“Avenging the blood of his servants”

2020 “By His Blood” Lent devotion #46

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”  (Revelation 19:1-2) 

I’ll bet you’ve seen some of those big soccer games where the stands are full of thousands of fans, waving giant flags and singing songs to encourage their team. When the final horn blows and the game is over, their victory shouts are even louder! 

Take that image and picture the great multitude in heaven, cheering for the Lord’s victory over “the great prostitute,” finally making her pay the price for all the faithful who lost their lives to the powers of sin, death and Satan. But like any victory, this one was hard fought. It took the ultimate sacrifice by Christ to win that salvation. He was the servant of all, whose holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death led to his glorious and powerful resurrection, the ultimate victory of all time. 

When we sing our songs of praise together in worship, we can and ought to imagine that multitude singing right along with us! While the earth might indeed be corrupt and believer’s lives are on the line, he always has the last word. “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,” and nothing is ever going to separate us from his love! 

We win! Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord, for the best victory of all! Amen. 

Our Lenten journey comes to an end with this devotion. Thanks for traveling along with me. The many, many references to blood have given me a change to think deeply about our Lord’s amazing love for us, his plan of salvation for us, and the eternal life we have in him! I hope you’ve been blessed by such thoughts as well.