Celebrate Life “Eternal”
At each year’s end there are many holidays and celebrations. We celebrate blessings, family, and the year that was. In the sports world, there are even more celebrations. Bowl games and national championships and even the Super Bowl, which is arguably the biggest national event on the radar. At the end of these games there is always music and confetti; so much so that you can hardly hear or see. And it seems that there is always one song that will be played at some point during the time that the winning team is holding up the trophy and exchanging high-fives and hugs – “We are the Champions.”
These scenes bring to mind the time when the apostle John was on the island of Patmos and received a heavenly vision through the means of an angel. In that inspired vision he delivers the book of Revelation, written specifically to seven churches in Asia, but with a lasting message for Christians. You might say that the theme of Revelation is the same as the song that teams play in celebration at the end of winning seasons. We are champions! – but not through who we are or what we have done, but because of the Lamb!
In the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation John invites us into the throne room of God. There are trumpet sounds in the throne room. There are beautiful and precious stones in the throne room. There is a sea of glass, and there are the four beasts, and there are twenty-four elders all in the throne room. There are crowns and sounds and spirits and angels and things beyond comprehension in the throne room. And on the throne, above all, is the One who is seated and who receives continual worship.
The central thought of these two chapters is that God is going to be worshipped eternally for what He has done for His creation. He is certainly worthy of such worship, and in the very presence of God this has always been the most natural response for any created being. But a secondary and crucially important idea expressed in these chapters is the reality that heaven is going to be the location of the greatest celebration that will ever take place. Sin and Satan, death and demons, have been forever defeated through the blood of Jesus Christ. His faithful followers will reside in heaven in everlasting glory with the Godhead and the angelic host of ether plains.
If one examines these two chapters, the bliss and exuberance of those who are gathered can be observed from the words that are leaving their lips. They are celebrating life eternal. They are praising the one who purchased them with blood. They are extoling the Creator. They are expressing love and adoration for a glorious and holy and perfectly powerful God. Their worship is without pause, their peace is without interference, and their complete joy is without end. This is what it means to be a child of God! These are the feelings and blessings of an ultimate victory.
Christians are people who have already printed hats and t-shirts that say “champions.” They are finishing the final plays of the game and they can see that the scoreboard plainly shows Satan has lost and there is no chance of him coming back and winning. They are beginning their celebration, by living in the splendor of the greatest play in history, the play that sealed the game at a place called Calvary. They can celebrate by living the Christian life. They can anticipate the celebration of the throne room of God! Because in Christ, and only in Christ, they are forever champions!
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” – Romans 8:37
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