Baltic Family Camp 2023

God certainly blessed our camp sesson this summer in numerous ways. Over 120 folks–missionaries, Christians, families–all came together in Moletai, Lithuania to enjoy a week together of praise, fellowship, study and encouragement. Countires represented at our camp included Lithuania, USA, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain and even India and Brazil.

Our theme was Redeemed. Each day adults, teens and children had opportunties to study together in classes designed just for them. Each night we gathered to worship together. It was a beautiful representation of God at work through our different cultures to bring us together as one. This was made even more meaningful considering the ever present war in that region that directly affected some of our campers. One sister from Kiev, Ukraine shared heart-wrenching stories about what she has witnessed and the consequences of this conflict for her, the church and families in that country. For her and others, the BFC served as a refuge from that ever-present tension. She is in the middle in the photo below.

One of the purposes of the BFC is to offer missionaries and Christian families the opportunity to enjoy a week of rest and retreat, while also providing them in-depth study and resources to help them navigate their local ministries. This year we were blessed to have Harding University professors, Drs. Tim and Anessa Westbrook as our guest Bible teachers and Mitch Anderson from the Czech Republic who, along with he wife, Monika, offer missonary care through their Caretakers ministry. Each brought to us their giftedness–blessing us through their teaching.

The BFC also brings back several adults who grew up attending youth camps in the area. It is always a sweet reunion. Many of these adults are now parents who bring their children. For instance, I first met Viktorija when she was around 13 yrs. old. She never missed a session of youth camp in Lithuania. This session at the BFC, her son, Adomis, who is now 13 was baptized into Christ! We all rejoiced with her, her family, the camp and the angels in heaven!

Of course, the BFC could not happen without the fantastic team who travel over from the states to teach; to serve; and to make sure everything is in place for those attending. It also could not take place without the support of my home congregation, the Levy Church of Christ or without the good work of my Lithuanian colleage, Ilia Amosov. God has blessed us with an exceptional team.

The above picture is of the five of us who were at the very first youth camp in Lithuania in 1998 including on the left–David Pryor, who along with his wife, Louriella come from Clinton, MS each year. He leads worship and she leads one of our kid’s classes. Also pictured with me from left are Zivile Puodziukaitiene, Viktorija Dapšienė and Vladimir Rancev.

We are already planning for next year, God willing. We are excited to share that Drs. Evertt and Ileene Huffard will return to be our guest Bible teachers. Please join us in praying for God to continue to work through our session this year and for his blessings as we plan for next year.

Here is the team from Levy who worked so hard to make the camp a success.

Redeemed: How I Love to Proclaim It

There is power in stories. There is great power in great stories. The greatest story every told is that of Jesus. It is the redeemption story. It is THE story of all-time. The story of God’s action, interaction, presence and relationship across all of history with people and creation. What is this story exactly? What is redemption and why should I be proclaiming it? Redemption is:

God’s work to set things right again—to reverse the fall and bring all things back into harmony with his will; to defeat sin and Satan and restore us back to full relationship with him.

It is a vast, historic, all-encompassing story spanning millennia involving known and unknown events and people in all corners of the globe. It is also a living story—playing out contemporarily in all manner of ways in all number of lives. At the center of the story is Jesus, of course. Without him there would be no redemption story at all. So—think about—from before creation and throughout all of what we know as the OT, the story of redemption is evident—God working thru people, places, nations to make his presence known, call people to Him, proclaim his desire for relationship, while foreshadowing the crescendo of the story—Jesus. Then comes Christ who personified the story; living out the very meaning of redemption; personally, demonstrating God’s desire for full, restored relationship with us while paying the price for redemption on the cross and empowering us to live it out through the resurrection.

Read Ephesians 1:3-11 for the apostle Paul’s divine summary of this story.

Then that actually happened as Acts and the New Testament epistles chronicle. Exciting! They were singing redemption’s sweet song as they went into all the world and shared the Good News of the redeemer—Jesus Christ. The grand story of redemption being actualized as people from all lands, all ethnicity and all tongues came to Christ and changed the world. This is the power found in redemption—to renew and bring freshness, healing and new life.

