Today, Monday March 28
The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne Revelation 5:6-10
“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."
Yesterday we talked about how we should worship the Lord Jesus Christ because of Who He is (vv.5-7). Today, we want to chat about how we should worship Him for where He is (vv. 6-10). He is in heaven “in the midst of the throne”!
In John 1:29, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to be baptized, he said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” A few verses later we read in John 1:35-36: Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" I always thought this was so interesting, that the first day John saw Jesus that he emphasized what Jesus did: “He takes away the sins of the world.” And that is significant, because we first meet Jesus at the cross and He saves us, and we worship Jesus for what he has done for us! But the next day John simply says, “Behold the Lamb of God”! There should come a time in our Christian experience that we recognize and worship Jesus for who He is!
But we can also worship Jesus and find great comfort in worshipping Jesus for where He is today! Today Jesus is not in the manger, He is not in Jerusalem, He is not still hanging on the cross, and He is not in the tomb. He is ascended and exalted in heaven. What an encouragement this must have been to the suffering Christians of John’s day and even to us today, to know that our Savior has defeated every enemy and that He is now controlling events from glory! He too suffered, but God turned His suffering into glory.
But where is Christ in heaven? He is “in the midst”. The Lamb is the center of all that transpires in heaven. All creation centers in Him (the four living creatures), as do all of God's people (the elders). The angels around the throne encircle the Savior and praise Him.
All four Gospels mention how that Jesus was crucified with two criminals. The first three Gospels all say that one was on the right, and one was on the left, or that one was on either side. But John’s Gospel says specifically: “There they crucified him, and two others with him, one on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” (John 19:18). Jesus in His humanity on earth, came to live in the midst of us sinners. That’s what His baptism was about, His identification with us as sinners. His death, as the Lamb of God, identified with us by being crucified in midst of two thieves. Jesus became “sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Today Jesus is also “at the throne”. Some sentimental Christian poetry and hymnody dethrones our Savior and emphasizes only His earthly life. These poems and songs glamorize "the gentle Carpenter" or "the humble Teacher," but they fail to exalt the risen Lord! Today, we do not worship a Babe in a manger scene, or a corpse on a cross. We worship the living, reigning Lamb of God who is in the midst of all in heaven.
Today, join me in worshipping Jesus not only for what He has done for us, and for Who He is, but for where He is in the “midst of the throne”.
God bless!
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