Well Worth It — Adam’s Angle

Fifteen years ago when you stood at that altar call — your face filled with tears and your heart pounding with emotion— you never thought you’d find yourself here, at the crossroads, asking yourself if it was still worth it to follow Jesus. But that’s where you are.

The topic is nearly taboo, but not unfamiliar. Perhaps you’re like John the Baptist who, after facing disappointment and imprisonment, asked the broken question of Jesus, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Mt. 11:3). Or perhaps you’re like the disciples who, after hearing a hard teaching, were asked by the Master, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” (John 6:67).

In different seasons, we followers of Christ face perplexity and trials in our walk with Him. As a result, we sometimes lose heart and question if we should still follow Him. But when our vision clears and we see Him for who He truly is, we take courage again.

Is He worth all the troubles we face? You’d better believe it. Jesus is worthy of our all because He gave us His all, and did for us what we could not do for ourselves.

The Glory and the Message

One of the clearest pictures we have of who Jesus is can be found in Revelation chapter 5 . It is here that we get a glimpse of Him as the victorious Lamb standing on God’s throne.

With the start of chapter 5, attention is drawn to a scroll in the hand of God the Father: “I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals” (Rev. 5:1).

Consider how important God’s message in that scroll must be. It was important enough for it to be written down— like an edict or a law would be. The gravity of this declaration is conveyed by the fact that the writing was on both sides of the scroll. More than that, the scroll was sealed with seven seals. Seals were kind of like signatures: they guaranteed that the contents of the message were indeed backed by God Himself.

Trouble in Heaven

It was obvious that God had something important to say, but it seemed (for a moment) that God’s message would go unheard and that His will would not be carried out: “I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice:

‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside” (Rev. 5:2-4).

It doesn’t seem hard to break seals on a scroll. But this is no ordinary scroll. Regular folks couldn’t open it. World leaders couldn’t open it. No being— human, angelic, or anything else—could even look inside of it to see what it was about. Heaven and earth were scoured, but there were no takers.

The key is in the question the mighty angel asks: “Who is worthy?” We examine ourselves and see our own inadequacies. We look around us—at our best and brightest—and realize that they, too, fall short. Even angelic messengers can’t cut it. Like John, is there nothing left for us to do but weep?

The Worthy One

There is one hope—and John sees Him do what no one else could:

“Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders . . . He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne” (Rev. 5:5-7).

This worthy One is not some Johnny-come-lately. He is described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David. In other words, He is the long-awaited Messiah.

Beyond that, He is depicted as a sacrificial Lamb. What all creation could not do in their might, the Lamb accomplished through His weakness. The crowd in heaven responds in worship as they acknowledge His sacrifice:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

A Bit of History

So how does all of this mysterious fanfare in heaven relate to you and me in our nitty-gritty world? Consider first how this glimpse into heaven at the Lamb of God would have impacted the original readers of Revelation.

The book was written during a time of persecution in the early church. Jews who had put their faith in Christ may have been wondering if it was worth the added persecution of following Jesus when they could just stick to traditional Judaism, which was more tolerated than this new Christ-sect.

Likewise, Gentiles in the church may have thought that there was simply too much trouble in being associated with Christianity. There were plenty of other religions out there; maybe they should just choose something a little less fiery.

But this picture of Jesus in Revelation 5 would have reminded both Jews and Gentiles that it was more than worth it to give their all to follow Christ. For the Jews, He was the long-awaited Messiah. For the Gentiles, He was the unique one that no other religious figure or philosopher could measure up to. Yes, there would be trials and trouble. But He was worth it.

And He’s still worth any and every trouble you and I could face today. We may face disappointing circumstances, perplexing questions or even real persecution for our faith. But what applied to those first believers applies to you and me.

Jesus, this Lamb that was slain, is unique. He did what no one else could do, and He did it so we could benefit from it. He is the One who has fulfilled God’s plan for the ages. He indeed is worthy of all our praise, of all we are, and of all we may suffer for Him.

— Adam Pivec
7/12/09