The revelation of God

The book of Revelation is frequently introduced as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1).

But, this isn’t a true representation of the last book of the Bible, neither is that opening phrase a true representation of that opening verse, as its context plainly attests.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him…” (Rev. 1:1).

By this last clause we must begin to see, not a showcase of Christ, but a delegation of truth, a dissemination of truth beginning at the Source of all truth, and passed down through a second in Deity power in a chain of command linked all the way down to the prophet. “…and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.” (Rev. 1:1).

And the chain of command doesn’t end with John, because he then disseminates it to the church, who give it to the world. Not for a showcase of Christ is Revelation given, but a showcase of God. The Father originated the Revelation, so He gets the glory. And that indeed is what we see.

In the beginning, God.

“Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” (Rev. 4:2,3).

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:8-11).

In the beginning no word of sadness tainted their praises. All was happiness and loving service “to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever”—God, the Father. We have done a great disservice to this first scene by changing the original lyrics of Hymn 73, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, in our first hymnal, which we used while our prophet lived among us, when we disdained the Trinity heirloom from the papal Dark Ages. We have robbed God of His original glory by substituting a Trinity of Gods for “the only true God” (John 17:3). God, the Father alone was the focus of Revelation 4’s wonder-filled scene of the eternal kingdom of heaven.

This opening scene of Revelation revealed the eternal kingdom before the sin problem began. All was perfect order and obedience. Everything was right. All was light and joyful. All was life and song.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” (Ps. 48:1,2).

From the beginning of our specially created planet God has used it and its inhabitants to represent Himself to His heavenly hosts and His unfallen worlds. Through our sin-racked world He has revealed His throne, His kingdom, and His difficult history.

“   ‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. ‘The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,’ whose ‘ways are everlasting,’ changeth not. With Him ‘is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17.  

     Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings. The psalmist says:

       ‘Strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand.

        Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of Thy throne:

        Mercy and truth go before Thy face.

        Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:

        They walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.

        In Thy name do they rejoice all the day:

        And in Thy righteousness are they exalted.

        For Thou art the glory of their strength: . . .

        For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah,

        And our king to the Holy One.’

     The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.

     The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate—a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.’ John 1:1, 2. Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. ‘His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ Isaiah 9:6. His ‘goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.’ Micah 5:2. And the Son of God declares concerning Himself: ‘The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting.... When He appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.’ Proverbs 8:22-30.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 33,34.

The Father was not alone in the governance of His kingdom. All of His will was channeled through His associate, His Lieutenant, His only begotten Son, Him to whom “all power is given” (Matt. 28:18), the everywhere present, all-powerful, all-knowing Seven Spirits of God.

“And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” (Rev. 4:5).

“‘The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting. . . . When He appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him’ Proverbs 8:22-30.”

“The only true God, and Jesus Christ” (John 17:3), “the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God”, sat on the throne of the everlasting kingdom.

Revelation 12:7-9 gives us a clear description of the great controversy in heaven. But, likewise as clearly do Revelation chapters 4 and 5. After the beautifully peaceful picture of heaven in Revelation chapter 4, Revelation chapter 5 shows us a dark and dreary picture of heaven.

“And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.” (Rev. 5:1-4).

What caused John to weep so abundantly, with all heaven? The Father imprisoned infinitely and eternally. Although He never abdicated His throne, the Father could not have the perfect atmosphere of love and trust from His hosts of heaven that had ever reigned there. Therefore He was essentially in a courtroom where Lucifer reigned as both plaintiff and judge. Thus, all of the heaven mourned sorely.

But the terrible situation of God turns brighter. The problem gets finally resolved. What problem? The problem of sin and Satan that had infected the throne of God, and afterward spread to our planet. God was locked up in house arrest. Why? How? Lucifer’s accusations of Jehovah and his aspirations to be the King, all brought the peace of heaven to an end. Nevertheless, the crucifixion of the Son saved His Father and Their family in heaven and earth.

“One of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.…

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:5,9,10).

Having represented His Father perfectly, His inerrant, immaculate, infallible example of righteousness, while in sin-weakened human flesh, He exemplified His Father’s character. No mortal could ever accomplish what Jesus did and come close to the mark of either Father and Son. “For all [Jews and Gentiles] have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23).

This is a fantastic revelation of the great war against God and His throne. But the Bible shows this war by other events in Earth’s sacred history.

Absalom, David, and Solomon also reveal the great controversy drama. We see the king have to rebuke his eldest son, Absalom. Absalom had done evil and deserved punishment. But he skirted his punishment by whispering in the ears of a multitude that his father King David was not running the government right by not showing pity to every dissatisfaction raised against his throne. Absalom promised the people of his city that if he were elected king then he would fix all of his father’s faulty laws and wrong governance. All of this mirrors the original usurpation of the heavenly throne by Satan.

