September 20, 2022
Taking Off Our Crowns.
I, like the rest of the world, have watched the pomp and ceremony concerning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Upon her death her crown was passed along to her son Prince Charles III who now carries the title of King Charles III. As I watched this unfold, I thought about all of the power and glory that was transferred from the Queen to the now King as symbolized by an earthly crown.
Queen Elizabeth still had to surrender her crown upon death. If she knew Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior then when she got to Heaven her crown was no longer needed. She, as one of the most powerful and majestic monarchs in the world, still had to bow at the feet of King Jesus. Her crown paled in magnitude to Jesus’ crown. He is and always will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Revelation 4:10–11 is part of the vision Jesus gave John. In this scene of heaven, we see that “the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’
Jesus promised various rewards for those who faithfully serve Him on earth. Some of those rewards are crowns (James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; Revelation 3:11). These may be the crowns that John saw the elders lay at the feet of Jesus. In their words of worship, they indicate that, despite what they may have done on earth to earn these crowns, only Jesus is truly worthy of glory and honor.
In the presence of the Lord Jesus Himself, all good deeds we have done will pale in comparison. A crown will seem but an insignificant gift to present to the One who gave His life for us. We will gladly lay our crowns at His feet.
The elders’ response is most likely the way we will all respond when we receive our reward from Jesus. We will be so overcome with gratitude because of what He has done for us that worship will be spontaneous. Regardless of what we endured on earth, a priceless crown will seem a paltry offering, but it will be the best gift we can give Him. Although the Scriptures do not state it specifically, it is likely that we will all follow the example of the twenty-four elders in casting our crowns at Jesus’ feet
So it doesn’t matter if you were a pauper, a prince, a tramp, or a king or queen here on Earth. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you will be a Child of the King and treated like royalty in Heaven. But you will take your crowns and cast them at the feet of the ONLY one who ever died to pay the price for your sins.
He has adopted you into the royal family and has given you all the power and authority of the Kingdom while you are here on earth. So live in such a way as to not bring shame and dishonor to your royal heritage but glory and honor to King Jesus.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs