Glories of Man

At church this summer, over the course of nearly 2 months, we did the most amazing study on the Book of Revelations. Revelations was a book that always scared me; it was so dark, the language difficult to understand, the imagery frightening. I always avoided Revelations; that is until the pastor broke down the themes into something much less frightening:

1)Don't surrender
2) God wins

Yes, there's more to it than that, but basically, God wins and those who hold on until the end triumph in Him.

One of my favorite parts of the whole series was the discussion of the New Jerusalem and what Heaven may be like. I especially enjoyed the part about the Glories of Man and what that might entail. Imagine that war is won and God's redeemed bring their Glories and Honors (Rev.21:26) to present to the Living God. Somehow, in someway, we contribute to the richness and glory of Heaven. Isn't that mind-boggling? And that made me wonder what could those Glories be?

Beautiful works of art?
Architecture? Mathematics? Science?
Godly writings? Epic novels?
Speeches that changed the lives and hearts of men?
Our cultures, languages, foods, songs?
All things that in some way Glorify God.
(Hopefully that includes Buckeye football or there's going to be a whole lotta disappointed fans. Maybe not the Michigan fans though ;)

Well, while I was sitting in church yesterday, a Hispanic mother and daughter were sitting behind me and during one of the songs, the daughter started singing.

In Spanish.

And at first, it was sort of odd and a little distracting.

But then I was reminded about the New Jerusalem and how we'll present ourselves to the Risen King and there will be a chorus of people from all over the world, from all nationalities. There will be Spanish, German, Russian, French, Polish voices, all raised in Praise to God, and that, even though we won't know the language, we'll all know the words, if you follow my meaning.

And I closed my eyes and listened to a crowd of nearly 1000 English voices and 1 small Spanish voice, all singing to an Audience of One and for a minute, I could almost imagine what it's going to be like when our Day comes. I could almost see the New Jerusalem shining with the Light of God and all the nations gathering in. I could see Jesus welcoming us Home. And through the voice of the woman behind me, I could imagine a choir of the redeemed singing with the Angels:

Santo, santo, santo
Es el Dios poderoso
Quien fue, quien es y quien vendra
Con la creacion yo canto
Al Rey de Reyes exalto
Tu eres mi todo DiosY yo te... adoro!

I don't know her name, but that woman blessed me. Her act of worshiping God in her own language revealed to me His Glory, just a little more clearly. And for that, I praise Him and thank her.