We again see the great controversy with Jesus Himself allowing Judas into His inner ring of twelve disciples. We see Him seeking every opportunity to gently woo to unselfish service the heart of His most influential disciple who was so naturally bent to self-aggrandizement. And we finally hear Christ’s first rebuke to this proud and increasingly brazen destroyer when he murmured at Mary Magdalene’s gift of love to Jesus and then He had to defend her.

“And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on Me.

For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but Me ye have not always.

She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying.” (Mark 14:6-8).

“Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead.

But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death.” (John 12:9,10).

“Mary’s act was in marked contrast with that which Judas was about to do. What a sharp lesson Christ might have given him who had dropped the seed of criticism and evil thinking into the minds of the disciples! How justly the accuser might have been accused! He who reads the motives of every heart, and understands every action, might have opened before those at the feast dark chapters in the experience of Judas. The hollow pretense on which the traitor based his words might have been laid bare; for, instead of sympathizing with the poor, he was robbing them of the money intended for their relief. Indignation might have been excited against him for his oppression of the widow, the orphan, and the hireling. But had Christ unmasked Judas, this would have been urged as a reason for the betrayal. And though charged with being a thief, Judas would have gained sympathy, even among the disciples. The Saviour reproached him not, and thus avoided giving him an excuse for his treachery.  

     But the look which Jesus cast upon Judas convinced him that the Saviour penetrated his hypocrisy, and read his base, contemptible character. And in commending Mary’s action, which had been so severely condemned, Christ had rebuked Judas. Prior to this, the Saviour had never given him a direct rebuke. Now the reproof rankled in his heart. He determined to be revenged. From the supper he went directly to the palace of the high priest, where he found the council assembled, and he offered to betray Jesus into their hands.” Desire of Ages, p. 563, 564.

 

“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.” (Matt. 26:14-16).

“The priests were greatly rejoiced. These leaders of Israel had been given the privilege of receiving Christ as their Saviour, without money and without price. But they refused the precious gift offered them in the most tender spirit of constraining love. They refused to accept that salvation which is of more value than gold, and bought their Lord for thirty pieces of silver.  

     Judas had indulged avarice until it overpowered every good trait of his character. He grudged the offering made to Jesus. His heart burned with envy that the Saviour should be the recipient of a gift suitable for the monarchs of the earth. For a sum far less than the box of ointment cost, he betrayed his Lord.” Desire of Ages, p. 564.

Unquestionably Jesus represented God the Father and Judas represented Satan. All throughout the Saviour’s 3½ year ministry to the multitudes of Israel, and His teaching the heavenly realities of godliness and unselfishness to His twelve closest followers, Judas constantly worked behind Him to undo all His efforts and lessons. All of this reveals what Satan labored to remodel in the long ago in heaven before the first human was created.

But, there is another object lesson of the great controversy between God and Satan. It involved Cain and Abel, Adam and Enos.

After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit at the temptation of Satan speaking through the serpent, “the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” (Gen. 3:14,15).

This warning threat of infinite punishment to the serpent did not phase the brazen Satan, but the warning gave hope to the humbled man and his wife who heard it. They knew they had greatly destroyed their communion with the Creator and His wonderful hosts of heavenly visitants; they knew that the light of God that had clothed them with joy and righteousness had been replaced with animal skins, and its joy had been displaced with their constant struggle to keep back self-preservation, hatefulness, anger, and bitterness. But they had no conception of how deeply they had imbibed the laws of Satan’s kingdom and how widely they had opened their hearts to his spirit. Therefore they believed themselves ready for full redemption, and that their first son would be the means to open the gates of paradise again to them.

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” (Gen. 4:1). Their fondest hopes were focused on this newborn babe. To the best of their ability they would train him up to be the messiah of their dreams. But their faithful upbringing could never stem the nature born in him that urged him into a character of murmuring and envy. He verbalized his discontent against the prohibition to live in the Garden of the Lord. They must live outside Eden and worship the Creator at the its gate, witness its beauty and peace, but never enter inside. A powerful angel bore not his sword in vain against any attempt to trespass that most holy sanctuary where the Lord God’s Spirit still resided.

The complaining and discontent in the heart of Cain led him to hate God. Cain interpreted the Creator’s rebuke as rejection, and the bold heir to king of Earth decided that if God rejected him, he would reject God. He would despise God and His sacrificial system that He had given to his parents. Cain would offer a different sacrifice, one that pleased his hardened heart.

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.” (Gen. 4:3).

