Text: Isaiah 53:4-12, Revelation 5:1-14
To give ear to the prophecies of Isaiah and John today—it stirs my heart with worship! To read about the “already” of the spotless Lamb being crushed, and believe with faith in the “not yet” of that same Worthy Lamb doing what “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able” to do (Revelation 5:3), causes the Holy Spirit in us to breathe prayers of praise for the truth that we’re reading.
It makes us want to close our eyes and attempt to imagine the unimaginable beauty of that moment when Jesus Himself will stand before the throne with the appearance of a slaughtered lamb and open the scroll, while heaven and earth acknowledge—the worthy Lamb has come at last.
Revelation really knows how to drop the mic, doesn’t it?
The scene in Isaiah, on the other hand, we can picture it happening as we read it. At least a little. That’s because between then and now—between the time of Isaiah’s prophecy and this moment we sit here today with leather-bound or smartphone versions of God’s Word in our hands—what Isaiah said would happen happened! The Lamb of God was pierced for our transgressions. Jesus Christ was led like a lamb to the slaughter before John’s very eyes!
While we can believe and even imagine the unfolding of Isaiah’s prophecies because we have a firsthand narrative of the actual events, John’s prophecy in Revelation is a bit more difficult to picture. None of us has seen Heaven! This prophecy is not yet fulfilled. And yet, to read about it causes us as believers to exhale an, “Amen, come Lord Jesus!”
Here we are—you and I and this poor, fallen world, smack in the middle of the Already and the Not Yet. We believe with faith that the Lamb of God was crushed for us, and we believe with hope in the truth of God’s Word, that that same Lamb is worthy and will open the scroll in Heaven and break its seals and look into it at just the right time, and ransom people for God. And He—our Jesus who was dead and rose for us—will appear and every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them will say all together:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
– Revelation 5:13b
Amen, come Lord Jesus.
For an added layer of worship during this sweet season of adoration and expectation, we’ve created a Spotify playlist for Advent 2014! You can find the complete SheReadsTruth | O Come Let Us Adore Him playlist at this link, or listen to today’s track on the player below. Enjoy!
Powerful! Beautiful! What a Godly combination of His truth! Thank you!
I love the idea of being between the already and the not yet, it’s beautiful seeing Gods promises and prophesies fulfilled, and amazing to know they will continue to do so.
Ah, I just love Revelations! These two passages together are just amazing. Makes me want to weep and laugh at the same time
Beautiful… Just Beautiful.
Worthy is the lamb that was slain. For me! Thank you Jesus…
As a muslim only just discovering Christian faith it is so refreshing to finally understand the true meaning of Christmas. I knew before it was supposed to be about Jesus being born, so I never uderstood why the Santa and all the spending are in the center of it all. I am now a mother of two and live among catholics. It makes me sad to see how the commercial side of Christmas is being forced on to my children in their school, by everyone around them really. So I started to research more to be able to explain to them that Santa is not the hero here. That gift-giving, although nice, is not the main purpose of Christmas. So I stumbled upon this story that is so simple yet so clear that I have decided to share it with my toddlers in hope to make a new tradition out of it. It may not be perfect, but to me and I hope my little girls this takes the edge of all the senseless spending and center the attention once again on Jesus. So grateful for being led here to learn and fill my heart with Jesus!
Link to the story: http://llerrah.com/truemeaningofchristmas.htm
Thank you for sharing this, Mukasha. It was beautiful! Praise God as you grow in your faith! Praying for you friend! May God’s love cover you today and always!
Thank you for sharing! Praise be to God!
Praying for you and your family Mukasha! Christ brings so much joy and purpose to your life! It’s incredible!!
The story was wonderful!! Thanks for sharing! I will keep it for future reference! I’m so glad you are discovering the love of our Lord!! Welcome to the family! :) God is so amazing!!
Amen..thank you Jesus forgiving your life so that we may live and worship with you!!!
He was promised hundreds of years before He came. Amazing the details. And God’s faithfulness in every detail. He bore the penalty for MY sin – something only He could do!
I am studying the book of Mark in depth in Community Bible School and was just thinking after reading this passage truly how great the detail was. In Mark the religious leaders couldn’t believe this was the Messiah! And they had these prophesies to refer to I’m sure. How did they not know?!
The same way we can hear the truth of the Gospel for 20+ years before we understand and believe. God opens the eyes of the blind … and gives light to those who live in darkness!