Worthy!

David Peterson / General

Introduction

ch. 5 portrays a vision of inaugurated fulfillment of OT prophecy. Whereas the divine response to Daniel’s question about the consummation of history (how and when the prophecies would be fulfilled) was that the book was sealed up until the end time, now the answer finally comes and it is explained that the historically conclusive work of Christ’s death and resurrection have begun to fulfill Daniel’s prophecies, so that now the seals have been removed.

Beale, G. K., & Campbell, D. H. (2015). Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (p. 113). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

I. The Place of Peace (Revelation 4:1-6)

1. The symbolism of the sea and the rainbow

Revelation 4:6 (RSB:ESV2015E): the sea of glass pictures waters subdued under God’s power.

The Gift of a Good Father

Mitch Albom, the author of the international best-seller Tuesdays with Morrie, wrote a short article for Father’s Day titled “When did fathers become expendable?” Albom described what happened on a recent exchange on The View, an ABC show with a massive female audience:

A guest host, an actor named Terry Crews, had floated the idea that “there are some things only a father can give you.” He was deluged by objection—both on social media and on the set. When he said, “A father gives you your name,” cohost Whoopi Goldberg joked, “Like in The Lion King?” When he said “a father gives you your security” and “your confidence,” cohost Jenny McCarthy, who is raising a son on her own, shot back, “I’m a single mother and I guarantee you, I can give (my son) all those things.” The debate went on for several minutes at a high volume, with the female hosts paying homage to widows, single moms, and gay couples, and McCarthy hammering at the idea that her “amazing” son needs no man.

Albom pondered how far we’ve come, that on network TV a man suggesting “there are some things only a father can give you” is greeted not with agreeing nods but with cannon fire. He offered the following analysis:

What does a father bring to the table? I can cite a few things I got from my own: Strength. Quiet confidence. Discipline. Responsibility. And love—all displayed differently than my mother, which was fine. My father also taught us how to be a husband, how to respect a woman, when to lead and when to support.

It’s true, not all men are like my dad. But plenty are. And fatherhood didn’t suddenly, after thousands of years, lose its value. It may be trendy to dismiss dads as little more than fertilizer, but it’s not true. In fact, it’s pretty foolish. Such is our world, where a comment like Crews’ brings a tsunami. Funny thing is, I remember someone from my childhood frequently saying, “He needs his father to do that.” It was my mother.

Source: Mitch Albom, “When did fathers become expendable?” Detroit Free Press (6-22-14)

Children and teens do better when fathers are actively involved in their world. This is true of fathers whether they live with or apart from their children. When dads show interest in and participate in their children’s school activities, children and teens are more likely to enjoy school, take part in after school activities, and have higher grades. Also, those children have fewer behavior problems and more friends.

These outcomes are also linked to financial support, whether in the traditional manner or through regular child support payments. When a family’s basic needs (food, shelter, etc.) are provided, moms and dads tend to get along better, and children feel their father cares. The return on this investment is even greater as children get older. Research shows that children with involved fathers are less likely to drop out of school, use drugs and alcohol, engage in sex prematurely, join gangs, or commit crimes. As a result, they are able to have higher earnings as adults, thus contributing to society.

Recent research indicates that dads promote children’s brain development in different ways than moms. Typically, dad play is more exciting physically and emotionally, and helps the child develop self-control by learning to regulate his/her body and emotions. Self-regulation is one of the cognitive skills that kindergarten teachers want children to possess, so they are able to engage in the academics of school. However, a word of caution to dads – over-stimulation can have the opposite effect on a child’s self-regulation.

In education and research, self-regulation skills are one part of executive function, mental processes that include three main areas:

Working memory, or the capacity to hold information in mind and work with it, over short periods of time.

Inhibitory control, or self-control, the skill used to master and filter thoughts and impulses. This skill helps children resist temptations and distractions, and to think before they act.

Cognitive (or mental) flexibility is the capacity to switch gears and respond to changes, and to think about something in a new light.

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/news/2016/oh-what-a-difference-a-dad-makes

II. The Awful Truth (Revelation 4:5)

1. The God who is

2. By His Will (Revelation 4:11)

Since the 1990s, fatherlessness has soared while median earnings for men have declined. Boys represent 70% of all D’s and F’s given out at school and are twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. They spend time in juvenile detention at over five times the rate of girls. There will be, on average, two women who graduate college for every male, over the next five years.

As NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway mentioned recently on Bill Maher’s show Real Time, “The most unstable nations in the world have one thing in common. They have too many lonely, broke [men].” And yet that’s exactly the type of person modern culture is producing.

This corresponds with a dramatic crisis in terms of sociability. As Andrew Yang noted, “Roughly one-third of men are either unemployed or out of the workforce,” and correspondingly, “more U.S. men ages 18 to 34 are now living with their parents than with romantic partners.” Galloway noted an even more surprising statistic: Fewer than 1 in 3 men under the age of 30 have had sex in the last year.

Shocking though it is, that last statistic isn’t primarily about sex. Rather, it points to a deeper problem. Young men aren’t forming social bonds with real, live people, even the kinds of bonds that have historically captured their attention.

https://www.breakpoint.org/why-are-men-in-crisis/

Men are also struggling physically. Men account for close to three out of every four “deaths of despair” — suicide and drug overdoses.

III. The One Proved Worthy (Revelation 5:9-10)

1. He proved his love

2. He fulfills their being

Conclusion