Little did the arrogant son of Adam realize that he was becoming the puppet of Satan. He was doing the will of another for his total and life-long apostasy and overthrow of God’s earthly kingdom through His Son, through Adam. The rebellion of Cain began long before he made an inanimate, expressionless offering for sin that Jesus had not prescribed. But each offering of hay and chaff and stubble that Cain made, which did nothing to break his self-sufficient heart, strengthened his resistance to the Lord’s Spirit. Without a dying and suffering lamb to crack his stony heart, Cain opened himself wider and wider to the demons’ spirit of bitterness and madness, until a legion of evil cherubim heavily trafficked Cain’s soul. The idea of God’s rejection grew increasingly apparent to Cain as the presence of Christ went silent to his violent conscience and He would not send fire to receive His child’s offering. Insolence and contempt of God became a permanent fixture in Cain’s heart. He would not repent of his wrong course despite Jesus’ final remonstrance and audible visit with a personal warning to him.

“The LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his [Abel’s] desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Gen. 4:6,7).

But Cain’s offerings, empty of all power to lead him to repentance and conversion, stubbornly continued until the faithful reproof and instruction of the Lord God was fulfilled in the unpardonable sin, and murder.

“Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee.” (Eze. 28:18).

The hardened heart of Cain could not bear his brother repeat a similar remonstration that he had already heard from Jesus, who spoke through Abel’s earnest, yet kind, heart and his loving spirit. The legion of angels that excel in strength broke the last fiber of Cain’s morality in a sudden inspiration of rage that could not be restrained until his brother lay lifeless before him. With zero remorse his bold speech to the Spirit of Christ resulted in the mark of the beast in his conscience.

At the death of Abel Adam and Eve were suddenly thrust back to the first day of their fall when their hearts were crushed by the death of the first lambs for their clothing and the wilting flowers that would forever plague their memories. The murder of their precious, holy Abel by the hand of their equally precious but aggressive first-born, their wistfully prospective messiah, was more than they could accept. Adam and Eve remained unsurrendered to the resurrected rebuke of God during five generations of Cain’s rebellious lineage. Over a period of probably 190 years the new world saw an unrestrained rebellion in Cain’s progeny. And the spacious camp at the eastern gate of Eden was heard unrestrained agony in Adam and Eve similar to the grief of mind felt by Rebekah in the Hittite wives of Esau, Beeri and Bashemath, when Rebekah mourned to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?” (Gen. 27:46).

A similar anguish must have been experience by Noah and Shem at the apostasy led by Ham’s grandson, Nimrod. But Esau’s, and even Nimrod’s, examples of ungodliness were exponentially milder than the strength of lust known to Cain’s descendants, as his offspring’s closer proximity to Adam’s original perfect creation gave their lust much greater strength. The double pain of Adam’s and Eve’s responsibility for sin bequeathed to all their progeny, and the murder of Abel left them in a spiritual tailspin that they could not pull out of. But, this was meant to be because of their grievous heart stab that they gave their God and His only birthed Son, their immediate Begetter, the divine Mother of all living.

Their regrets were so indomitable and dogged that having no more children must be their only recourse. They would fast in celibacy until death. Life was not worth living anymore. Their hearts fainted of every hope for escape from the world of sin that they had created. For 144+ years (my best guess of time frames and Adam’s ages are explained in the table below) they bore the punishment of their great infidelity. Being cursed above all the animal kingdom plagued their days and nights. The never-ending message kept preaching in their ears that they were never to enter their old home and again be worthy to eat of the tree of life. “Thou shalt surely die” sounded long and hard, and eternal life no longer possible. For 144 years all joy fled their hearts, and only judgment from God was their portion. The rebuke of God weighed heavily upon them.

“In the morning [their thoughts were], Would God it were even! and at even [their thoughts were], Would God it were morning!” (Deut. 28:67). There was no escaping the acknowledgment of God’s displeasure and their doom. His promise that they would surely die for their disobedience would, all during their lifetime, be truly an on-going, present reality.

Finally, the stormy darkness broke, and surrender and deep repentance flooded their hearts, and soiled their sheepskins. They fell on the Stone broken, and the relentless grinding to powder ceased. Surrender and agonized sorrow for sin swept away their deep roots of Satan’s proud spirit, and their former resolve to remain celibate dissolved. They could praise their Creator with all their hearts.

“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Gen. 4:25,26).

Age of Earth		Adam’s agony	Holy lineage	Cain’s lineage
30 years		Fall into sin, Adam 30 years old?		Birth of Cain
		Adam 31 years old?	Birth of Abel
		Adam ≈ 61 years old?	Cain’s Offering Cain 30 years old?
		Adam 61+ years old?	Cain slew Abel
		Adam 71 y.o.?		Birth of Enoch
		Adam 101 y.o.?		Birth of Irad
		Adam 131 y.o.?		Birth of Mehujael
	99 years after Cain’s birth	Adam 130 y.o.	Birth of Seth
		Adam 161+ y.o.?		Birth of Methusael
		Adam 191+ y.o.?		Birth of Lamech
Adam 235 years old	Adam 205 y.o. after the fall.	Adam 174 y.o. after death of Abel? Adam’s double agony is finished. “Then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Gen. 4:26). Isaiah 40:1,2 applies to the first parents' pummeled souls: “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”	Birth of Enos, Seth 105
	Adam 221+ years old?			Birth of Jabal, Jubal
Adam 325 years old	Adam 295 y.o. after the fall		Birth of Cainan

