From Revelation 4 (NIV) At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
From Revelation 5 (The Message) I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One Seated on the Throne. It was written on both sides, fastened with seven seals. There was no one—no one in Heaven, no one on earth, no one from the underworld—able to break open the scroll and read it. One of the Elders said, "Don't weep. Look—the Lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David's Tree, has conquered. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals." So I looked, and there, surrounded by Throne, Animals, and Elders, was a Lamb, slaughtered but standing tall. And they sang a new song: Worthy! Take the scroll, open its seals. Slain! Paying in blood, you bought men and women, Bought them back from all over the earth, Bought them back for God. The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped.
When we peek into heaven we see everything is centered around the throne of God. Meanwhile, back on earth, things are different as most of us live lives centered around self rather than God, frantic and panicky about what we must have to survive, to be happy. The self is not very reliable in the stress and strains of life. We are driven this way and then that, pushed and pulled and harried by the demands of life.
Peeking into heaven, over in the shadows we see the mighty Lion of Judah. But, no, it is a Lamb that has been slain and has the power to break the seals on the Scrolls. Worship is centered around the throne, and on the throne is the Lamb.
The Lamb that was slain has paid the price of forgiveness. The Lamb has paid the price of love. When someone wonders why God could not forgive us with the wave of his hand, we know we are talking to someone who has never really dealt with the issue of forgiving someone. Real forgiveness comes at the cost of pain. Real forgiveness causes anguish. Real forgiveness wrenches us in the gut, and crucifies that sense of getting justice for the offender. That is the nature of forgiveness.
The lamb is slain. The Lamb pays the price of pain for forgiveness. And the Lamb pays the price for love. As we worship and acknowledge the worth of the One who was slain, we are released from our self-centered life and move toward a life centered around God.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope April 26, 1998
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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