My Morning Meal

So it occurs to me that perhaps one of the advantages of becoming older is that it helps to keep things fresh. Things you have already discovered can be discovered again because you’ve forgotten that you once discovered them. Old truths become new truths because you’re not so good at recalling them. I’m smiling as I’m writing this . . . but I think there’s some truth to this. And maybe it’s not an age thing . . . maybe it’s just a brain thing . . . you can only keep so much in retrievable memory at any given time.

Ok . . . so why am I babbling about this? This morning as I’m reading Revelation 13 and 14 it kind of dawns on me that the title of “the Lamb” for Jesus is primarily found in this book — and I think I knew that before . . . but I’m not sure . . . and so this morning it’s like discovery all over again . . . and kind of exciting.

And I poke at it a bit and discover (or maybe rediscover) that John is the only one of the New Testament writers that was led of the Spirit to record “Lamb” as a name for Christ. Doing a quick look, I find that in John’s gospel he twice records John the Baptist’s words, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36) and then we don’t find that title being given to Jesus again until John identifies Him as such in Revelation 5. In Acts the Ethiopian eunuch reads in Isaiah 53 of the one who “as a lamb before its shearers is silent” and Philip identifies Jesus as the one the prophet spoke of (Acts 8:32-35). And then Peter reminds his readers that they were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1Peter 1:9) . . . but in 1Peter and in Acts, it is “little l” lamb and not “big L” lamb and is used as a picture rather than a title or a name.

And so this morning, as I continue to read in Revelation, I behold afresh . . . The Lamb!

The Lamb who, even in risen heavenly glory, is recognized as having once been slain. The Lamb before Whom heavenly realms continually find themselves facedown in worship. The Lamb who alone is worthy to open the seals of God’s judgment upon the earth. The Lamb whose wrath will be poured out . . . the Lamb whose blood continues to be the power of salvation for those who believe during the Tribulation. The Lamb who will shepherd and lead those who believe in Him to living fountains of water.

And in this morning’s reading, two things in particular push the “awe-meter” to its limits. First, He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). This title . . . this calling . . . this purpose . . . this work . . . had been determined for the Son of God since the beginning. Jesus becoming the Lamb was not some “plan B” put into effect when the garden of Eden experiment went south. But God in His infinite wisdom and foreknowledge devised in eternity past the plan of redemption . . . and at the center of this plan is the Lamb. Jesus slain . . . I’m reading about that now, as well, in John’s gospel. Crucified on a cross . . . forsaken of men . . . made a curse and forsaken of the Father. Slain that through His blood my soul might be bought out of the marketplace of sin. Slain so that the price would be paid for my redemption . . . that when I, by faith, bowed my knee to Jesus as Savior, God could fully and completely declare me righteous in Him. The Lamb slain . . . for eternity, that fact will not be lost on us . . . behold, the Lamb!

And then I read of the Lamb “standing on Mount Zion” (Rev. 14:1). And it is clear that He is the King! The Lamb will reign from this holy mount. Far from the picture of a meek and lowly lamb, here I’m reminded that the Lamb is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5) and that He will prevail and will one day establish His kingdom on the earth. What power . . . what might . . . what authority . . . what majesty!!! Behold the Lamb!

So . . . maybe I already knew that it’s primarily in Revelation where Jesus is identified as “the Lamb” . . . but the re-discovery of it this morning is sweet. The eyes of faith being awakened afresh to the Alpha and Omega . . . the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and the Lamb who will one day rule from Mount Zion . . . is a bit of a rush. Oh to just sit back and behold the Lamb!!! Awesome!!!

He’s not someone I normally think about a lot . . . not a being I like to consider . . . not a subject I choose to hover over very much. But you read Revelation 12 and you can’t help but come face to face with him. He is described as “a great red dragon” . . . the “ancient serpent.” He is identified as “the devil and Satan” . . . he is “the deceiver of the whole world” . . . “the accuser of our brothers.”