The father of our world, his first joys, and his eternal pains and harsh work environment because of sin, have manifested the Father in almost every detail. All was peace and prosperity while sin remained unknown to His universal abode, as it had to Adam in glorious Eden. In the Father’s kingdom righteousness resulted only in the purest love. He made self-sacrifice the guarantee of eternal longevity, individually and corporately. He commanded that the Law of service given freely to others would constrain others to freely serve in return. Happiness untold, thankfulness expressed repeatedly and abundantly, could never fully reveal the almighty Spirit from God imbuing and exuding every soul in His house of love.

But, something went awry. Brotherly love and filial kinship began to supersede the healthier love toward the greatest object of love—He, who through His only Begotten daily revealed a love to all of His creatures in a depth incomprehensible to them, no longer held the center of every heart’s thankfulness. Another’s “love” intruded into that most holy place, not only among the energetic, Jehovah-perfection exacting angels. The intruder embedded himself deeper in a more precious place than the most holy place of the angelic hearts—that of the beautiful, unassuming Christ-deference built into the human heart.

These great losses created an anguishing circumstance that must harass the God of almighty love days without number. The murders of His prophets broke Him over and over, as Abel’s fatal witness had done Adam. God’s Co-worker, His Help-meet Michael, also knew the breaking as His Father had.

But, as the birth of Seth began the restoration of hope to Adam, in the great controversy hope came again to the Father from a “seed” of the lineage of Adam built into his genetics by the Son, whose Spirit would continue the first pair’s earnest agony and repentance. The still suffering Father saw that Spirit of the Seed, not “seeds, as of many; but as of one, …which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16), who gave second birth to many of Adam’s seeds—as in bushel bags of humbled and penitent seed!—“the seed [that] should come to whom the promise was made…all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (vs. 19, 26). Those seeds: righteous Noah and his holy wife, godly Abraham and jealous for God’s honor Sarah, joyful Isaac and other-centered Rebekah, patient Jacob and enduring Leah, honest Judah and persistent Tamar, loving Salmon and brave Rahab, mature Boaz and believing Ruth, merciful David and innocent Bath-sheba, just Joseph and victorious Miriam, and many other children of Adam, all poked their heads above the many more seeds of sacred history, all orchestrated by “the Seed”, as a wide-spreading plant runner pops its many sprouts above the moistened dirt clods. All of these seeds came from and ended in the one Seed, “which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).

As Seth signified the coming of Enos because of whom “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26), likewise the incarnation of the Spirit brought an end of the harassment to the Father.

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isa. 53:2).

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 9:6,7).

“The Seed” became “a Branch” (Isa. 11:1).

“There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots:
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears:

But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isa. 11:1-6).

After a full, busy life of perfect exemplification of the Law of the kingdom which He would be given authority to bring about, “Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth”. (Mat 28:18).

“So then after the Lord had spoken unto them” “it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them,” “and carried up into heaven” “He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51).

There the Son of God stood before His Father, both of Them in infinite victory not yet to be fully realized until They had sealed Their partially unsettled angelic guard, and Their precious fallen race.

“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.

And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:5-10).

As the restored angelic hosts cooperate with Christ to bring again Adam’s remnant to its first dominion, ultimately a redeemed race will walk in the light of the King’s love. His grief finished, joy restored to His kingdom of righteousness, His Son safely in His bosom and all of His Son’s children gathered safely into Their bosom, then the eternal kingdom can resume its original course before its seven millennium interruption. Only this time it is more secure than before it was tested, that is, before the King tested it and before His almighty Help-meet cooperated with Him in this grande finale of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:11-14).

From, “‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love” at the beginning, until the end when “the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love”, our race weakened by sin have somehow been used by the almighty and all-knowing Self-existent One to open to us the mystery of the great controversy. Revelation is the revelation of God, “the UNKNOWN GOD” (Acts 17:23), His captivity with hardly any visitation from His Earth-bound children. Revelation is the revelation of His torments and His tormenters, “Yea, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me” (Ps. 41:9). “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6:6), “the Ancient of days” (Dan. 7:9), the Admiral of the universe, returned to His most ancient throne.

“The revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.” (Rom. 16:25).

“To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 3:9).

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.” (Col. 1:26).

“There the redeemed shall know, even as also they are known. The loves and sympathies which God Himself has planted in the soul shall there find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together ‘the whole family in heaven and earth’ (Ephesians 3:15)—these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed. 

     There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.

     All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation—suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed. 

     And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise….

     The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.” Great Controversy, p. 677,678.