The Lamb has broken the seal
To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
Be blessing and honour and glory and might. Revelation 5:13
Read Revelation 5:6-12
The scroll is sealed. The purpose, the point, the goal, the meaning, the direction, the significance of all things is all sealed up. This vast universe does not reveal its own meaning. Cosmology does not. From the beginning of time to the end. From before the Big Bang to after the final entropic splutter. My childish wonder, ‘Who made Go-o-o-od?’ Every life lived to its conclusion in some kind of hope or desperation. Who can unlock it? The strange, the really strange thing about Jesus is that I feel I can know him. I have read the Gospels. He has promised his Spirit. I feel I am among his circle of friends. I know his stories. I can picture myself in any one of his stories. There’s Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Zacchaeus, and there’s me! We have done life together. I know this one who has died. I know this one who has risen. I know this one who takes my prayers tonight and contributes them as incense in the holy presence. So all this that I know through Jesus and all that I will one day know in its fullness through Jesus is what this universe is all about. It is the theatre (better than the classroom) for knowing all things through Jesus.
You are worthy, Lord. You break the seal. As you broke the power of sin. As you broke the finality of death. You have broken the seal. The universe, the world I live in, is no longer a stranger to me. It is more than a place to live in and to die in. It is a place of praise. It is yours. It is the theatre of your glory. It is bound for its own reconciliation and renewal. I thank you for my appointed place in the renewal of all things. I thank you for the songs of the scripture to use for your praise in my own place and time.