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Fulfilling the Mystery
And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
Since God’s scroll was sealed with 7 seals and since the number 7 has reference to the idea of perfection and completeness, John was probably seeing how totally inaccessible were the contents of God’s scroll. It was absolutely and flawlessly sealed. Let us be clear. We will never figure out the purpose of God; we will never attain to an understanding of the Scriptures. We may spend years studying the Hebrew and Greek languages and memorizing whole books of the Bible. But at the end of the day, we will never figure it out.
However, if we humble ourselves before Him, God will open up to us His word, His heart, and His purpose. And life will start making sense. Indeed, it is only when the Lord illuminates His word that its various parts and emphases begin to come together into a unified whole for us. Where are we to go for the insight we need? Where is the mystery hidden?
and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things.
(Ephesians 3:9 NAS)
The truth is hidden in God. That is why we must go and spend consistent time with Him so that insight may come.
After John saw God’s perfectly sealed scroll, he then:
…saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
Nobody had the power, the strength to open God’s scroll.
So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
Here we see in Jesus, God’s Lion/Lamb, deity mingled with humanity. His human ancestral lineage was from the tribe of Judah; He is Jewish. But more than that, He was also the Root of David (i.e., David’s Creator); He is deity. Jesus is simultaneously both God and man.
God’s Lamb/Lion has prevailed so as to open the scroll. When we consider why Jesus overcame at Calvary, we usually think of how it was for the forgiveness of our sins. And indeed, what a great salvation He has won for us. But there is more to God’s purpose than forgiveness. He overcame so that He could open up to us the eternal mysteries hidden in His own heart. He wants to give us spiritual insight so that we do not have to stumble around in spiritual confusion.
Many times I have heard believers read Paul’s statement in 1Corinthians 2:9 without reading the next verse. They quote:
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But when they fail to read the next verse, we are left with an incomplete picture.
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
The Holy Spirit has come to both dwell in us and to also search out and reveal the depths of God as we seek His face.
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.
John saw the Lamb standing alive, even though He had been previously slain. His power (horns) and wisdom (eyes) would be manifest in all the earth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Today, God is present with His people on the earth. While it is important to look forward to Christ’s physical return (this is the hope of the Church), yet He is presently at work on earth as much as He was 2000 years ago. Significantly, we do not have 1/3 of God with us. The Holy Spirit is not a fractional portion of God; He is fully God. We have the Lord himself in our midst. This is indeed good news. We build in living union with the God who is now here.
But some believers focus so much on the second coming of Christ, that it seems they are building their whole lives around His anticipated appearance. “When He comes all will be solved, but until then we can only tough it out and hope He comes soon.” But God wants to come and powerfully reveal His Son in our midst today! The Kingdom of God has present relevance. We cannot build our lives on His second coming; we are to build our lives on His first coming. Our baptism is into Him – His death, burial, and resurrection. Because Calvary was sufficient to solve the sin question, there is to be revealed on the earth a victorious people being conformed to His likeness. Clearly, Christ’s return is not the foundation of our faith; it is its culmination. The key to present spiritual victory is found for us in identifying with His death, resurrection, ascension, and present rule.
From heaven’s perspective, the Lamb is to be central in the midst of His people. John sees Him in the midst of the throne, the creatures, and the elders. God’s view is that His Son is exalted, central, and supreme in His reign in heaven and on earth. Simply put, our message is the centrality and supremacy of Christ.
Our primary message is not plurality of eldership, pastoral ministry, evangelism, unity, house churches, etc. Rather, we preach Christ, preeminent and predominant. When He is central, we gather to Him, rather than to a doctrine, a building, or to a certain method of building His house. The centrality of Christ is our public proclamation.
In the 1970’s some of us had as our primary focus the plurality of eldership. We focused on the proper way to build the church. But when we made church structure the focal point, God came and shook what we had built. Church after church struggled with trying to implement proper church government. And try as we might, we simply could not get it to work correctly. The reason was because our message never conveyed the heart of the gospel. Simply put, the Lord wanted to be central in His house.
The reason there is to be plurality of eldership in the local churches (apart from the fact that the Bible teaches it) is that such an approach reveals that no man can predominate in God’s house. When Christ is preeminent, no one else can be. When He is the focus, everybody steps back, including those who consider themselves to be senior pastors. Suddenly it dawns upon all that He is the only senior pastor, the one Chief Shepherd (Greek, ARCHEPOIMEN).
Divine order is established on earth when the Church gives to Jesus Christ the same honor that the Father has given Him in heaven. Heaven’s perspective is that the Lamb stands in the midst of the throne, the creatures, and the elders.
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
How can we expect the nations to honor Him in His rightful place among them when the Church resists doing so herself? God’s purpose is that the Church reveal on earth both individually and corporately the centrality of the Lamb in our midst.
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.
John sees the creatures and the elders holding harps and golden bowls of incense representing the saints’ prayers. If incense symbolizes prayer (Psalm 141:2), then harps probably refer to worship. Some would say that John is describing heaven. But John’s vision is more a picture of heavenly reality that is gradually being realized on the earth. The Scriptures are not primarily about heaven, but about God’s determination to fill the earth with the obedience that characterizes heaven. In fact, Jesus told us to pray specifically for that to occur (Matthew 6:10). Increasingly, we are in tune with heaven when the local church falls down and worships the Lamb.
It is in the mingling together of worship and prayer that we fulfill our primary ministry. As we learn to combine our intercession with worship and vice versa, we will find our corporate times together reflecting the heavenly reality that John describes for us in the Apocalypse.
Indeed, the Psalms were written in such an atmosphere. As David worshiped, he also prayed. As he prayed, he would worship. The prophetic power of God revealed through one man’s intimacy with Him became a major part of Israel’s songbook (the Psalms) and has blessed countless millions down through the years.
In the next chapter, we will consider the power of informed worship. As the Church comes to both function properly and worship the Lord with insight into His person and purpose, worship will arise to God among the angels. How amazing! Change will come into the heavens because of how we respond here on earth!
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