And he is a self declared enemy of all that which is of God. Though the chronology of Revelation 12 may be a bit of confusing, the facts are pretty clear. In his rebellion, the dragon takes down a third of the angels with him. There is a battle in heaven where the dragon and his band of minions war against the archangel Michael and his angels . . . and the dragon and his army are thrown out of heaven. He turns his attention to “the One who is to rule all the nations” . . . seeking to destroy Him at birth . . . but fails. He pursues “the woman who had given birth to the male child”, Israel . . . seeking to destroy her . . . but she is protected and repels the serpent. He determines to “make war on the rest of her offspring” . . . uh, that would be us . . . those who have been born of her Son . . . “those who keep the commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” But they too “have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

No matter how you slice and dice it, it’s clear . . . the devil is set on picking a fight with any and all who bear allegiance to the kingdom of heaven and bear the name of Jesus as their own. And no matter how you look at it . . . no matter which battle front he picks . . . the outcome is eventually the same . . . what occurred at that first cataclysmic battle in heaven is the precursor to all skirmishes the devil wages against the people of God . . . defeated!

“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.” (Revelation 12:7-8 ESV)

“He was defeated” . . . that’s what caught my attention this morning . . . that’s the truth that gripped my heart. Though he is a destroyer . . . though he has determined to set himself in opposition to the people of God . . . though he is a powerful enemy . . . he knows his time is short (v.12b) and he knows he is defeated. And I know it, too.

Not that I minimize his ability to attack me . . . not that I underestimate his power to inflict me . . . not that I take lightly his hatred for me and all the “offspring of the woman.” But I know that he is done . . . that he is conquered “by the blood of the Lamb” (v. 11) . . . that “salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and that authority of His Christ has come” and thrown down the accuser of the brethren (v. 10). I’m reminded that although the adversary is a “roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8), for those who submit themselves to God and resist the devil, he will flee (James 4:7). While it’s true that “we wrestle not with flesh and blood” but against “the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph. 6:12) . . . it is equally true that God has “disarmed the rules and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Christ” (Col 2:15).

Thus, I’m reminded this morning that he is defeated.

So, while I don’t really like to spend a lot of time considering him, that it causes me to focus again on the victory that is mine in Jesus is a bit awe-inspiring . . . a bit praise inducing . . . a bit worship invoking.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:31, 37 ESV)

And God’s people said? . . . .

In any other context, it’s an image that would perhaps turn our stomach a bit. Apart from a “faith understanding” of the dynamics of the cross, it’s a thought we would naturally turn away from, rather than embrace. When I think about getting my clothes clean, it’s the last “detergent” I would normally think of using. But this morning, reading the latter portion of Revelation 7, it’s an image . . . a thought . . . a reality . . . that captivates me afresh . . . the fact that, just like those saints who will come out of the great tribulation, I’m wearing a garment laundered by the Lamb . . .

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ . . . . Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'” (Revelation 7:9-10, 13-14)

Robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Noodle on it. At first, not really an inviting image . . . blood soaked apparel. Certainly not intuitive from a natural perspective that something washed in blood can ever become white . . . clothing stained with blood is most often thrown away . . . beyond reclaiming.

But the real stain on the garments of men is the discoloration of sin . . . the telltale spots of man’s determination to walk in a way that seems right to himself . . . neglecting and even despising the way of their Creator. Sin becomes a death-inducing blemish on the clothing of men’s souls . . . a mould that spreads throughout every aspect . . . such that even the best of works that a man can do become as filthy rags.

“What can wash away my sin?  What can make me whole again?  Nothing!  Nothing . . . but the blood of Jesus!”

The blood of the Lamb . . . the blood of Jesus . . . the blood shed on Calvary’s cross some 2,000 years ago. It is sufficient to wash away the dirt accumulated through years of rebellion . . . it is the cleansing agent that is capable of removing the nastiest of stains . . . it restores filthy rags and produces white robes . . . coverings that are fit for wearing before the throne of God . . . “Sunday best” mete for an audience with the King of Kings . . . apparel fit for attending a royal wedding — the marriage supper of the Lamb . . . pure choir garments that inspire those who wear them to sing at the top of their lungs of the wonders of their salvation and the glories of their God.

” . . . the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin . . . if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 7b, 9)

Oh, to be laundered by the Lamb . . .

Most often, when I think about heaven, I imagine what I will see . . . wondering if my new optic nerves will be able to take it all in. That’s where I was, initially, as I read Revelation 5 this morning . . . imagining what it would be like to behold the throne of God . . . to see the Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . to gaze upon the Lamb who was slain . . . to observe legions of angelic beings. But then I was reminded, that it’s not just what I’ll see . . . but what I’ll hear. Not only will I be wide-eyed but my ears will be tingling too! Do you hear what I hear?