And God continues to act to this day–still working out this eternal story to its ultimate completion when Jesus returns and brings complete redemption to all creation. Yes, it is a huge story, but is also not—for it is also a personal story. We are quite familiar with individuals in the story—Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Ruth, Saul, Hannah, David, Solomon, Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Peter and Paul. God called and worked through them and untold others to move the redemption story along. We remain in it—involved in this continual movement. It is critical that we believe and realize this truth. What God started, what Jesus delivered, and what remains yet completed but promised—the story of the redemption of the world; God wants to be our personal story as well just like as with those before us. They are the collection of witnesses surrounding us and urging us to complete our own redemption story—Hebrews 12. Redemption is to be what defines us; what drives us; what determines every aspect of our life. Redemption is to be that transformative. God did not work through history and send his Son to die for IT NOT TO BE. So, as we proclaim redemption throughout this year. Here is what I hope and pray will happen;

*We will more fully realize the depth and width of God’s love for us and we will more greatly appreciate the lengths Gods went to bring redemption about.

*We will become more aware of the ongoing work of God in Christ as the redemption story continues to play out now around us and in creation. It is about more than me.

*We will more clearly and precisely see ourselves in this story and better understand exactly what that means; and then allow that to finally, completely define us—to become fully integrated into God’s redemption. For us to fully own his story. It is not just a history lesson!

*We will then more completely realize that this changes everything—perhaps most importantly that fully embracing the redeemed identity will reframe how we view ourselves, our purpose and mission; understanding we are only resident aliens here, that this world and all it values is not our home.

*We will then be more encouraged and ready go and proclaim it—to actually share God’s story of redemption thru our story—for there is power in this telling: the power to bring blessed redemption to others. And I mean really tell it; to allow the Holy Spirit to empower our witness to those around us.

*We will then be more able to live in a greater sense of anticipation of Christ’s return and the full redemption of all—to the degree that allows us to frame life and all its challenges as just light and momentary bumps in the eternal road knowing we will be redeemed from them all when Jesus returns.

Why is all of this so significant? Well, it is the eternal movement of God in the world and it is still ongoing. Seeing ourselves firmly within this story and understanding this not just to be God’s will, but the most significant way we can live our life is a game changer. And because it is largely missing among us. That is evident with churches dying and shrinking with what is left of us competing for the same crowd. It is realized in that most in the world remain unconvinced that God really matters beyond perhaps helping us get what we want to keep up our lifestyle.  Fewer and fewer seem to know or care that he actually is active among us—the living God continuing to accomplish his will in difference-making ways in the world. We, the church are not acting as if the story of redemption is the single greatest story of all. Therefore, it does seem like a dusty old history lesson, rather than a continual, living, story of life, renewal and power among us. Yes, we may acknowledge that God is still here, still offers personal salvation and stands by on call when we need him, but we like to write our own stories, thank you very much, and quite frankly resist full integration into his story. Andrew Root in his book, Churches and the Crisis of Decline offers his thoughts on this:

We live in a secular age because we can imagine and at times do live, as though there is no transcendent quality to life at all. Most of us in the West can live our lives as though there is no living God who enters into history and speaks to persons. Westerners hold onto the idea of God (most of us “believe” in God, at least in America) but few of us are sure we can encounter this God.

So, how about it church? Who is up for changing that—for singing redemption’s sweet song? Who is ready for some radical renewal? Who is in need of transformative restoration? Who is sick and tired of the same ole, same ole? Who would like to see God break out boldly into the world around us? It is all about redemption! Redemption of hearts and souls; redemption of broken relationships; redemption from sin; addiction; fear; loneliness; anger; lostness. This Is the story; this Is the song.

Give thanks to the Lord, for his is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. (Psalms 107:1-3)

New Jerusalem–Revelation 21-22

As John’s apocalypse comes to its conclusion, he goes out casting an amazing vision for the ultimate future of God’s people—and speaking as he did originally into the oppressed reality of his readers, what a way to end! For them, this presentation of eternity with God is a total flip of the script. No longer would there be any separation from God; no more tears, suffering, pain, persecution or even death. Their hardscrabble life would be replaced by the incredible, almost indescribable glory of God’s presence in a place where he is making everything new (just this statement alone for the first recipients of this letter had to bolster their faith). They will be completely and totally provided for, perfected and protected. It is the new heaven and new earth, the New Jerusalem, the holy city God has prepared for them. In it are only those who follow the Lamb, all others are excluded. We can only imagine the impact such a vision had for those suffering under the brutal Roman oppression. It is not just a fitting way to finish the story, but contextually, the only way. John has led them through the progressions of God’s assurances, his promises, his judgments against Rome along with the final judgment, now all that is left is the realization of the promises—heaven itself—forever with God, along with a reminder that there is still work to do and an invitation extended for all to do it. As these two final chapters unfold, they are filled with several allusions to Old Testament promises and demonstrate one last time that no Babylon (Rome or any other nation) regardless of how ferocious it seems, is any match for the God of heaven and the Lamb that was slain.

