Worship Message No. 22_February 1: Revelation Chapter 5
In the previous chapter 4, the “Throne of God the Creator” was shown, but in today’s chapter 5, there is a “scroll” in the right hand of the One on the throne, in which the destiny of this world and the plan of history are written.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Akira Tabata from Kurobe Charis Agape Church. Some of you might be visiting the church for the first time today.
Welcome.
Living in Kurobe City, we spend our daily lives looking up at the majestic Tateyama Mountain Range before our eyes.
The pure water of the Kurobe River, the beautiful nature of the four seasons.
In this blessed environment, we have worked hard, supported our families, and sustained the local community.
People working in manufacturing, including YKK and YKK AP, which are the core companies of this region; those engaged in agriculture utilizing the abundant water of the Kurobe River fan; those in the fishing industry of the Sea of Japan; and those involved in tourism and commerce.
Precisely because you have worked so seriously, you might occasionally stop and think: “
Is everything really going to be okay in the future?” or “What is the true meaning of life?”.
For all of you who are rushing about in “responsible positions” in your daily work, home, and community roles, the Bible might feel like a somewhat distant book. However, in “Revelation Chapter 5,” which I am talking about today, there are hidden hints to break through the “unavoidable sense of stagnation” that we face in modern times.
Outline
- The “Fate Fastener” That No One Can Open
- The “Lamb” Who Appeared to People Expecting a “Lion”
- Hope That Permeates the Heart Like “Famous Water”
- Kurobe-style Heart Whispers (Prayer)
Let’s unpack this story so that even those who have never read the Bible can understand it.
Now, let us read Revelation Chapter 5 from the Bible.
【Scripture Reading】
- The “Fate Fastener” That No One Can Open
Now, this scroll has seven seals, and no one is worthy to open it. A person named John weeps because “no one can open it,” but only the “Slain Lamb” receives it and receives worship from all in heaven and earth.
If I were to state the point in one sentence: “The one who is qualified to open the future of the world is neither a human nor a person in power, but only the Lamb who gave His life on the cross—that is, Jesus Christ”.
For the citizens of Kurobe, the words “to open what is closed” must have a special resonance.
Once, in the “great project of the century” that was the construction of the Kurobe Dam, there was a moment when everyone despaired, thinking “the path can no longer be opened,” hindered by hard bedrock (the Great Fracture Zone). (A tourist attraction on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route)
Also, the zippers that Kurobe is proud of worldwide protect the contents by closing tightly, but if they “never open for a lifetime,” the bag or clothes would be useless. Furthermore, the important things inside (the future) cannot be taken out.
(Verse 4) The Bible’s writer, John, also lamented and wept bitterly. John wept because “no matter how much status or power one had, no one was able to break those seals”.
Everyone, isn’t there a period in your life like a “Great Fracture Zone” where you see nothing but despair no matter how much you dig?. Or, like a YKK zipper that has become stuck, the future has stopped dead and won’t move. John’s tears are the tears of our dead ends.
- The “Lamb” Who Appeared to People Expecting a “Lion”
Then, one of the elders said to John:
(Verse 5) “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah… has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals”.
We wait for a “strong leader (Lion)” to break through this sense of stagnation. However, what appeared was a “Slain Lamb,” that is, Jesus Christ. Isn’t it true that the people who support a factory floor are not the important people who only give instructions, but actually the “craftsmen” who are more covered in mud than anyone else, worrying about machine malfunctions and getting hurt while bearing responsibility? Jesus, as the “Site Manager” who knows all the pain of the site called our lives, received that scroll.
Just as the completion of the Kurobe Dam was achieved not just by flashy heavy machinery but by the dedication of nameless people who fought while covered in mud, Christ also, in a battered and wounded state, has carried our burdens and holds the key to the future.
The fact that the Lamb, Jesus, holds the scroll (the blueprint) is a declaration that “The one managing your life’s supply chain is neither a company nor a country, but I, Christ”.
Those of you who work in factories probably know well that every product has a “drawing,” right?
If you change it arbitrarily, it leads to accidents or defective products.
This scroll is like the “drawing” of this world and history. Moreover, the Bible says that only one person has the right to open that drawing and actually “move” it—the Slain Lamb, which is Jesus Christ.
Instead of trying to control tomorrow’s numbers yourself, you do your “best today (work),” and then leave the results to the “One who holds the blueprint”. This “letting go” becomes the most efficient risk management, doesn’t it?
The words in the latter half of verse 9, “with your blood you purchased for God persons,” are the core of the Bible’s message and words that have deep meaning for us today.
Particularly for those of you who feel cost, value, or responsibility in your work and life, I will explain this concept of “Redemption”.
