As we leave 2025 in the rear-view mirror for 2026, let’s grab a little taste of heaven right here in Tucson. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: The Book of Advent
TEXT: Revelation 5
TITLE: From the Manger to the Throne
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Because Jesus has made much of us with His life, we must make much of him with ours.
POINTS:
I. Allow the Gospel to Define Our Lives
II. Allow Our Lives to Praise the One Who Defines Us
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
“Thursday night, after the last grandkid loaded up in their car and headed home, I closed the door, looked at Donna, and said—That was a great Christmas, what now? The shopping is done. The presents are opened. The food is gone. The Christmas movies have all been watched…twice. The Church Christmas parties are over. The Candlelight service is behind us. What now?”
“Christmas can feel like that, can’t it? All the planning, prep, and anticipation, then it’s over in a moment. Spiritually speaking, we know what proceeds Christmas—the cross on Good Friday, the empty tomb on Easter, and the ascension forty days later. But what now? We know Jesus will come again. But what about right now?”
“For that, we look into the heavenly throne room where Advent meets eternity. Here’s what we will find: Because Jesus has made much of us with His life, we must make much of him with ours.”
“That’s the answer to the question—What Now? We spend the remainder of our time on earth making much of Jesus with our lives. And the inhabitants of Revelation 5 show us how.”
“Our text takes us into the holy throne room of heaven. In chapter four, John pulls back the curtains on the ceaseless praise and adoration of God Almighty. His splendor and majesty were described in the only way John knew how, in brilliant colors and precious jewels. Then in 5:1, John says—Then I saw. With these words, John shifts his focus. What has caught his eye?”
“John’s attention is captured by a scroll in the right hand of God that had writing front and back and was sealed with seven seals. This scroll contains God’s plan for judgment and salvation, inaugurated in the birth, life, and death of Jesus and literally unfolding, then, now, and in the future. In short, the scroll reveals who wins, and how. Spoiler alert—Jesus wins and that means we win!”
“There is one problem. There is no one who is able to open the scroll. Not the four heavenly beings. Not the twenty-four elders. Not even the mighty angel. There is no one in heaven or on earth, in all of creation, anywhere, at any time, worthy to open the scroll. No wonder John weeps aloud. But suddenly, a voice thunders through the heavenly throne room. In 5, the elder describes a ferocious Lion and invokes David, the militaristic and nationalistic warrior king. These are the titles of a mighty conqueror. But what John sees in 6 is seemingly far from a conqueror. He sees a Lamb that had been slaughtered.”
“We know who this is. It’s the seed promised in Genesis 3. It’s the child foretold about in Isaiah 9. It’s the baby born in a manger and welcomed by a heavenly choir in Luke 2. It’s the one by whom we have received adoption into God’s heavenly family, according to Galatians 4. It’s the crucified and risen Jesus! He takes center stage in the heavenly throne room as the only one worthy to open the scroll. What makes him worthy is not his perfect power and wisdom symbolized by the seven eyes and horns in 6. What makes him worthy to open the scroll is his saving work on the cross.”
“I don’t want us to miss John’s focus here: What has captured the full attention of the throne room is not a ferocious roaring Lion or a mighty warrior king. That’s how we would write the script. But we didn’t write the script, God did. And the centerpiece of His script is a slaughtered Lamb - revealing that at the heart of His eternal rule is the gospel. The one born in a manger conquered sin, death, and Satan, not by killing them enemy with a sword but by dying on a cross. That same death that conquers also redeems a royal and holy people for God. The metaphors are paradoxical. The conquering power of the roaring Lion is expressed in the death of the slain Lamb.”
“At the heart God’s sovereign and eternal rule that was inaugurated in a manger is the sacrificial and saving death of Jesus. This is what eternally defines Jesus and is the basis for is worthiness to open the scroll.”