• New Jerusalem. While this exact phrase is only used within the Revelation, the idea of a new heaven and new earth is found elsewhere in the Bible (Isaiah 65:17-25; 2 Peter 3:10-13). John sees this city descending out of heaven as a bride prepared for her groom. It is a depiction of the sum of God’s people—the church (so-to-speak) of both covenants coming together with Christ to live forever in the presence of God as God brings about a totally new dwelling from the old, wiping away all of the former suffering. Pause just for moment to consider the opening of this chapter—the impact these words would have had on his original audience. Even now, in the absence of that level of persecution, we are encouraged and emboldened by this promised reality. When God stated, “I am making everything new,”—that should be a game changer for all Christians of any generation. No longer will the current rules apply. No longer will Satan have a say. No longer will we be limited in any way. New Jerusalem is just that incredible.
• It is for those who overcome. John makes sure to convey to his readers that this amazing vision is coming directly from God himself—the Alpha and Omega. This is his domain and it is only reserved for those thirsty for him; those who have overcome the persecution. It is not for the persecutors—the unbelievers and cowardly, etc. Their destiny lies with the dragon who deceived them—the second death—eternal separation outside of the protection of God. They have no power or even presence there. New Jerusalem is only for those who follow the Lamb.
• The City. Next John describes this Holy City in vivid, brilliant detail. One of the seven angels gives him the grand tour. The city is equated to the bride of the Lamb, and again, represents God’s people from both covenants—with both the names of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles prominently displayed within. As beautiful and breathtaking this description is, it is all meant to be symbolic. It is pointless to try to take the measuring literally. The use of the precious stones, the measuring, the number of gates—everything here both depicts the majesty of God and the complete way in which all within will be provided for and protected. It is also meant to convey the complete opposite experience from what John’s first readers were experiencing. No longer downtrodden. No longer bound by Roman aggression—in New Jerusalem they would see and experience a reality that even Rome in its prime could not even begin to match or imagine. For instance, the city of Rom had some marvelous architecture and temples, but none could compare to the splendor of what John is describing. Actually, in New Jerusalem there is no temple. None was needed because of the brilliance of the presence of God and the Lamb. They illuminate the city—no temple to a Caesar or any pagan god could ever even come close. And, John reminds once more—it is only reserved for those who the Lamb knows—who are in his book of Life. From all nations those in this book will flow into the city—through the open gates (indicating access—no one will ever be prevented from seeing God—even his face!) praising God through their own particular cultures—a beautiful scene indeed. This is the amazing, breath-taking, perfect city of God, John is shown—reserved for those, like his readers, who been faithful unto death.
• There is a garden too. It surrounds a river—the river of Life. The earth itself is renewed in New Jerusalem with no more curse to burden it (see Romans 8:20-22). The garden provides all of the provisions needed for the city’s inhabitants—yielding its fruits every month bringing continual healing and blessings. Certainly, this is a call back to Eden (Genesis 3; Ezekiel 47), but it is also so much more. It is a step forward as well (Isaiah 2; Zephaniah 3). Beyond even what Eden offered, it is the place where all nations will live in harmony praising and serving the God who dwells among them—with the throne of God and the Lamb securely in the midst of the city providing all of the light ever needed. Here the Lamb’s followers will reign with him—forever. This is a picture of the new humanity who will be partnered with God to rule over his creation much like he originally desired (Genesis 1:27-28). What an almost unbelievable juxtaposition for those first century Christians in those seven churches to even imagine based upon their circumstances. But yet this was real—the trustworthy and true words of God. It was the culmination of all of God’s promises of hope and victory.  
• “Soon take place.” This conveys the urgency of the message because of the urgent condition of those who first heard the message. God had heard their cry and was acting upon it. This is why the angel informed John not to seal the book—the time for God to act was near. We must not confuse the language here—the entire Revelation was written in answer to the persecution of these first century Christians. John begins it by stating as much (1:3) and ends it the same way. These statements then speak to how the content of the book was originally and primarily for that generation—that God was bringing about the end of their suffering while also revealing to them the glory that awaited. In this, he declares a blessing on all who heed and keep the words of the Revelation—for all who take to heart the promised deliverance of God and remain faithful while waiting for that day. These are not just the words of John or even an angel, but of God himself and when he does come—when the message of the book is made known it will find people right where they are, which will be revealing in its own right because everyone will then know whose belongs to God and who does not—no more hiding behind the power of the Roman shield. Again, it is Jesus who is speaking to the churches—guaranteeing this as truth.
• Come! So, the same Spirit that the churches were to hear is now partnered with the Bride compelling all to come—to accept God’s invitation to follow the Lamb, not the beasts nor dragon. Only by doing so could complete fulfilment be found. Rome had nothing like the water of life—only drinking of it could end thirst. No mistake this invitation is here at the end of the book after all had been said—it was God’s appeal to those Christians (and us) to not miss out on the blessings of New Jerusalem.
• And one last warning. This book was not to be parsed (as was the custom with Jewish apocalyptic literature). Every part of it was essential and if anyone thought otherwise—it was to their peril. This was John’s way of emphasizing the overarching vital nature of the Revelation. Read it all. Believe it all. Find hope in it all. God is coming to the rescue soon!  

