“And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’
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, saying with a loud voice (in harmony),
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’
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!’
And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” Rev. 5:8-14
For those who are unable to make it to Sunday School, here is a bit of yesterday’s class.
As you can see from this section of Revelation 5 there is a constant theme of worshiping the Lamb who was slain…the Lion of Judah…Jesus… who has ascended to the right hand of the Father and taken the scroll revealing His authority over all creation and over all events past present and future as the ONLY One who can and will open the scroll because He has conquered and by so doing fulfills the promises of Genesis 3:15 and 12:1-3 and so many others.
He is the One who is worthy of our worship along with the Father and the Spirit, for the Godhead has perfectly carried out the plan of redemption made before the foundation of the earth to secure salvation for His elect from every nation tongue and tribe. These truths are of such magnitude that these cannot contain their worship. This worship begins with the 4 living creatures before the throne and works its way out to the 24 elders (who represent all believing humanity), to the myriad of myriads of angels to the point that every living creature in heaven and on earth worships Him openly and loudly for all to hear. All creation is unable to hold back from giving God and the Lamb unending worship and praise…which makes clear that this should always be our posture as well.
Why He is worthy:
1. He is worthy because He “was slain”…This is said twice in our text telling us that Jesus’ willing, sacrificial death is the best and the purest expression of His unconditional love and deserves our continuous praise and worship. Think about that… of all the millions of sacrifices in the OT His was THE ONLY sacrifice that was valuable enough to redeem a people for God.
2. He is worthy because He “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” We need to think of those enslaved who can only go free if a redeemer is found to redeem them from their debt. At the cross, Jesus paid the purchase price…He paid the debt…with His own blood to redeem men and women from every nation, tongue and tribe…His elect from all over the world… past, present and future until He returns.
3. He is worthy because with this act He “…made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Through Jesus our lives have purpose and an identity that we didn’t have before. Formerly we were just slaves who were identified by our masters/ our sins…But Now; we are in Christ which settles our identity and purpose all at the sometime, and we look forward to reigning with Him forever and ever in the New Earth. If that is not worthy our worship, I don’t know what is.
Of course, it is worth our submissive worship of Him…for whom else could have or would have secured our redemption but the One who was slain to bring glory to His Father and to secure our salvation. By our redemption we should realize that what is central to our existence is bringing glory to God through our worship of God…worship, by the way, that He prescribes for us.
These songs of Revelation ought to be put to music and sung by the church, just like all the songs found in Scripture. These particular songs remind me of a hymn found in our hymnal that rises to this level of praise and worship as the spiritual song found here. All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name! (Trinity Hymnal #296) The last verse goes like this, “O that with yonder sacred throng we at His feet may fall; we’ll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all; and crown Him Lord of all!”
Let us hope we can get this song stuck in our minds today, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’
This rendition of the “new song” from Revelation 5 is from Michael Card entitled You are Worthy may help:
God Bless y’all.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
