GOD’S WORD FOR SEPTEMBER 15 ~ ~ Revelation 5:13-14 ~ ~ “ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

‘Blessing and honor and glory and power

Be to Him who sits on the throne,

And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’

Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.”

This is the last day in the book, We Shall See God.  We’re finishing the chapter entitled:   “The Power and Glory of our Redeemer, part two”   Tomorrow we start with “The Risen King” a collection of sermons by Charles Spurgeon on the Sacrifice of Christ and the Resurrection, collected by J.A. Medders.

RANDY ALCORN:

Spurgeon wrote hymns and published a new collection of worship songs in 1866 called “Our Own Hymn-Book”.  It was mostly a compilation of Isaac Watt’s psalms and hymns.  Spurgeon paid close attention to the doctrines contained in hymns.  He was publicly critical of a particular hymnbook that portrayed God as distant and uninvolved in human affairs.  As usual, his criticism gained him a great deal of negative press in return.

It is the hymn of Revelation chapter 5 that Spurgeon chooses as his passage in this sermon, expressing that the entire physical universe was created for God’s glory.  Then humanity rebelled, and the universe fell under the weight of our sin.  Yet the serpent’s seduction of Adam and Eve did not catch God by surprise.  He had in place a plan by which He would redeem mankind – and all of creation – from sin, corruption and death.  Just as He promises to make men and women new, He promises to renew the earth itself.  How?  By the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God.  There is no other way.

If, due to the fall, God would have given up on His original purpose for mankind to fill the earth and rule it (Genesis 1:28), He surely wouldn’t have repeated the same command to Noah after the flood:  “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth”  (Genesis 9:1)  Still, until sin and the curse are permanently removed, people are incapable of exercising proper stewardship of the earth.  Redemption buys back God’s original design.

“God never wearies of the precious blood,”  Spurgeon says, “nor will His people who know where their salvation lies.”  The gospel is far greater than most of us imagine.  It isn’t just good news for us – it’s good news for animals, plants, stars, and planets.  It’s good news for the sky above and the earth below.  Albert Wolters says, “The redemption in Jesus Christ means the restoration of an original good creation.”

God’s redemptive plan climaxes not at the return of Christ, nor in the millennial Kingdom but on the new earth.  Only then will all wrongs be made right.  Only then will there be no more death, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:1-4).  And only then will we all begin to see the breadth and depth of the universe – piercing power of the blood of God.

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1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 4:7

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

Romans 11:27

For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

1 Corinthians 15:17

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

Galatians 1:4

who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Ephesians 1:7

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Ephesians 2:1

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

Colossians 1:14

in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 1:3

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

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