What does “Redeem” (Aganau) mean?
In short, it means “to buy back by paying a price”.
The original Greek word (agorazo) was used when buying something at a market (agora). At that time, if someone paid the money for a person who had become a slave due to debt to make them free, it was also called “redeeming”.
Let’s apply this to our lives.
I will mention three things.
First: 2-1. The “Invisible Debt”
We Carry When you reach your 40s and 50s, you begin to feel the “burdens of life” that you didn’t notice when you were young.
Regrets of the past, like “I shouldn’t have done that then”.
A sense of inferiority, thinking “I am not an adequate person”.
A sense of responsibility that you feel you haven’t fully fulfilled toward your parents, company, family, or community.
These are, so to speak, like the “invisible debt (loans)” accumulated in our hearts.
Because of this debt, we feel somewhere that “I am not free” or “I am bound by something,” and we cannot feel peace from the bottom of our hearts.
Second: 2-2. “Blood” as the Ultimate Cost
Verse 9 says, “with your blood”.
In the world of Kurobe manufacturing, it is common sense that it takes a corresponding cost (material costs, technology, time) to make a good product. First-class products are not born from cheap materials.
The Bible says that to cancel our “life’s debt” and buy us back to be free, an astronomical cost was necessary. That is the life (blood) of Jesus Christ.
This is a powerful message: “You are an existence so valuable that God wanted to buy you back even by throwing away His own life”.
Against the cold social evaluation that “You’re not young anymore, and there are plenty of replacements,” the Bible asserts, “No, you have the same value as the life of Jesus”.
Third: 2-3. The Security of Being Bought “for God”
The purpose of this “redemption” is not just to zero out the debt. It means the ownership has transferred from “anxiety and sin” to “God”.
Our lives are the same.
When we exceed the limits of trying to “do something about myself” alone (self-management), we need to remember that we have been bought by this “Lamb Jesus”.
It means: “My life is no longer mine alone. The One who paid the ultimate price will take full responsibility and treasure it”.
Why go this far? A new purpose is shown in verse 10.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth”.
Those who are redeemed are not just “saved”. They are given a new mission.
“To summarize redemption in business terms, it is ‘Subrogation (Payment by Substitution)’ and ‘Transfer of Ownership’.
The ‘unpaid debt’ in the form of regrets we accumulated in life or responsibilities we couldn’t fulfill.
The Lamb settled this in a lump sum with the ‘ultimate cash’ of His own life.
The moment the settlement was finished, the ownership of your life transferred from the hands of ‘anxiety’ to the hands of the ‘God of love’.
In other words, your future maintenance costs and future guarantees will all be held by the new owner, the God of love. There is no risk management greater than this”.
- Hope That Permeates the Heart Like “Famous Water”
In the latter half of chapter 5, a massive chorus of countless voices erupts around this “Lamb”. It is a praise filled with overwhelming energy, like the roar of the Kurobe River’s torrent biting the rocks.
Heaven, which had been silent until then, is suddenly wrapped in joy. This is the joy born “when you entrust the initiative of your life to the One you can trust”.
Why do they sing?
It is because they were certain that “this Lamb (Christ) knows the meaning of my suffering and will open a new future”.
Caring for parents, work responsibilities, anxiety about your own health. When you are tired of acting strong like a “Lion,” please remember.
The hope shown by the Bible is brought by the “Lamb” who knows weakness.
The Shozu (spring water) in Ikuji, Kurobe, maintains that purity because impurities are filtered out by passing deep underground. Our troubles, when they pass through the filter called the Lamb, are filtered not into “despair” but into a “story” that reveals God’s glory.
Even if it’s invisible to the eye, it surely moistens the earth and supports our lives.
Christ’s love has no flashy advertising, but it continues to supply the water of “peace” that never runs dry in the depths of those who believe.
- Kurobe-style Heart Whispers (Prayer)
Finally, I suggest to you a “whisper” of daily life, not as a religious ritual.
“…Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (Revelation 5:8).
It says that the words we breathe out and the whispers of our hearts are treated as precious, “fragrant incense in golden bowls,” before God.
I propose three “prayers as daily whispers, not rituals”.
4-1. A Whisper “While Shoveling Snow” (Handing over the burden)
In a Kurobe winter, you shovel heavy snow on a freezing morning. Your back hurts, and your time is taken away. You end up sighing, “Why only me?” don’t you?
As a prayer practice: Put that “sigh” into words exactly as it is.
“Ah, this is exhausting. This is a bit tough. Lamb-san (Christ), please take care of the physical and mental balance for this later”.
