December 7–The Redeemed
Yesterday, I didn’t feel very well and I found myself just crying and I again thought about heaven. No crying there and if we are able to enter with tears, we are told that God will wipe them all away, just like a sweet mama with her child.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands...And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 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...For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ””
Revelation 7:9, 14-17 NIV
Revelation 7 gives us a beautiful picture of the “Ones who have come through great tribulation” and what their experience around the throne is like. It sounds magnificent. I love that they are carrying palm branches—a sign of victory.
We are told they are washed clean by blood—an interesting phrase because we don’t think of blood as a cleaning agent. But the significance here is that the redeemed aren’t washed clean by their own tears or even by their own blood in martyrdom, but only by Jesus, who shed his precious, perfect blood. We can’t do anything on our own that makes our robes white.
Maybe the best take away from this passage is that we are again reassured that in heaven, the redeemed enjoy the immediate presence of God. They can come right into the throne room and be with God. There are no barriers, no waiting lists. The lives we live now knowing God are just a shadow, a pale sketch, of what it will be like in heaven when God dwells with us. How can anyone be sad there?
Dear Jesus, thank you for the promise of heaven and the wonderful descriptions we have in your word. We are anxious for the great home you have prepared where we will forevermore dwell with you. How beautiful it must be, this haven of rest for the weary! We praise your holy name this day and we give you all our worship for you alone are worthy. We love you dear Lord and we thank you for our salvation. Amen and amen.
Love you dear one
Pam
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