“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).

Revelation 5 is a wonderful, encouraging chapter to read. John talks about a scroll which no one in Heaven or earth was worthy to open (vss. 1-4). This book represents God’s revelation or message to humanity, therefore one had to be worthy to open such a priceless scroll. In vss. 5-8, one is mentioned who is worthy: Jesus, the Lamb of God. Vs. 9 gives four reasons why the Lamb is worthy which we will now examine.

“For you were slain.” Jesus was slain for our sins so that we could be forgiven (Isaiah 53:4-7; Acts 10:39; Galatians 3:13). There could be no greater sacrifice for the sins of man. Jesus knew this and offered Himself up willingly (Luke 22:42; John 10:17-18). Anyone who has enough love to offer Himself for sinful man is certainly worthy to open such a valuable scroll (Romans 5:5-8)!

“And have redeemed us to God.” The word redemption means to “buy back.” There was a time in our life when we were too young to be accountable to sin. We were innocent in God’s sight until we became accountable and willfully sinned against Him. At this point, we needed God to buy us back from a life of sin which Jesus was able to do because of His death (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23). The price was His blood, which leads us to our next point.

“By Your blood.” Jesus redeemed us by His blood (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Revelation 1:5). The blood of animals, which was sacrificed under the Mosaic Law, was not good enough to redeem us and give complete atonement for sin (Hebrews 10:1-4, 11). Jesus was a Lamb without spot or blemish and was able to shed blood that could redeem (Hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19)! Someone able to redeem us from sin by His blood is surely worthy!

“Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” The redemption is universal. Jesus was one Lamb that died for the sins of the whole world (Colossians 1:6; 1 John 2:2). Individuals on the other side of the world can have the same assurance of Heaven that we have. The universality of God’s kingdom brings us together as one (Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 2:19), and will ultimately bring us together in Heaven (Romans 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus has made this possible! How worthy He truly is to take the book and open its seals!

Jonathan Glaesemann