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"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'" (Revelation 7:9-12 ESV)
The book of Revelation is full of set pieces—bright images that are sort of like grand paintings, where you can stand there for hours and look and look and never see everything there is to see. In this particular image, we see victory. We see the end of all our suffering, and the triumph of Jesus our Savior. We are looking at Act V of the drama that begins with rebellion in the Garden of Eden and came to a climax when Jesus suffered and died on the cross.
And what do we say? We see people—millions and billions of people, all the people that Jesus ransomed from death with His own blood. And they are happy! They are wearing clean new clothes and waving palm branches around. They are shouting and celebrating. The great day has come, and all the powers of evil are dead and gone. God is the Victor—and all His people with Him.
But it's not just the human beings who are celebrating. The angels are also celebrating. The elders are celebrating, whoever or whatever they may be. And the four living creatures before the throne are celebrating—creatures so strange that, if modern people saw them, they'd call them aliens.
All of creation is happy. All of creation is thankful and joyful and blessed—why? Because of what Jesus has done to save His creation. They say, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" It's party time!
And we, too, can sing those words—even though we are still in the struggle, even though we are not quite at Act V of the drama of God's salvation. Because we know it is coming. Jesus has already come to rescue us. He has suffered, he has died, and he has risen from the dead—so that all of us who trust in Him can be remade, brand-new creations of God. We will see it come to completion with our own eyes. Why not celebrate a little early?
We Pray: Dear Father, thank You for Your Son, our Savior! Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on May 4, 2023
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved
Reflection Questions:
1. What is your favorite celebration—a holiday? A birthday? Something else?
2. Have you ever started a celebration a little early? When and why?
3. What do you look forward to the most about God's victory?
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