A major theme in the book of Revelation is the worship of God and the Lamb. This worship is characterized by scenes that describe angelic and human beings exalting the Lamb’s “worthiness.”
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. – Revelation 5:9-14
The final plagues of God’s wrath are introduced with the “Song of Moses and the Lamb.”
And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” – Revelation 15:2-4
Why is there an emphasis on Jesus’ (and God’s) worthiness and judgments?
I don’t know anyone who says it better than Professor John Peckham in a YouTube interview. Toward the end of the interview he speaks about what the conflict between Satan and God is all about. Here is an excerpt (slightly edited for clarity) from the transcript of that interview.
In the New Testament Jesus himself describes [Satan] as the ruler of this world which means he has some real and significant jurisdiction in this world temporarily. Wait a minute God is all powerful there’s no one more powerful than God, that’s what makes him God. Then you you got an angel, a fallen angel. There’s no power struggle here. God is obviously the Champ here. If it was a if it was a conflict or a struggle of sheer power there could be no conflict. God is all powerful, so the conflict must be of another Kind.
it’s actually a conflict over character. If you were to look at the Bible story from beginning to end you see that from the beginning to end the Devil is a deceiver he’s a liar. Jesus calls him the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. From the very beginning of the story to the end he Slanders God’s character. He can’t dethrone God by force. He doesn’t have the power to do
So, but what he tries to do is undermine God’s Authority in a universe of free beings by causing people to question God’s goodness, to question God’s love, to question God’s law. And those kinds of allegations, not only are they allegations that can be lodged by someone less powerful, they also can’t be answered by a show of power.
That’s what we want. We want God to step in and just put an end to evil immediately: to stop this bad guy. So if you imagine a mayor of a town who’s falsely accused of corruption They’re not corrupt but if they were then to use all of their power to squash the allegations and squash the people raising the allegations would that clear their name or make the problem worse? It actually makes the problem worse unless first there was some demonstration of their innocence or demonstration of their goodness or demonstration of their character.
That’s what we see playing out in this world: a demonstration that the devil’s allegations are false and that God is truly good, not for God’s sake, but for the sake of the entire universe because the only way the universe can flourish is if everyone trusts God unreservedly and trusts his goodness unreservedly. So God is not doing it for himself. He’s all powerful. He doesn’t have to defend his name. He’s doing it for the sake of love. If you think your beloved is a tyrant or you think your beloved is is really evil and not really good – unless those kinds of misgivings or doubts are cleared there cannot be a true genuine full love relationship of the kind that the entire Harmony of the universe is based on.
To sum up: Satan’s only way to fight God is character assassination. God’s judgment on sin and salvation of humanity are the only way God can fight back without losing credibility in the eyes of those He wishes to redeem, as well as retaining the trust of His currently faithful angels. His loving and just character are displayed in both how He avenges His martyrs and how He rewards His saints.
That was only a part of a very interesting interview that also covered the problem God’s omniscience and omnipotence and the existence of evil. Why did God create a devil? It is definitely a worthwhile video to watch in its entirety, titled: Didn’t God know Lucifer would turn evil? Why did He create him? Listen to what this professor says!!
John Valade 
Leave a comment