2022-06-24
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Rev 4: 10-11 gives us a partial picture of worship in heaven before the throne of God. “The twenty-four elders fall sown before Him Who sits on the throne and worship Him Who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things by Your will they were created and were given existence and life.’” This is the first of the songs in Revelation and is known as “The Creation.” But we must make the distinction between a diadem and a crown to appreciate it’s eternal meaning. Our heads are the seats of our intelligence. Most of us know that the brain is responsible for controlling many internal functions of the body. As the seat of our intelligence—the sum total of our learned information, decisions, emotions, innate urges, and seeing, tasting, smelling, and hearing. Some of these functions are tangible and some are intangible. A diadem is a headband, an ornament often decorated with gems or other signs of human authority such as a royal title. A crown is very different. It is a mark of honor given for a task well done or for overcoming temptation to do evil, a sign of favor of the Lord given.
While diadems are often inherited or appointed by humans, crowns are given by our Triune God. We can see this in IS 61: 1-3, as we may assume that Isaiah has received a crown. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion ---to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” We remember that Isaiah, whose earthly father was Amoz, was a prophet during the time of king Hezekiah and others who lived from 760-673 BC. IS 62: 6-7, “On the walls of Jerusalem, I have placed sentries; they must never be silent day or night. They must remind the Lord of his promises and never let Him forget them. They must give Him no rest until He restores Jerusalem and makes it a city the whole world praises.” That Jerusalem is the “city on a hill” referred in MT 5: 14 and in REV 21: 2. I think of these sentries as those who teach and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior eternally. They claim, as the apostle Paul did to the Colossians in COL 3: 2-4, “Keep your minds on the things of heaven and not on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God; Your real life is Christ and when He appears you too will appear with Him and share His glory.” At present one of the main differences between Judaism and Christianity is the belief on the part of Christians in Christ’s deity. RO 11: 25 gives us a prophecy of what God will do to make it possible for righteous Jews to gain eternal life, despite their present rejection of Christ. “There is a secret truth I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles has come to God.”
There are five types of crowns believers can be granted: They are Life; Incorruptibility; Righteousness; Glory; Exultation. The first heavenly song sung by the twenty-four elders [above] is Creation. Only God, through Christ-is the Creator. He breathes life into humans, just as He breathed life into Israel, depicted in EZK 37: 7-8, 14. One further example has to do with JN 1: 4 and 2 TIM 3: 16-17. Note that the latter passage begins: “The Word of God [the Scriptures] are God breathed and useful in …” By no means is this the only crown, and I am commanded by the Holy Spirit to continue this discussion next week.
PRAYER: O Lord, for us to understand what the Holy Spirit is giving us, we must have the Spirit [1 COR 2: 12-14]. When we adjust our thinking to make it in eternal terms, we prepare ourselves to understand all the intangible things that You tell us, which don’t obey the laws of Newton or Einstein. These intangibles can’t be held in one’s hand but can be understood with the help You give us. Faith is “to be sure of things hoped for and to be certain of things we cannot see” [HE 11: 1]. It is faith in Christ that brings us real life, a life where we are determined to faithfully obey Your teaching. Those of us who began our lives without the guidance and leadership of Your Spirit, then accepted the gift of faith in Christ, can really see the difference it makes in our lives. We thank and praise You, Lord, for all that You are and all that You do, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: As mentioned above, I’ve been directed to continue writing about the types of crowns and, if space permits, the seven works of the Holy Spirit next week. The love that the Lord has shown me and the joy He has given me has taken a most intriguing direction. Throughout my life, I have moved many times and travelled in both Canada and Europe. The place I lived longest was Woodbury, MN, and I loved living there. Many people when they learn this have asked me, “How could you stand such cold winters?” The answer I give is that one gets acclimated to them. The real reason is the joy the Lord has given me with my many years of marriage to my husband, Peter, and with the opportunity to serve Him in ministry. The very word “minister,” means servant, and that is what God gave me to be, one of His many servants. Despite living all those years in “America’s Siberia,” I was given the same inner joy and love that I felt then in my newest phase of life-living with my son, my daughter-in-law, and grandson. I miss Peter, who passed away to heaven in 2021, but the Lord has given me faith that Peter and I are going to be reunited in heaven on God’s timeclock. While I learn patience for that time, I can still have the gifts of love and joy from the Holy Spirit. Blessed be our Lord forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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