And so, ends not just the Revelation, but the entire narrative of the Bible. It ends with a message of great assurance—for those living under Roman oppression—and for Christians of every generation. It is the Lamb that was slain that conquers and will always conquer. Every human kingdom can (and likely will) become a corrupted Babylon, but Jesus will not allow any to have the final say. His is the promise of “everything made new,’ which delivers God’s complete justice while offering the Lamb’s followers an eternity of his provision, protection and presence—all we could ever hope for and more!

So, the Bible starts with us in the presence of God—enjoying intimate fellowship and freedom from sin only to be interrupted and corrupted by Satan and his schemes along with the fallout that has and continues to create. But then the Bible ends with the real promise of us being once again fully in God’s presence enjoying an even greater reality in the new heavens and new earth with Satan vanquished forever. It is the story of redemption, which enabled a generation of Christians to stand against the Babylon that was Rome and will continue to enable us and any generation of Christians to be faithful unto death against whatever Babylon comes next. “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

*Recourses used in the study include Worthy is the Lamb by Ray Summers; Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary by Homer Hailey; The Apocalypse: A Revelation of Jesus Christ by Donald R. Taylor; The Wonder Book of the Bible by Lee G. Tomlinson; and the bibleproject.com Revelation presentations.

The Wokeness of the Gospel

Theologian N.T. Wright has an enlightening statement about our current “woke” culture. He observed that it is trying to produce the gospel multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, socially just community only without the gospel. To me this is exactly it. It is not difficult to observe that some of the woke agenda has a kingdom of God element to it. Eradicate racism; sexism; poverty; in order to create a more just and equal community? Sure thing. Scripture has long been advocating for just that (Proverbs 31:8-9; Isaiah 1:17; Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9-10; Matthew 7:12; James 1:27 to name just a few). But without the gospel (Christ) at the center, it has and always will fail. Too many self-serving agendas interfere; noble ideas become corrupted by power; injustice actually happens, incredibly enough, in the name of justice. We may be witnessing some of that even now. So, I believe, the answer is not going to be found in more laws or politicians or advocacy groups or God forbid, violence. (It certainly has not been found here so far—instead these only seems to produce more of it).

The answer, I believe, has and always will be Christ. Now, I realize to many this either sounds completely naïve or totally out of touch with any reality they have experienced with church and Christians. And I will admit that so often the church has failed to live up to our calling in this regard, but that has never been Christ’s fault. (Again, our own self-serving tendencies get in our way—no one is immune to that.)  Why Christ is the true answer is that his agenda is fully others-serving. It is fueled by a truly unconditional love that even has enough space to love (not eviscerate) enemies. It is an approach of respect not condescension. It turns the other cheek, not striking back harder and faster. Christ’s agenda is not to cancel anyone (even if there may be reasons), but to redeem (Bible word for reclaim, help, seek mutually beneficial solutions, etc.) everyone. The community he desires is the design of heaven. One in which all nations, tribes, peoples, languages come together in mutual respect adopting that agenda as the kingdom of God (Isaiah 2:2-4; Daniel 7:14; Micah 4:1-3; Revelation 5:9; 7:4).

