in our earlier study today about Jesus Christ judging all men. And in verse 22, for not even the Father judges anyone but He has given all judgment to the Son. Why? So that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. It's God's intention that all honor be given to the Son. And that will be fully given to Him when He comes and establishes His kingdom. We honor Him now, think of what it will be like then when the kingdom is established on the earth and all creation, if you will, gives Him the honor that is due Him—His honor as God, His honor as the Redeemer. We will never lose our awe of that. We will be there because He died for us, we'll walk the glories of the kingdom. we'll be talking can you believe we're here. Because the Son of God died for us, we're here. Remember we talked about it would happen someday. And here we are. You know what that's like, you've anticipated something in a small way, maybe a special vacation, and you get to it. I can't believe we're here. That's what it will be like up there, I can't believe we are here. Why? Who gets the honor? Of course, He does. We are trophies of grace for all eternity, as Ephesians puts it.

Back in Revelation 5. All heaven is declaring with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb to receive glory. It's His, His glory, the glory is His. We will receive glorified bodies, we will be glorious, but it's His glory bestowed upon us. John 1:14 says, we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. There His glory will be fully displayed and we will behold it. He is worthy.

The seventh, and you'll note the sevens keep coming up. In the book of Revelation seven is the completeness, the fullness of His person. Blessing. All the blessing, all the praise is due Him for who He is. All heaven, there is one focus, on the Lamb, the One who is worthy, the Lamb that was slain is worthy. You see His death is at the heart of it all. Without that there could be no completion. There could be destruction, there could be hell, but there could be no kingdom, there could be no glory for us.

Turn back to I Chronicles 29. And David has gathered offerings for the temple that his son will build. And you have verse 10, David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly and David said, blessed are you, oh Lord God of Israel our father. Israel our father referring of course to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Forever and ever. You'll note the similarity of this ascription of praise to God with what we just read in Revelation 5. Yours oh Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. Indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth, yours is the dominion oh Lord, and you exalt yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you, you rule over all and in your hand is power and might. It lies in your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore our God we thank you and praise your glorious name. Now we see that ascription given to the Lamb that was slain. David did not understand how God's purposes and plans could be fully accomplished, that his descendant would sit on the throne forever and ever and ever. But he knew God ruled and was sovereign and His purposes would be accomplished, and He was working His plan. And he gives this ascription very similar to God at this time.

Come back as we wrap up to Revelation 5. Verse 13, every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them. I mean, this is the fitting climax and is destined to the point where there will not be anything that does not give glory to God. To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. All creation, all intelligent creation we might say, giving glory to God, declaring that the One who sits on the throne, the Father, and the Lamb. There can be no misunderstanding if you take the Bible for what it says, that Jesus Christ is God. I mean, could you put your name here? To Him who sits on the throne and to .............. Only God could get such praise. Be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. It's directed to the Father and to the Lamb.

In Philippians 2:9-11, we call it the kenosis, where Christ emptied Himself of the independent use of His attributes and was obedient to the Father, even to the point of dying on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. Why? In order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. There you see that going on, creation giving honor to the Son as well as the Father. And this is forever and ever.

And the four living creatures kept saying amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped. You know our lives are to be lives of worship. All we do, Hebrews 13 says, our lips are like calves offered as sacrifice to God.
Even the words, all that we do. We ought to keep in mind the privilege we have to be the sons of God, on our way to glory and a kingdom in which we will reign with Him. I mean, do we mire down in the muck of this world, sometimes overwhelmed with the things that come into our life here. Sometimes we sound like the world around us in our frustration, in our despair and our discouragement. I belong to this God, here is what He has planned for me, here is where I am on my way to. These are minor things preparing me. Puts it in perspective.

Just let me summarize these things quickly. 1. Believers will rule over the earth in the kingdom. That's verse 10, you made us a kingdom. So we can reside on earth as His people, reigning with Him. 2. In that kingdom we will serve as priests. Now we do individually, in that kingdom it's over the earth. We will be those with access to the presence of God, serving in His very presence. 3. Even the countless angels of heaven join in the worship of God. They don't join as the redeemed, but they join with the redeemed in worship because they've never needed redemption because they never sinned. Because remember angels who sin are never redeemed. So here you have the angels, the holy angels never marred by sin, offering worship to God. 4. Christ is worthy of worship for who He is. He's the Lamb that was slain and He is worthy. And these seven items declare His perfection, the honor, the glory that is due Him and ultimately Him alone. 5. All creation, verse 13, wherever it is joins in the worship of the Father and the Lamb. When we conclude, the elders fell down and worshiped. That's why we are a people who live in the presence of God now. We don't forget who we are, what we're about, why we're doing what we're doing. In the most difficult of times, in the most trying of circumstances we don't forget who we are. We belong to the God who is sovereign over all. I am His, it is His purposes being done in my life. It would seem to me as I look at it from these physical eyes I can see no good in this, I can see no purpose in it, I don't know why. But I do when I look at the ultimate end—glory. Why He's doing it this way on this occasion, I may not know, but I know the big picture. Like he told the Thessalonians, your suffering, your trials, that's great. That just reveals your genuineness and you're part of that group on their way to a kingdom, not part of that group on their way to eternal destruction. Everything gets put into perspective. I don't have to know why, Lord, in the small picture here. Thank you for telling me why in the big picture. It's because it is necessary for me to be prepared for the glory that you have prepared for me. That's enough.

Like your children when they are little, you tell them here is what we're going to do. Why this? Well you don't have to know why on these little things here. I told you when you get done with this, this will be the result. That's the way we are here. I don't have to mire down. I can be as thrilled in the difficult times, in the unpleasant times, in the sorrow times when I understand I belong to this God and this is where I will ultimately conclude my time. And it's a timeless time when I conclude there, for it is forever and ever.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for unfolding for us this brief glimpse of the wonder of heaven, the glory of your presence. Awesome to consider that we the redeemed of the church will someday be gathered with the host of heaven before the throne of glory in the presence of you, the Father, and of the Son, the Lamb, our Savior. And we will declare your praises and offer you worship there in heaven. May our lives be lives of worship as we walk this earth, not forgetting who we are. We belong to you, we are here serving you in this unique period of time as you work your purposes and prepare us for an eternal glory. May we remember that as we serve you in the days of this week. We pray in Christ's name, amen.