Revelation 5 sets the imagination a fire . . . it starts with a whimper and ends with a mighty crescendo of song and praise and glory . . .

The first thing you hear is a lone angel asking at the top of his voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” (5:2). The question echoes through heaven . . . no one steps forward . . . John weeps because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or even look at it. Enter the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the One who has prevailed . . . He stands in the midst of the throne as a Lamb as though it had been slain — He comes and takes the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And that starts it . . . . like a rock dropped into the middle of a pond . . . but a big Rock . . . creating waves . . . great sound waves . . . emanating from the center out . . . rippling through all of heaven . . . do you hear it??

When the Lamb takes the scroll the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall before Him and they start to sing a new song (5:8-10). A new song!!!! This song is fresh, unworn . . . it’s nature and subject are unprecedented, of a new kind . . . for it focuses on the connection between the One who was slain and redeemed us by His blood and the One who is worthy to take the scroll. This first, not-so-small ripple, sung by the living creatures and elders, declares the reality of a kingdom of priests who will reign on the earth — a kingdom of priests which were redeemed from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And the wave grows!!!

Then the voices of many angels around the throne is heard (5:11-12) . . . joining the living creatures and the elders . . . the number of them is ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands (now this is a tabernacle choir!!!). And they don’t just whisper . . . they are not singing quietly . . . it says that these thousands upon thousands of angelic beings sing 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!”

What must that be like? Imagine the volume . . . imagine the multi-part harmony . . imagine these mighty, glorious creatures all focused on One object of worship — the Lamb who was slain!!! But that’s not the crescendo . . . the waves that were started by the Lamb in the midst continue to spread out and grow (5:13-14). Then, every . . . get that? . . . every . . . all . . . each and every one . . . . every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, (did anyone or anything get missed? I don’t think so) . . . every creature joins the living creatures and the elders and the thousands upon thousands of angels and sing this new, fresh, energetic, song . . .

“To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Can you hear it? Can you imagine what it will sound like? . . . what it will be like to be part of it . . . to be part of that glorious, heaven-filling, sound wave? And it occurs to me, I can join “the wave” right now! I can sing, making melody in my heart, right here, right now . . . I can go to “heavenly choir practice” each Lord’s day and practice with the saints in preparation for the day when faith gives way to sight. I can hear it . . . even now . . .

“And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (5:14) . . . me too! How about you? . . . do you hear what I hear?

We’ve all heard them. You hear them coming . . . you “feel” them if they are idling next to you . . . you hear them going. I’m talking about those vehicles that have some humungous sound system in them which pumps out a drum-thumpin’, bass driven beat. You can’t exactly make out any words . . . you’re not really sure that there’s any music attached to it . . . but the rhythm . . . oh, you are so aware of the rhythm. Boom, boom, boom . . . endlessly . . . boom, boom, boom . . . often annoyingly . . . boom, boom, boom. But guess what, I’m wondering if from now on, it might be, for me, prophetically . . . boom, boom, boom. You see, they came to mind as I read this morning about the rhythm of heaven . . .

“At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne . . . And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!'” (Revelation 4:2-3a, 6b-8 ESV)

Oh, how I love getting to the point in Revelation where I vicariously, through John, see the door open to heaven and the Spirit inviting me to “Come up here” (4:1). When I get to the point where, by God’s word, through the Spirit’s illumination, with some sanctified imagination, I tip toe around paradise “taking in the sights” . . . talk about “Behold, your God!” And this morning, I’m reminded that it’s not just what I will see . . . but what I will hear. That there is a rhythm of heaven . . . a back beat that will throb through that place where God’s throne is set up . . . a reverberating echo that will provide a backdrop for all that goes on for all eternity. But it won’t be some muffled “boom, boom, boom” . . . no . . . it will peal with the clarity of the grandest bells, “Holy, holy, holy!”

