THE FINAL WORD
They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages!" Rev. 15:3, R.S.V.
On that great day when the saints receive the kingdom, there will be so much to sing about! The reunion with friends; the exhilaration of perfect bodies; the ending of all tension; the perfect harmony of all nature. How easy it would be to sing even about our own joy in being there--our blissful peace and our newfound capacities.
But the Scriptures record that one song shall swallow up every other. It is not a song written by some musically talented angel, published in large numbers, and distributed to the redeemed for them to memorize and rehearse. It is a free-flowing song, arising from the experience of the redeemed themselves. In fact, there are stanzas in the song that only the redeemed can ever fully appreciate.
It is an utterly God-ward song, inspired by and dedicated to the One who shall be known as alone worthy of our praise. It is called the song of Moses and the Lamb, because Jesus and Moses were the only ones in history ready to put their eternal lives on the line for the salvation of man and the honor of God (see Ex. 32:32). And it is sung by people who themselves would rather die than knowingly bring dishonor upon the One they have come to love and trust.
I was recently in conversation with a man who holds firmly to a belief in predestination--that God simply selects certain persons to be objects of His grace and others to be reprobates. "It's just one of the many dark pictures of God," he sighed, "and we simply have to learn to accept it. If God wills it, it is for that reason 'right.' Who are we to question?"
How grateful I am to worship a God who is someday soon going to open for review before the universe every act and every decision He has made in His six-thousand-year endeavor to win back His people. And the universal response will be, "Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all (Rev. 14:4, T.E.V.).
They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages!" Rev. 15:3, R.S.V.
On that great day when the saints receive the kingdom, there will be so much to sing about! The reunion with friends; the exhilaration of perfect bodies; the ending of all tension; the perfect harmony of all nature. How easy it would be to sing even about our own joy in being there--our blissful peace and our newfound capacities.
But the Scriptures record that one song shall swallow up every other. It is not a song written by some musically talented angel, published in large numbers, and distributed to the redeemed for them to memorize and rehearse. It is a free-flowing song, arising from the experience of the redeemed themselves. In fact, there are stanzas in the song that only the redeemed can ever fully appreciate.
It is an utterly God-ward song, inspired by and dedicated to the One who shall be known as alone worthy of our praise. It is called the song of Moses and the Lamb, because Jesus and Moses were the only ones in history ready to put their eternal lives on the line for the salvation of man and the honor of God (see Ex. 32:32). And it is sung by people who themselves would rather die than knowingly bring dishonor upon the One they have come to love and trust.
I was recently in conversation with a man who holds firmly to a belief in predestination--that God simply selects certain persons to be objects of His grace and others to be reprobates. "It's just one of the many dark pictures of God," he sighed, "and we simply have to learn to accept it. If God wills it, it is for that reason 'right.' Who are we to question?"
How grateful I am to worship a God who is someday soon going to open for review before the universe every act and every decision He has made in His six-thousand-year endeavor to win back His people. And the universal response will be, "Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all (Rev. 14:4, T.E.V.).
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