Point: Don’t try to say it beautifully; think of it as a “delivery of exhaustion.” That will become a “fragrance” that reaches the golden bowl.
4-2. A Whisper “Looking at the Tateyama Mountain Range” (Switching perspective)
When your head is full of work troubles or family worries and your field of vision has narrowed. Suddenly look up and see those majestic mountains.
As a prayer practice: Contrast your own smallness with the greatness of the mountains.
And it goes like this: “If You created those mountains and are still maintaining them, the solution to this tiny worry of mine (relationships, sales, health) must be written in the blueprint. I leave it to You today”.
Point: Use Kurobe’s nature as “proof of Christ’s management ability” and pray to convince yourself, “If that One is managing it, then I guess it’s okay”.
4-3. A Whisper “In the Bathtub at Unazuki” (Total acceptance)
At the end of the day, the moment you soak in the bath and breathe out a “Phew”.
As a prayer practice: Set aside achievements and reflections, and simply affirm “having lived”. It goes like this: “Today has finished for now. It wasn’t perfect, but according to You, I am a ‘treasure bought with Your life,’ right? Then, I guess I pass for today. Good night”.
Point: In a society where a 100-point perfect score is demanded, this is the time to give yourself a “passing grade by the Lamb”.
Why does this become “prayer”?
The Lamb (Jesus Christ) is the One who was wounded for us, rose again, and is still living and working now.
Therefore, rather than us lining up “cool words,” He is much more pleased to receive words that carry the raw temperature of life, like “It hurts,” “I’m tired,” or “Help”.
Prayer is a sacred communication. Just as Kurobe’s famous water passes through underground pipes to reach the faucet, your whispers are directly connected to the heavenly golden bowl through a “flexible tube”. It’s like a flexible hose that is okay even if it bends or gets clogged along the way.
The “Slain Lamb” who holds the blueprint of your life and opens the seals one by one to make a path is always by your side. You don’t have to keep struggling to complete everything by yourself anymore. Because opening them is His job.
Today, why not relax your shoulders and whisper a word to Him?
Conclusion: The Meaning of Living in Kurobe
Revelation Chapter 5 may feel difficult for someone reading the Bible for the first time. However, its core is simple:
- The power to change the world lies in love and self-sacrifice.
- History has meaning and direction.
- Your life has value and meaning beyond imagination.
- Small towns and every individual are within God’s grand plan.
When you open the window in the morning and look up at the Tateyama Mountain Range, when you hear the sound of the Kurobe River’s water, when you walk through the harsh winter snow—all of these are part of the praise of all creation.
And the God who created all of them is mindful of each and every one of you. Kurobe may be a small town. However, for you who live here, the “Slain Lamb” Jesus Christ gave His life. You are that valuable.
Even if the population decreases or young people leave, God’s plan does not change. Rather, as the story of the “Slain Lamb” teaches, God works precisely in things that look small or weak.
There is meaning in living in Kurobe.
There is meaning in your life.
And the One who will complete that meaning is on the heavenly throne.
If you feel you want to know more about this “Slain Lamb” Jesus Christ, that is the beginning of a journey of faith. The church in Kurobe may be small, but there are friends there who hold the same hope.
Today, in this beautiful nature of Kurobe, why not relax your shoulders just a little?
Instead of trying to open the scroll by yourself, try entrusting your future life to this “Slain Lamb”.
From there, a new song should begin to resonate in your life. Just as the abundant water of Kurobe moistens the earth, may God’s peace fill your hearts.
Guidance to Prayer
(As music flows quietly, I speak to you)
“Everyone, finally, please quietly close your eyes with me. Why not open your heart now to the God who created the mountains of Kurobe and has protected you until today? If, after hearing today’s talk, you feel ‘I want to entrust the blueprint of my life to that Lamb’ or ‘I want to be released from the strain of my own strength,’ then please try to deliver these words to God in your heart, or by speaking them in a small voice, following after me”.
Prayer of Decision
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for being able to hear about You here in Kurobe today.
Until now, I have been desperately trying to force open the fastener of my life by my own strength alone. Carrying responsibilities in my 40s and 50s, I have walked while holding burdens in my heart and regrets that I couldn’t tell anyone.
However, today I learned that the “Lamb” Jesus Christ, who was wounded for me, paid for all my debts with His life.
I now entrust the “scroll of my life” that I was clutching to You. I entrust the blueprint of my future to You, who knows it best.
Please break the seals of my heart and fill me with “peace” like the pure water of the Kurobe River.
Please let Your new song, “You are a treasure,” resonate in my life from now on.
I pray in the name of the Lamb Jesus Christ, who redeemed me and set me free. Amen.
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