The Apostle Paul writing to one of the very first churches, struggling to implement such a kingdom approach in the face of racism, sexism and injustice (slavery) informed them, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). This idea of oneness is essential to creating this kind of community (and honestly why churches have failed to consistently do so). Out of diversity, Christ calls us to unite. But how? How could first century Jews and non-Jews after centuries of hostility born out of vast cultural differences and embedded suspicion lay that aside and actually find oneness? Again, the answer was Christ. Admittedly this is not an easy answer because it involves surrendering and very few of us enjoy that. But Christ isn’t asking us to surrender our individuality or the rich diversity that formed us, as much as he is asking that we rearrange all of that in order to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). So, what we surrender is what hurts us most–like our prejudices, our pride, our anger, our bitterness, our self-serving agendas, our destructive behaviors, our haterd, our cynicism, our narcissism, etc. and replace that with his values of love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, selflessness, kindness, compassion, gentleness, goodness, joy, peacefulness and hopefulness. This does reshape and redefine, first exposing to us our own contributions to the problems, while then, offering us a way to emerge from them as a better person—because of Jesus. But never does Christ ask us to deny our heritage, our ethnicity, our culturally unique diversity. Rather that is part of the beauty of his community—we become one together within that diversity and even celebrate aspects of it, while we celebrate him as the reason why it can even happen. (Another early church struggled in this journey and again it was the Apostle Paul who wrote to encourage them in the pursuit, while recognizing the difficulties of merging cultures—see Romans 14, It is fascinating read outlining how unity in diversity can co-exist). This community can then serve as a witness to the world; a place where folks of all nations with diverse customs and backgrounds can be accepted; a place where people of all color and language can find common ground, mutual respect, and justice; all because we follow the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. It is a true alternative community devoted to each other, seeking to “honor one another above ourselves” (see Romans 12:10).

Significantly central to this happening is—it is not our own self-will or determination that will drive this (because as noted—this always goes sideways and not occasionally, but every time), but his will—and that is what makes all of the difference (Matthew 6:10). The tricky part is actually surrendering to it as we redefine our primary identity in Jesus. We constantly have to work at that—and it is the reason why this community will not be perfected and fully functioning until Christ’s returns and makes it so (Revelation 21:1-5), but in the interim we can try, can’t we? We can let Christ lead us to become more mature, better reflecting his will. We can strive for our churches to more fully embrace and model the biblical ideal of community. We can create welcoming places in the name of Jesus that offer a glimpse of what a true multi-racial, multi-cultural, socially just community feels like absent of political and other self-serving agendas. We can push back against the divisive, anger-inducing narratives currently driving the hatred and suspicion, with a message of acceptance and hope in Christ Jesus. Why not? What do we have to lose? What are we gaining by holding on to grievances; targeting others who do not look or think like us as enemies—weaponizing social media and other outlets to strike our blows? We are only doubling-down on our collective grief and failures. Instead, it is time for us to “speak a better word” (Hebrews 12:24) and double-down on Jesus. Unless I am misreading—it appears our culture is screaming out for much of what he stands for. They just do not know which way to look. How about truly surrendering our self-will to him for once and moving aside a bit to allow his light an opening to illuminate his Way? Wokeness could take on an entirely new kingdom meaning.

The Throne–Revelation 4-5

John’s narrative shifts in chapters 4-5 to present a first-hand account of the incredible, heavenly throne of God. It is a necessary shift as this text serves to set up the rest of the book and clearly demonstrate the source and authority of the book. John’s vision here makes it clear that the words he shares about “what is about to take place” among the seven churches comes directly from God.

After accepting the invitation and entering in the open door, John witnesses an amazing scene. As his vision takes him personally to the throne of God, he uses language similar to Isaiah 6; Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7 to describe what he sees. He paints a brilliantly vivid and beautiful picture using precious stones for descriptive purposes, but in essence tells us what we already know, that is, God majesty cannot really be adequately captured and described. But like those before him who were gifted a heavenly glimpse, John does his best and it is stunning. He shares what he sees surrounding the throne:

