Exploring the Scripture
The Revelation to John, in all its rich poetry, imagery, and mystery, expresses a theology of the cross. Revelation’s significance is not in predicting what God will do, but in what God has done for all creation through Christ, crucified and resurrected.
The praise hymn in these verses is the response of all creation to what God has done in Christ. The hymn highlights celebrating Easter beyond Resurrection Sunday. Worship at the throne of God and the Lamb highlights God’s care for all creation and the importance of fully inclusive worship in shaping the community’s identity and mission.
The verses of praise are understood more fully with a look at the previous verses. In his vision, John is anxious about finding someone with authority to open the seven seals of the scroll of history to reveal creation’s destiny. Christ Jesus is introduced as the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, but Christ the Lamb reveals God’s plan for creation. The image of a lion was perhaps what was hoped for in the Davidic Messiah, but it was the slain Lamb who was worthy of praise. The worship of all heaven and Earth is made possible through the Lamb as a revelation of God’s restoring and redeeming purposes in the world.
John’s vision, set in the heavenly throne room, includes God seated on the throne surrounded by four living creatures and twenty-four elders. The imagery places the Lamb equal to God, one honored as Creator, the other as Redeemer. The final hymn is voiced by every creature in heaven, on Earth, under Earth, and in the sea. They sing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessings and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (v. 13).
This grand scene includes every earthly and heavenly creature honoring God, the Creator, and Redeemer of all creation.
The slain Lamb is counter to the world’s image of power. It represents power through sacrifice. It does not represent God’s yearning for suffering, but rather God’s self-giving love that enters the world’s suffering. The resurrected Christ is the eternal expression of God’s love, rejecting suffering and death.
The worship of Christ crucified and resurrected rejects a culture of violence and oppression, anything that opposes God’s purposes of wholeness. Jesus, the peaceful One, resists the harsh powers of the empire and reveals God’s redemptive power through self-giving love. Doctrine and Covenants 165:6c affirms, “the way of suffering love that leads to the cross also leads to resurrection and everlasting life in Christ’s eternal community of oneness and peace.”
John’s vision of inclusivity through the worship of all heaven and Earth is seen in the early church’s worship. A beautifully diverse community formed to praise God’s victory over all that separates creation from God’s purposes of justice and peace. Its gatherings brought those separated by social structures: enslaved and free, Jew and Greek, men and women, wealthy and poor, privileged and marginalized.
Fully inclusive, Christ-centered communities peacefully resist the powers that seek to divide and oppress. They do this through worship, spiritual formation, compassionate ministry, and action. The upside-down reign of God is revealed when servanthood replaces political posturing, when human worth is honored fully, and when the natural world is freed from human greed and consumption. The suffering love that leads to resurrection and eternal life is known worldwide as Christ-centered communities embody justice, generosity, oneness, and peace.
Project Zion Podcast
Hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith consider how this week's scripture connects to our lives today.
Central Ideas
- The worship of all heaven and Earth is made possible through the Lamb as the revelation of God’s restoring and redeeming purposes in the world.
- John’s vision of inclusivity through the worship of all heaven and Earth is represented in the worship of the early church that brought together those separated by unjust societal structures.
- The suffering love that leads to resurrection and eternal life is known today as Christ-centered communities that embody justice, generosity, oneness, and peace.
Questions to Consider
- Where do you see examples of God’s redeeming purposes in the world?
- What does fully inclusive worship look like in your community?
- Where do you see self-giving love leading to new life?