The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 4:8-11,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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"Day and night they [the four living creatures] never stop saying:
'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 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.'"
I love the book of Revelation. I often find myself asking a lot of questions as I read it (who doesn't!), but of the things in Revelation that I love most is that the book provides us additional detail about who God is and what he is like. I also love the passages that contain the worship of those who are in heaven, those who appear to be constantly worshipping God.
One of the things that crosses my mind this morning about those we read of in heaven who are worshipping God is their will. Do these creatures, elders and angels have their own free will or did God create them simply to extol his wonderful acts, his character and nature like robots?
We read of angels abandoning their own home in Jude 6 as an act of their own will. No, I don't think any of these we find in Revelation worshipping God were designed simply to recite and act out worship as a compulsory activity. My thought this morning is that they are, in a secondary way, communicating to us how breath-taking God is. We look from a certain distance; they are in heaven itself and have full view of God. And what we read of is their reaction as they view God. Awestruck, breathless, consumed with wonder and excitement appears to be their reaction to God.
As those who are close to God, what are they telling us?
'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 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.'"
I love the book of Revelation. I often find myself asking a lot of questions as I read it (who doesn't!), but of the things in Revelation that I love most is that the book provides us additional detail about who God is and what he is like. I also love the passages that contain the worship of those who are in heaven, those who appear to be constantly worshipping God.
One of the things that crosses my mind this morning about those we read of in heaven who are worshipping God is their will. Do these creatures, elders and angels have their own free will or did God create them simply to extol his wonderful acts, his character and nature like robots?
We read of angels abandoning their own home in Jude 6 as an act of their own will. No, I don't think any of these we find in Revelation worshipping God were designed simply to recite and act out worship as a compulsory activity. My thought this morning is that they are, in a secondary way, communicating to us how breath-taking God is. We look from a certain distance; they are in heaven itself and have full view of God. And what we read of is their reaction as they view God. Awestruck, breathless, consumed with wonder and excitement appears to be their reaction to God.
As those who are close to God, what are they telling us?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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