Talking with Pastor Brooks this week, he mentioned to me that the two books in the Bible that most often get us in trouble are the first and the last. Many of us have stubbornly confident views about the beginning or end times, even though the text is remarkably cryptic and confusing about them! I candidly can’t say I know what sort of timeline of the Jesus’ second coming Revelation gives us, but this much I do know: it paints a glorious picture of the eternal kingdom that will be our home for eternity, and tells us to be ecstatic and eager for it.
One great thing it shows us about the eternal kingdom is that Christ is the central figure, just as he is on Earth. His portrayal as a slaughtered lamb points us to his crucifixion, because that really was the focal point of the entire universe’s history. If you don’t think we should be tying everything back to Jesus, try telling that to the angelic hosts whose attention and worship are always fully on him!
A second characteristic we see is that the idea of glory and honor is backwards from what we might expect. John has just seen trillions of the most awesome and terrifying creatures in all of existence, and yet they bow at the feet of the little lamb, the quintessence of humility and meekness. No mighty angel has the power or authority to open the great scroll—only the lamb does. In eternity, glory belongs to the humble and not the proud.
And thirdly, the main activity in the throne room of God is worship. Unbridled, unrelenting, euphoric worship. Citizens of Heaven are overwhelmed by the transcendent glory of the Almighty and can’t help but partake in the joyous adventure of pouring out their praises for him. God is good enough, and beautiful enough, and majestic enough, to fully deserve it all. Plus, his creation is designed to enjoy it.
Such is our eternal home! The kingdom that we await is a wonderful one indeed, and our place in it is greater than we can possibly imagine. Worthy is the lamb; this is our song, because from that lamb we have life. So focus on Jesus, the lamb who was slain and the king to whom all of Heaven and Earth bow. He is the centerpiece of Scripture, of authority, of Heaven, even of your particular life. All glory be to Christ, the lamb slaughtered to bring us life, because he alone is worthy of all our praise!
