On Resurrection Sunday, God’s people gathered together and celebrated the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over Satan, sin, and the grave! With hopeful hearts, we looked back at Christ’s finished work, but we also looked forward with Resurrection hope to the day we will see the consummation of Christ’s final victory as God’s people dwell with him forevermore.

Such reminders encourage our hearts and strengthen our resolve. Then, Monday hits. Despite our Sunday celebrations, the struggles of this life continue. As if they didn’t get the memo, our problems refuse to disappear. There are still obituaries in Monday’s paper, conflicts among families, and stressful situations at work.

How do we keep such Resurrection hope as we go through life in a sin-cursed world? How do we reconcile what we celebrated on Sunday with what we experienced the following Monday? How can we continually set our “minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2)?

The Victorious Song

The book of Revelation is a constant call for God’s people to endure. Without sugar-coating it, Revelation paints a picture of life in a fallen world while continually reminding God’s people of the certain victory to come as we remain faithful to him. One such victorious picture is found in Revelation 15.

John sees a picture in heaven, a “sea of glass mingled with fire” with God’s people “standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb...” (Rev. 15:2-3).

This vision shows us the victorious saints of God standing next to a sea, singing together. However, to fully grasp the meaning, we must go back to the book of Exodus, where we see another instance of God’s victorious people standing next to a sea, singing together.

God’s Deliverance

After centuries of mistreatment and enslavement by the Egyptians, God sends Moses to free his people. Through several miraculous shows of power, Pharaoh finally relents and lets Israel go, but he later changes his mind and pursues the Israelites. Trapped between the Red Sea and the powerful Egyptian army, the Israelites seemed doomed for defeat.

But God.

God miraculously split the Red Sea, which allowed the Israelites to walk through unharmed, but when the Egyptians pursued Israel, the waters crashed in on the Egyptians and destroyed them. God powerfully delivered his people.

There, next to the sea, Moses and the people respond by singing “the song of Moses,” which highlights God’s saving work:

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider he has thrown into the sea...Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your hand; the earth swallowed them (Ex. 15:1, 11-12).

The Israelites were too weak to overcome the Egyptians on their own, and they certainly didn’t have the power to split the sea. But they were God’s chosen people, and he worked to ensure their victory.

Future Exodus

Like the children of Israel singing the song of Moses next to the sea, John sees the victorious church of God standing next to the crystal sea singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. These saints haven’t been delivered from the nation of Egypt, but from all it represents: the oppressive forces of evil in a sin-cursed world. They haven’t seen the plagues God sent to the Egyptians, but the plagues from the bowls of God’s wrath poured out to finally and fully destroy the works of evil.

This is the picture of the church, God’s people from all of human history, entering her eternal promised land. After living a battle-filled life in this world, we enter the place God has prepared and find our ultimate rest. This isn’t because of our strength, for we are too weak, but God has chosen his people and will ensure our victory. Thus, as we begin our rest, we sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, and all the glory goes to God:

Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed (Rev. 15:3-4).

Hope For Today

As we look back, we see God’s faithfulness to his people and certain victory over Egypt. As we look forward, we know that we too will stand next to the sea, tired from the battle, yet victorious. We’ll join our brothers and sisters in Christ in singing praises to God for his redemption!

Until then, we’ll continue steadfastly as we hopefully look forward to that day. As we sing in the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation”:

Mid toil and tribulation,

And tumult of her war,

She waits the consummation

Of peace forevermore;

'Til, with the vision glorious,

Her longing eyes are blessed,

And the great church victorious

Shall be the church at rest.

Monday’s problems still come. Tuesday won’t be better. People will still sin against you, and, at times, you will sin against them. News headlines will continue to discourage, and evil will seemingly run rampant. Right now, we are in the midst of the battle and feel the effects of sin all around us. However, we do not lose heart because we know that the day is coming when, like the Egyptian army, evil will be destroyed, and we will sing the song of the Lamb together by the sea.

Until then, we persevere. We trust Christ, even when it seems impossible. We walk by faith and not by sight. We encourage our brothers and sisters not to give up nor succumb to the temptations to sin. We long for the day when we enter the ultimate Sabbath rest.

Do not lose heart, brothers and sisters, for our redemption is drawing near!