Focus 2020 – The Great Commission: Perspectives from LeadersSample

Go There Before We Get There 

Bible passage: Revelation 7:1–12 

Devotional:

How many of you remember a time in high school or college when you had been assigned a book report, but procrastination got the better of you? With only a day before it was due you made your way to the bookstore to buy a little yellow and black booklet. I imagine you can picture that booklet in your mind’s eye, can’t you? It was called CliffsNotes. For the record, I think it was cheating. 

If you are not familiar with CliffsNotes allow me to describe them: They are basically a brief book summary that allows you to understand the master or main story of a book without reading it. CliffsNotes accomplishes this by revealing the book’s metanarrative, which almost always surfaces in the introduction of a book and is resolved at the end. The metanarrative (also called grand narrative) is the book’s overarching story or storyline that unites all smaller themes and individual stories. 

Well, since God has graciously given us the book of Revelation, we can cheat so to speak, (don’t cheat, read the whole book) and skip to the climax or resolution of God’s story so that we might grasp the Bible’s metanarrative. Revelation allows us to “go there before we get there.” 

In this breathtaking passage, the Holy Spirit peels back the curtains of time and space and gives us a glimpse into the end all of history is moving toward. Here we see the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, receiving the reward of His suffering. What is His reward? Worship! Worship that is flowing from the redeemed from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. This is the resolution of God’s story or you could call it the consummation of His Church. It’s worth noting in Acts 2 that the Church was inaugurated in a global context and in Revelation 7 it is consummated in a global context. When in heaven, bowing down before the Lamb, alongside untold numbers of worshippers from all nations, all tribes, all tongues there will be no doubt as to what God’s ultimate mission was. And we will know then, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this mission was the greatest movement in history. 

The resolution of God’s story, for His followers, should give context, meaning, and purpose to all of life—it should define our mission. It should shape how we live here and now, moving us to align our temporary, local lives and labor with His invincible, eternal, global purpose. There is nothing happening in the world that is more important than the Mission of Jesus Christ; this epic story of redemption is the centerpiece of His plan for this age, which means it should be the focal point of His people. 

Quote: 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. Rev. 5:9 

Question: How does your Biblical vision of the throne of God drive you on your mission for Him? 

Matthew Ellison 

President, Sixteen:Fifteen