In our study of Luke’s Gospel, in the first two chapters, we see a concentration of ‘singing’ in the early infancy narrative of the birth of our Lord Jesus.
We sing the Magnificat of Mary- ” My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46-47); we see the Benedictus of Zechariah “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68); and we observe Simeon singing the Nume Dimittus when he beheld the Messiah, brought to the temple for his dedication: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2L29-30).
God will give his people a new song: “At once, I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it…..Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders….From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder…Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God (Revelation 4:2.4,5). Here we see the apostle John brought in the Spirit to behold the throne of God in heaven.
“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre before the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people, And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its sea;s, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God members of every tribe and language and people and nations. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:6-10).
Does not God tell us that he will give to his people a new song? Above is the new song that is composed in heaven, when the Lamb who was slain prevails to open up the book.
The John looked and he said: “I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands (Rev.5:11), singing with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (vs.12). Recall the many angels singing to the shepherds when Jesus was born in a manger.
And what were and are the focus of the words of the song sung in heaven by God’s people and the angels? – they were praises and worship (doxology) to the Lamb slain whose blood purchased for God members from every tribe and language and people and nations, making them a kingdom and priests to serve God and to reign on the new earth.
This is in line with what apostle Peter wrote: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
The things in this world, offered by the enemy, may appear attractive, valuable, but in reality all these would pass away; the only one who is truly flawless and precious is Jesus Christ, and his blood shed for many is also precious, valuable.
What makes the atoning sacrifice of Jesus valuable is that it was offered by one who was sinless. It was offered by one who was a lamb without blemish, without flaw. And Jesus’ blood had to be flawless, because anything less would not do.
If we understand that death is a consequence of sin, we can understand that one who was sinless was raised from the dead. What is truly amazing about the Gospel accounts is that death held Jesus at all, in light of his flawlessly precious character. It is Christ’s precious person that is symbolised by his blood. God required the sacrifice that was without blemish; so it is because Jesus in his holy perfection is precious that his blood is precious to redeem.
Paul wrote: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1Cor. 6L19-20). We as believers are not our own (much as we believe we are)d; we have been bought, paid for, and the price that was paid was the blood of Jesus.
Jesus tells us in the Bible that the worth of the whole world cannot compare to the value of our soul. He went further and asked, “What shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matt, 16:26).
As we observe “Good Friday” and remember what Christ has done for us, let us affirm that the blood of Christ is worth our salvation; it is worth eternity for us; it is also precious and valuable to God the Father.
Yet it may puzzle us when we read: “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5), followed by “It was the will of the Lord to crush him (v.10) – and we ask, ‘How can it please God to crush (bruise) His Son?”
Back to eternity, before even the creation of the world, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit agreed on God’s eternal plan to redeem a fallen race; God the Father sovereignly decreed that our redemption would be accomplished through the sacrificial blood of His Son.
In eternity past, God so loved the world that He would give that gift which was most supremely precious. It was not because God took delight in inflicting pain upon His Son; the only reason the atoning work of the Son pleased the Father was that he knew that by His Son’s bruises that you and I would be healed. The Triune God suffered at the cross in Gethsemane; it was not just the Son, and it is because God so loved us, you and me, that the Triune God sovereignly decided that the only way we can be redeemed is by the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.
Indeed “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain”; “Precious is the Lamb who was slain” worthy to receive power, worthy to receive wealth and wisdom and might and honour, and glory and blessing (Rev. 5:13) – these are the words of the new song in heaven! May the message and words of this song bring us to our knees in worship, adoration and praise of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as we remember “Good Friday”. Amen.