I may not understand a lot about these four living creatures . . . but that they are created angels is apparent . . . and that they’ve been doing their a cappella thing for quite awhile, I get (cp. Isa. 6:1-3). And, what I also understand about them is that they have been given a “repeating tag line” to declare before the throne for eternity. I imagine it as a song . . . a song that they sing day and night . . . a truth that captures the essence of Him who sits on the throne . . . a declaration that they never cease saying. It is the rhythm of heaven . . . “Holy! Holy! Holy!”

Think about it . . . it never stops. The nearer you get to the throne, the louder it gets. And unlike my friends with their boom-boxes-on-wheels, this soul-stirring beat will never get annoying . . . this throbbing sentiment will never get old . . . these pulsating words will always be fresh . . . “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!”

This morning, I hear the rhythm of heaven by faith. Through the Christ-conforming work of the Spirit in me, my ears are becoming more attuned to the heartbeat that emanates from before the throne of God. The old, old, song continues to beat with a new, new freshness as I grow in appreciation of the nature of God . . . thrice holy . . . residing in unapproachable love . . . yet accessible by His grace and through the cross of His Son. He who was . . . and is . . . and is to come . . .

Oh yes! He is to come! The distant booming of the angel’s 24/7 back beat gets louder as the day approaches. The theme becomes grander the longer we serve Him in anticipation of that day when we too hear the Spirit say, “Come on up!”

“Holy, holy, holy” . . . can you hear the rhythm of heaven?

“You just slip out the back, Jack . . . Make a new plan, Stan . . . You don’t need to be coy, Roy . . . Just get yourself free . . . Hop on the bus, Gus . . . You don’t need to discuss much . . . Just drop off the key, Lee . . . And get yourself free . . . There must be fifty ways to leave your lover”   (Paul Simon, 1975)

This song from my high school days came to mind as I was reading Revelation 2 . . . can you guess why?

The church of Ephesus was a happenin’ place. They worked and labored hard for the Lord . . . had lots of Bible studies and knew their Word . . . had no tolerance of false teaching and called fake messengers of God out for what they were — liars. They faithfully and patiently kept on keepin’ on, not growing weary, as they served Jesus.

Things were looking good . . . but He who walks in the midst of the churches (Rev. 1:20, 2:1), had something against them . . . something they had to deal with . . . “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4 ESV). And as I think about it, there really must be 50 ways to leave your lover.

They were doing the works . . . they were standing for the faith . . . and, I think, it was more than just going through the motions . . . I think they were sincere and serious about their faith. But, apparently you can do all the right stuff and not do it from the right place. You can do it as part of routine . . . you can do it because you think it earns heavenly brownie points . . . you can do it ’cause your friends are doing it. But Jesus, it seems, wants us doing it out of “love you had at first”.

All the right stuff we do, we should be doing because we are crazy in love with Jesus. It shouldn’t be just a “good habit” . . . it shouldn’t be just a “spiritual discipline” . . . it shouldn’t be just a “good testimony” . . . it shouldn’t be just about “doing the right thing ’cause it’s right thing to do” . . . it should be an offering poured out from a heart that loves Him because He first loved us.

And I don’t know how you read this and not think that passion is part of the deal. Though it may be orthodox . . . or biblical . . . passionate-less Christianity falls short of what I think the Savior wants from His people. And I don’t think we need to manufacture the passion or put it on . . . I think it resides within us. The issue is that we’ve found ways to leave our lover . . . or, to use a more biblical phrase, quench the Holy Spirit (1Thess. 5:19) . . . to put out His fire.

We can do Christian good works but not pursue feeding the fire of an intimate relationship with Jesus through the indwelling Spirit. We can spend time at church . . . spend time at seminars . . . spend time reading books . . . spend time serving at this ministry or that ministry . . . but not be spending time with the One to whom we are betrothed. When we’re away from the church activities or ministries we’re opting for the TV . . . or the computer game . . . or the hobby . . . over time with Him. Faithful in Christian works . . . but flakey in Christ-focused pursuit.

He wants us to serve Him out of a vital and passionate and crazy in love relationship with Himself. I don’t know how you do that without alone time with Him and His word. Oh, that I would, above all, desire Him . . . and seek to pursue deepening relationship with Him. That I would hear the voice of my Beloved calling me to deeper, intimate fellowship with Himself . . . that I would beware of, and say no to, all the ways to leave your lover.  By His grace . . . for His glory . . .