Revelation 5:11-14

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

One characteristic of the worship in heaven that we can observe is that there are different groups collaborating and responding to one another.  The angels and elders lead the worship with a stanza of praise to the Lamb and then every creature responds by joining them in further declarations of His glory.  It is hard to imagine how moving this worship must be and it is glorious to imagine that we will be participating in it.

WORSHIP DESCRIBES CHRIST’S POSESSIONS: The living creatures, twenty-four elders, and many angels lead a song of worship to the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the one worthy to open the scroll but before the opening of the scroll begins, to focus of all of heaven is fixed on Jesus.  He is of far more importance than the scroll He is about to open.  The song they sing: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.”  Jesus was crucified on our behalf, and His sacrifice is recognized as one of the reasons the He is the object of worship.  Without His sacrifice, there would be no human participation of the worship in heaven.  Only because the Lamb came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin, and was raised from the dead are we able to have the hope of joining in this heavenly worship.  This stanza of the song describes those things that Christ is worth to possess.  Power, wealth, wisdom, and might are all ascribed to Jesus.  He possesses these attributes to perfection.  He is all powerful, inherits everything, all-knowing, and capable of doing anything.  His sacrifice and His attributes motivate the hosts of heaven to give Him honor, glory, and blessing.  We stand in awe of His greatness and glory and realize that worship is the only acceptable response.

WORSHIP DECLARES CHRIST’S POSITION: The first stanza of this anthem of worship receives a response in the form of a second refrain of worship.  This second stanza is sung by every being in a universal recognition of the sovereignty of Christ.  The phrase “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea” is all inclusive.  This includes all spiritual beings, both holy and fallen, and all human being, both redeemed and unredeemed.  The demonic beings who fell along with Satan and those people who rejected Christ will one day all worship the Lord Jesus.  That does not mean that they will be saved from the wrath of God.  It simply means that they will bow their knee before the Lord recognizing the authority of Jesus and they will not be able to help worshiping He against whom they rebelled.  They will declare that He alone can sit on the throne of the universe and then will repeat the refrain that all blessing, honor, glory, and might are His forever more.  There will be no more rebellion against the King of kings and Lord of lords. The anthem of worship closes with the four living creatures saying Amen and the twenty-four elders falling before the Lamb in worship.  

APPLICATION: Know that the Lord Jesus is worthy of our worship and that He is glorified by our worship.  We should worship the Lord today by describing and declaring His glory.  No matter how much power sinful men and demonic powers may wield on the earth today; we can be assured that they will all end up bowing their knees and raising their voices in worship of Jesus.