CREATOR AND SUSTAINER

In Revelation 4, John is able to see into heaven’s throne room. John describes as best he can: God, His throne, those around the throne and how they worship God. As I read John’s description, the lessons about God that stuck out to me are:

· The view of God seated on His throne is a reminder He is ultimately powerful and in control of the world. The world may seem chaotic to us when we focus on the circumstances around us but, from a heavenly perspective, it’s all going according to plan.

· In verse 8, those in the throne room, the 24 elders and 4 living creatures, are praising God for being Holy, Almighty and Eternal. We too should be praising God for these attributes. Besides being admirable and worthy of praise, these attributes are also comforting in that our lives are in the hands of a God who is Holy (He does what is right), is all powerful (His Will is not thwarted), and is Everlasting (His spiritual principles can be trusted to be consistent throughout all time).

· The 24 elders continue their praise in the form of falling before Him, worshipping and casting their crowns before His throne. Verse 11 says all of this is in recognition of God being the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

As Christians, we rightfully focus on Jesus’ birth at Christmas time and worship Him as the Babe. But the New Testament quickly leaves the birth story to focus on the cross. Revelation 4 is a reminder to me to follow the heavenly examples of worshipping God for His attributes and for being my Creator and Sustainer as well as for the nativity.