• 24 elders—possibly representing the twelve tribes of Israel along with the twelve apostles, reflecting the authority in both covenants. It would be natural that they would be present in some way around God’s throne. Sitting themselves on thrones and wearing crowns would be emblematic of their own authority—given to them by God and in subjection to God. Wearing white would symbolize redemptive washing.
• Lightning and thunder—not unusual to accompany the presence of God (Exodus 19:16-20)
• Sevens—more sevens seen in the lamps (perhaps based on the Menorah in the temple—Hebrews 9:2) and in the spirits (completeness–representing the Holy Spirit of God whose presence there would be expected). The lamps along with other parts of John’s depiction also reveal a temple-like quality to the throne scene, which would not be surprising.
• Sea of glass—maybe another allusion to the temple, specifically to the large bronze basin (1 Kings 7:23-26) in which the priests bathed before participating in sacrifices (2 Chronicles 4:6).  It would only follow that the temple would reflect the throne.
• The creatures (not “beasts” but the “Zoan” or “living creatures;” have been referred to as seraphim or cherubim)—These are similar to what both Isaiah (6:2-6) and Ezekiel saw (10:9-14). Each has a different face which may represent a different aspect of God’s creation (many diverse ideas have been suggested as each one’s significance and meaning). Perhaps taken together they are meant to represent the fact that all of God’s creation worship him, but the reality is—we do not know for sure. We do know that they serve as narrators when some of the seals are opened (chapter 6). Their purpose with the six wings covered with eyes is to continually—along with the elders—be present to offer praise to God while acknowledging his authority, holiness and worthiness. This is an essential element of the Revelation. For those in the midst of suffering, this unequivocally illustrates that the origin of John’s letter comes from the very throne of God. It is God, himself, speaking directly into their situation and all that he says and promises is true and trustworthy. But he is not alone in speaking.
• The scroll—Again, in the right hand of God firmly indicating it includes only his words—he originated the message and sealed it seven times (a complete word for all churches). Sealing it indicates not only authorship but ownership, which only he or someone so authorized can open it. So, an angel seeks that someone but initially finding no one who has those kind of credentials or worthiness. This saddens John, because he is aware of the significance of the scroll’s message and the importance of sharing it, but an angel announces that there is in fact, someone else who can open it. What follows and this section of the text is, arguably, the most significant part of the entire letter.
• The Lion and the Lamb. A wonderful paradox is next presented to John. Upon the angel’s announcement, he looks and sees the triumphant “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (see Genesis 49:9) and the “Root of David” (see Isaiah 11:1). These are messianic terms describe a military conqueror—certainly the kind of might needed to overcome such powerful evil embodied by the Roman Empire. Someone of such stature would indeed be expected to have the authority to open the seals on the scroll. But before this impressive figure moves to retrieve the scroll, the lion turns into the lamb—a lamb looking as if he had been slain—meaning covered with blood. This presents the exact opposite image then that of the lion—not might, but meekness; not power, but defeat; not a conqueror, but the conquered. How could a slain lamb be worthy to open the scroll? How could those intensely suffering oppression be comforted and assured of ultimate victory if a lamb, instead of a lion was leading them? That is the wonderful paradox we all recognize as Jesus Christ and it is the absolute key to understanding the message of hope and victory in Revelation. It is not the mighty lion that will overcome opposition by brute force, it is the Lamb of God sacrificed on our behalf that will prevail (Isaiah 53:7). It was not the Lion who decisively retrieved the scroll but the Lamb. This is consistent with everything Jesus taught, lived and stands for—and the message John’s audience needed to know and believe. Neither they nor we will overcome the opposition present in the “rulers,” in the “powers of this dark world” and “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12) by matching them blow-by blow, but rather through the testimony of Jesus and the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). The message out of this paradox is essential to comprehend. Heaven possesses the might of the Lion but chooses to express it in the blood of the Lamb—both embodied by Christ who leads not with might but with sacrifice and thus expects the same from his followers (a turning of the cheek, loving your enemies, going the extra-mile approach, which the enemy with all the tools of evil at his disposal cannot match, understand or defeat). So, the message within the scroll belongs to Christ also. Not only is he speaking it, he lived it—the Living Word. The paradox messages to John’s audience that it is Christ’s way that will bring down the persecutors—strength through sacrifice—so hold on and be faithful even in the midst of the worst. The Lamb is depicted as having seven horns and spirits—likely indicating that he possesses both the authority (horns) and Spirit of God in full measure—certainly qualifying him in every way to open the scroll.
• The affirmation. Assuredly the audience in heaven understood it this way as the elders, and the creatures offered him sacrifices and praise (bowls, harps); followed by being joined with an innumerable host singing praise to honor his worthiness and acknowledging the redemptive scope of his sacrifice along with promise to all in his kingdom (“reign on earth”—how the book ends). This is followed by a universal affirmation of the same. The Lamb is worthy to open the seals. Like the Father, the Lamb has all power, honor and glory. He is worthy of worship. The message of the scroll also originates in him and represents his will.

The events of these two chapters do set the stage for the remainder of the letter. John’s original recipients had to know without question that this was God’s revelation to them. All of heaven was aware of and acting upon their plight. Jesus, himself, modeled the solution while guaranteeing the promise of ultimate triumph. It would not be easy, but it would be worth it. And it did happen. The Lamb’s approach eventually did take down an empire. It still offers us our only hope and provides our only path to eternal victory. The heavenly paradox remains.