A Window Open to the Glory of Jesus
In my last post I offered some reflections on the vision of chapel at Trinity Western, arguing that the gospel is calling us to be part of God's work of uniting all things in one overwhelming passion - to treasure Jesus Christ above all. But what does this mean in our day-to-day practice? How can we experience a heart-knowledge of Jesus as our treasure, when everything around us is declaring its own promise of wealth and prosperity? What does it mean to treasure Jesus Christ above all, and how could we do it more faithfully together?
I have been studying the book of Revelation in my personal devotions over the last couple of months, and I think this amazing book offers a few insights that can help us learn to treasure Christ. Revelation is a letter from the Beloved Apostle, John, to seven representative churches in Asia Minor, late in the first century. It details an experience of John during his exile on the prison colony of Patmos, in which heavenly realities were unveiled to his earthly eyes for the sake of the churches. The churches which John shepherded were experiencing tremendous pressure from within and without, including persecution from anti-Christian political and religious powers, a loss of favour in and access to the marketplace, and alternative, heretical "gospels" of health-and-wealth, sexual libertarianism, and religiously-justified classism. You can get a sense of what these churches were facing by reading the letters from Jesus to the churches in Revelation 2-3. As I read these letters, it is striking how relevant Jesus' encouragement and warning are to our lives today.
The book of Revelation (Gr. apocalypsos = unveiling) can be pretty daunting, because of all the complex and varied imagery employed by Jesus in communicating with John. One teacher on Revelation has compared the imagery to political cartoons - they are dramatic and in-your-face images, drawn from culture, history, and in John's case, Jewish expectations, to provoke a new way of seeing things. There is something we can learn about treasuring Jesus Christ from this book.
In chapter 7, we are given one of many windows into heaven. Now, we should understand that for John and his Jewish counterparts, heaven was not a distant place, like a planet not yet visited. And Jesus was not going to "return" to earth like the Starship Enterprise, back from a trip to a distant galaxy. Rather, in the Jewish understanding, heaven was the unseen reality that surrounds us all the time... the realm of spiritual beings and spiritual warfare, the reality that holds all things together. So for a moment, John's eyes are opened to that reality, and this is what he sees:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (7:9-12)
The ancient Roman world was an intimidating place to be a Christian. The empire flaunted its economic, political, and religious power in majestic temples, impressive government buildings, bustling markets, and a daunting military presence. If you failed to comply with a bizarre annual obligation to offer incense and declare, "Caesar is Lord," you'd be excluded from commerce, stripped of influence, and in John's case, exiled. Rome did everything it could to say, "Every corner of the world belongs to Rome; all nations bow to Rome. All glory and honour and wisdom and power belong to Rome. You owe everything - your security, your prosperity, your comfort - to Rome." It was known as the great Pax Romanus - peace and security benevolently provided by Rome.
Rome (or Babylon, as John refers to it in Revelation) continues to exist today, wherever you might be in the world, demanding your allegiance and gratitude for its benevolent provision and protection. Through the idols such as money, sensual indulgence, and self-ambitious power, you are promised that all will be well and safe, if you give in to their demands. Sure, you can have your faith, if that gives you a sense of comfort (especially for the afterlife); just don't let it interfere with what is truly ultimate - in our case, the all-powerful market, driven by your and my consumption.
But John knows better than this. Because God has unveiled the heavens to John for a moment in time, he knows the truth. The true Empire scoffs at the power of Rome, and Babylon, and any other superpower, state, or economy. Sitting at the centre of that throne is the Lamb who was slain, surrounded by the faithful Israel of God (the 24 elders), all of creation (the living creatures), and the angels. But most remarkable is this congregation of white-robed people from every people group on earth, people whose faith has survived a great tribulation of persecution and ushered them into the throne room of Emperor Jesus.
And there we hear this amazing promise of a different kind of Empire, a Pax Christus:
Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not scorch them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
What John sees in heaven is the reality that has been sealed by the victory of Jesus Christ through His atoning death and victorious resurrection: a kingdom where relationship with God is restored, the effects of sin are gone, the people of God are fully inhabited by the power and presence of God, and all things are made right so that sorrow is gone. If we look with our human eyes at the circumstances around us, we would despair of the reign of God. But when we get this glimpse into the present reality of the invisible heavens that surround us, we see that Rome and Babylon and the modern Western nations are just small players in the plan of God to restore all of creation.
What does this have to do with treasuring Christ, especially as we go through a summer of menial work, lonesome studies, or recreational escape, or as we enter a new year full of academic, personal, and financial stress? The good news is that we don't have to live our entire life with our eyes blinded to and our spirit unaware of those realities that John saw. God has given us a window into the glory of Jesus, the strong Lion who is a slain Lamb at the centre of the throne. That window is in Scripture, in the songs of the church throughout the ages, in the writings of those who have meditated on all of this. He invites us, every day, to begin our day, or stop in the middle of the day, or close our day, to find Him there, if even for a brief moment, and to know Him as the true Lord of all. He promises that as we treasure Him as our true Lord through these simple kingdom-touching practices, that we'll begin to taste the goodness of that coming kingdom. His future will begin to leak into our present, transforming us, preparing us, and sustaining us as His disciples.
I'm praying that we, as a community of Jesus' disciples in a world where God-opposed powers seem to dominate, will be able to find that time and place of adoration together, where the glory of Christ is treasured above all, and we can be nourished by the peace and vitality of God's kingdom for a few moments, before we enter that world again. Do you need the window opened for you again? Take a few moments, even today, to find Him in the Scriptures. I recommend anything in the book of Revelation... but Colossians 1, Philippians 2, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 53... the list is endless. Take a few moments to pull out your instrument (even if it's just your voice) and express your worship back to him, imagining the ‘great multitude that no one could number' singing along with you. Pick up a book like Knowing God by J.I. Packer, God is the Gospel by John Piper, or even a good hymnal, and let the glory of Christ wash over your heart and mind. As we unite together in treasuring Christ above all, let us treasure the glory of our slain and reigning Lord.