January 24, 2024 -- Revelation 5:11-14 -- True, Regal Power

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

11 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, 12 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!”
13 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!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 5:11-14 ESV

On Saturday May 6, 2023 tens upon tens of millions of people all around the world watched live, or later recordings of, the coronation of King Charles III. There were stirring hymns and regal music and shouts. It was pageantry with all its attendant pomp. At the end of it all, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla have a throne without power, bound by the dictates of the UK Parliament and this aging couple will go the way of all flesh. They will die.

In sharp contrast, the people of the Great King of Heaven, look to the splendor of heaven, where Jesus, the Lamb of God that was slain, is honoured and adored as the King of kings and LORD of lords Who does, did, and will reign forever. There is no sense in which Christianity is boring. We are taken up in wonder at our new citizenship—those who have by faith in Christ a passport for the New Heavens and the New Earth where death will be no more. Then sin and the Devil and even death itself are utterly vanquished and thrown into eternal hell.

Dear people of God, perhaps the Christian faith seems boring to you? Let me suggest it is because you are considering a truncated, shriveled, mocked view of Christianity. One that is paraded before you as it is portrayed by its enemies and adversaries. Yet what have the enemies of Christ to offer? A world where the drug crisis is growing by the hour. A world where governments put their citizens to death with abortions, and ever expanding definitions where M.A.I.D. is an option. Homeless is a crisis in our affluent land—more and more cities are crushed by it. Fear of climate change. Fear of death. Fear of other nations. Fear of war. Fear rules so many areas of life. All these ills are caused by sinful people who rule as if they have a solution but who are, in fact, ruled by fears.

By way of sharp, insightful contrast, the psalmist writes: “My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer” (Psalm 45:1 NIV). One day, all the heavens and the earth will be swept away. There will be the New Heavens and the New Earth where God the Father because of the reconciling work of Jesus will live among His people. Our cloudy and foggy brains now barely can conceive the majesty, wonders, splendour, beauty, holiness and you can see language breaks down to adequately explain or depict what it to be.

Dear family in Christ, do not give up hope. The world and its troubles will soon pass away. The troubles and pains and griefs we see today are rooted in the evils which reside in the hearts of men. Jesus Christ has, by His cross, conquered sin and death and hell and their attendant shames. By the Spirit of God, contemplate what is yet to be. Hope in Christ brightens the eyes of faith so that the glorious future that is in store motivates the heart to pray now and the hands to work now for the glory of our All-Powerful King, Jesus!

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of Your Kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.^
King of Glory, rule in our hearts by Your Spirit so that our eyes made alive by faith in Jesus see things as they are and as they will be. Spirit of God strengthen us for the battle of prayer so that we will not sink into hopeless lethargy. Spirit of Truth, speak to us through the Word of God so that the radiance of our King will fill our vision and our words, His effulgence will motive our works and our aspirations. Amen.

^Psalm 45:6-7 ESV

https://youtu.be/C_2cnqvoMFE?si=OCZwoLc0uKACCLDO “By the Sea of Crystal”

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