City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

Salvation belongs to our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!

¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,

Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 7:9-12 (CSB)

¹ Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has performed wonders;
his right hand and holy arm
have won him victory.
² The Lord has made his victory known;
he has revealed his righteousness
in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth
have seen our God’s victory.

⁴ Let the whole earth shout to the Lord;
be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.
⁵ Sing to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious song.
⁶ With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn
shout triumphantly
in the presence of the Lord, our King.

Psalm 98:1-6 (CSB)

Reflection

When I was young, I thought heaven was all about worship and playing instruments. I didn’t understand the difference between celebrating all God has done versus what the new heaven and new earth would ultimately be or look like.

But, there will be singing, praise, and reference given to our Father and God. It will be because of the outpouring of love for our Savior and what He has done for us on this earth. Worshiping with our fellow brothers and sisters from all nations, backgrounds, and ethnicities will make it all that much sweater. As we get to heaven, it’ll be one full gathering, a church united, singing praises to our mighty Father and God.

I believe this will be something that we will not be able to put into words, even though we get a small taste of this while on earth. The closer we grow in our love for God through prayers and worship, we become so overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy that we cannot help but let our hearts sing. We will want to worship and praise our God for His goodness and mercy. This is because we accepted His sacrifice for our sins and surrendered to His will on earth. We will want to do the same in heaven.

But by no means will this be the only thing we will be doing. A new heaven and earth will lead us into a place where we can truly use our gifts for good in a world that is not broken by sin. And we will be one people, one nation serving one triune God. The church in our current earth is supposed to give us a taste of this goodness and that’s why we celebrate together and worship our Lord and Savior, looking to an eternity with Him as a united people. We are the light of this world and God’s representatives to a fallen world.

Application

We celebrate and come together as one people unified in our worship to God. The sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and the acknowledgement of our faith through Baptism is to tell the world that we are God’s sons and His people. This reminder is to help us gain an eternal mindset as we reach this fallen world and bring people to the knowledge of God and what Jesus did for us.

Prayer

Father in heaven, help me to see who You are and what You have done for us through communion. Let me always keep in mind Your great goodness so that I can be reminded of our mission to reach all people’s from every nation to join us in heaven. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.