Transformed – teen devotion – May 1, 2022
One truth shared: The truth of Easter opens our eyes, hearts, and lives to see the goodness of our God.
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 5:11-14
Sight Marches Victorious Over Blindness
The book of Revelation is often referred to as a picture book. It is a full color kaleidoscope of awesomeness that lets us see the majesty, power, and love of our God in a different way than we’re used to.
Revelation 5 is a great example of this explosion of brilliant sights and sounds the apostle John received as a glimpse of the heavenly splendor that awaits us all in eternity.
What he sees is mind-boggling enough—countless angels surrounding Christ’s throne of grace, all in service to him who is and who was and who is to come.
It’s what he hears that builds our excitement to the tipping point, though, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (v. 12). Imagine seeing this happen. Imagine hearing the roaring sound of it proclaimed—all at the same time—by countless angelic hosts.
Nothing in our reading today, though, is possible without the reality of Easter. If Good Friday is just the demise of a good man or the end of the road for someone hated by his detractors, then John’s revelation is not possible. In fact, if Christ is not risen from the dead, then there’s no reason to celebrate at all. But what we see in this full color kaleidoscope of awesomeness is the result of the truth that Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.
Look again to the picture painted for us in Revelation 5 and listen again to what is spoken by the angels, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (vs. 13). We who are spiritually blind by both nature and nurture can still—by our God’s grace and our Savior’ love—clearly see that Jesus alone is worthy of our love and adoration.
While we walk through this life by faith and not by sight, the majesty of what we see in God’s Word and through eyes of faith amazes us. That’s because Easter truth is our reality today. That’s because Easter truth is our reality for all eternity in the One we worship and adore.
Prayer: Lord God, we deserve nothing from you except for pain and punishment. And yet you love us. Fill us with this love today and always that we might join together to praise and worship your Son above all else. Amen.
