In the 1955 musical comedy Damn Yankees, the main character Joe Boyd sells his soul to the devil. He’s a long-suffering fan of the pathetic Washington Senators baseball team. After his wife falls asleep, she grumbles, “If the Senators just had a long ball hitter, they could beat those damn Yankees.” The devil appears as Mr. Applegate and offers Joe Boyd the chance to become “Joe Hardy,” the young home run-hitting hero for his beloved Washington Senators.

For part of the movie, Joe enjoys living out his dream of playing for the Senators. Still, eventually, he misses his loving wife, who he had to leave behind as part of the deal. In Luke 4, Jesus was shown the kingdoms of the world by Satan, who promised, “If You will worship me, it will all be Yours.” Not only had Jesus seen all the kingdoms of the world, but He was the ruler over them already! The scroll in Revelation 5 represents Christ’s “title deed” to all the Father promised Him because of His sacrifice on the cross. “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm. 2:8).

Revelation 5 – Worship Him and Him Alone

Only Jesus is worthy to be worshipped, which is John’s point in Revelation 5 as he moves from the general scene in heaven to specific events that unfolded as he watched. To worship means “to ascribe worth” (5:12). It means to use all that we are and all we have to praise God for all He is and does. Heaven is a place of worship, and God’s people shall worship Him during all eternity. Studying Revelation 5 helps us understand how to worship God and give Him the glory He deserves.

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete worship the true God and live and play sports for His kingdom. They worship Him and Him alone. They seek to steward their athletic gifts to bring glory to God as they publicly speak well of Him (Psalm 40:16) and compete to honor Him.