The Wounds of Glory

6/14/2012

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Bible Verse of the Day: Revelations 5:12-13 " In a loud voice they sang: 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, singing: To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever."


In Revelation 5, the apostle John portrays Jesus as a wounded Lamb. Why should our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appear before the assembled in his wounds in his glory? The answer is because His wounds are His Glory! They symbolize everything that gives us hope and gave Him glory! That He was able to overcome the temptations of the world, namely darkness, evil and the sinful nature of man, to remain Holy and thus receive all the glory, honor and power bestowed upon him by the heavenly Father for all of eternity. I love this image because it reminds me of His greatness and my weakness and sinfulness all at the same time. While He was able to overcome, often I succumb to the pleasures of my flesh. While He stood strong in the face of temptation, I often fall in my own weakness. While He deserves all of His eternal treasures, I must humbly seek His mercy upon my soul. The scriptures above reveal glimpses of the praise that will be non stop, day and night, for the King of Kings in the heavenly realms and which all believers will be a witness of. The whole of the worthiness of that praise to me is summed up in these scriptures from Romans 5:6 and 5:8 " You  see, at just the right time, when we were all still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly and " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I love that our faith didn't then and doesn't now require us to get it all together, or to figure it all out, or to pull ourselves up out the ditch we had fallen in to in order for our Savior to be willing to die for us, to relieve us all from the punishment that was rightfully due us for our rebellious nature towards God. In fact, he did just the opposite. He took our sin upon Him so that we could become righteous in His own eyes. So that our sin would be dealt with through the work on the cross and not alone before a God who could see our sins for himself and give us the just punishment we deserve. So the wounds He suffered on the Cross are His glory, but they are also ours. For without them, we wouldn't stand a chance and our sin would condemn us to a place of eternal separation from the place of glorious praise and honor to our Eternal King for those who believe. We should never bee ashamed of the gospel because he wasn't shamed on the cross to carry the weight, and to pay the unimaginable price, of our sin so that we could be reconciled back to the God who created us. As Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Even when we were yet sinners, and at the perfect time, He was willing to die for you and for me. I would say He was busy working things out for the good of all of those who love him. I can never understand fully this eternal sacrifice in my human condition. But I can try to live my life in way that says thank you Lord Jesus, thank you, for what you did for me on the cross. Amen!