“Now, if Jesus is eternally defined by his gospel work, then the gospel is what must define us in our daily lives. In answering the question—What now?, our answer should be—Allow the Gospel to Define Our Lives. This is how we make much of Jesus until his return—allowing his life, death, and resurrection to define every aspect of our lives.”
“In the final chapter of this book Jesus promises three times—I am coming soon. The second Advent. But until then, our lives are meant to defined by the person and power of the cross to save sinners and change lives.”
“Unfortunately, there are so many things OTHER than the gospel that COULD, and all too often DO, define our lives: vocation, tradition, success, season of life, physical appearance, felt needs, roles in the church, life experiences, past failures, besetting sin.”
“But a biblical worldview (and by worldview I mean what shapes your thoughts about life and what guides your behavior in life) a biblical worldview will always have Christ at the center. Revelation is a book that doesn’t merely tell us God’s plan, it SHOWS us God’s plan. That’s why there’s so much symbolism. If we could create a picture that SHOWS what defines our lives, it should be Revelation 5. To the degree that the gospel shapes your worldview is the degree to which your life will be defined by the gospel.”
“John is witnessing a TSUNAMI of praise. They sang a new song, and they fell down and worshipped Jesus. Their worship was verbal and physical. It included their hearts and their bodies. They praise him for giving his life on the cross and saving sinners from every corner of the earth, including ours! They praise him for building God’s kingdom and defeating Satan so that God’s people—here’s the now/not yet tension in redemptive history—reign in God’s kingdom as priests, now in part, and fully when Christ returns and establishes his eternal kingdom. They praise Jesus for the eternal excellencies of his power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.”
“Notice the crescendo effect. In 8-9, it was the four living creatures and the twenty-four singing praises to the Lamb of God. Then in verse 11, they are joined by myriads and myriads and thousands and thousands of angels (translation: a lot of angels) singing the praises of the Lamb that was slain. And if that were not sufficient, 13 says every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in them are praising the victorious Lamb of God.”
“They are giving Jesus all they have. Fear of man is nowhere to be found. They are worshiping Jesus in truth—according to who he is and what he has done. They are delighting in him. They are expressing their deepest joy and satisfaction in him. They are holding nothing back. They are making much of Jesus.”
“If you want to know what heaven will be like. If you want to know why the universe exists. If you want to know the point of all that’s written in the scroll. If you want to know why Jesus came. If you wonder why you exist. The inhabitants of the heavenly throne are showing you—To make much of Jesus with every ounce of our being.”
“Christmas is three days past. But the truth is Christmas is never really over. The manger leads to the cross, which leads to the empty tomb, which leads to the eternal throne room. What we see there is not a distant and irrelevant moment. It’s the eternal vocation of all God’s people who will one day join in to worship in the presence of the Triune God for all his excellencies as our Lord and Savior, the Lamb that was slain for the ransom of sinners like us.”
“As we leave 2025 in the rear-view mirror for 2026, let’s grab a little taste of heaven right here in Tucson by joining in with heaven in the only appropriate way—Let’s make much of Jesus by singing the praise of who he is and what he has done and all he has for us one day in heaven.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 2:8-11
QUOTES:
Sam Storms- “And so all creation in heaven and earth stands motionless and speechless as a search is undertaken for someone worthy to open this book. Is no one capable of bringing history to its ordained end? Call your Congressman! Call your Senator! Write letters of inquiry to the most brilliant of scientist and astrophysicist! If necessary, get in touch with the White House! Surely someone here on earth is worthy enough and strong enough to open the book of human history and tell us its content and its consummation.”
G.K. Beale - “While he was suffering the defeat of death, he was also overcoming by creating a kingdom of redeemed subjects over whom he would reign and over whom the devil would no longer have power….Therefore, while Jesus was being defeated at the cross he was nevertheless beginning to establish his Kingdom.”
SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Sing
Is He Worthy
Crown Him With Many Crowns
Jesus Paid It All
This Is Amazing Grace
NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 1:1-7, The Christology of Romans
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