Worthy of Worship.
“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” – Revelation 4:1. NLT
Starting in Revelation 4:1, Jesus invites John to come up to heaven to be shown a panoramic survey of history from his time until Christ’s return. It is important to bring to the following chapters a sound interpretation, not an interpretation based on feeling, or a gut-sense of current events, but an interpretation based on what we actually find in the text. The only safe course in texts like these is to determine, as far as possible, the author’s actual intention in writing these passages. To the degree that we can determine his intention in the original setting, we will be on much safer ground in drawing out applications for our own time.
Our opinions about the Bible are not the thing that matters. What matters is God’s purpose through a human author and the method by which we discover that purpose. We need to begin by committing ourselves to the Word of God, no matter what opinions we may have brought to our study. We must then give careful attention to the words of the text in context and allow each word to have its place in revealing the message God would have us see. The only truth that matters is the one God intended.
After writing out the letters to the seven churches, John moves on to describe a scene he is invited to observe in heaven. From here on in the book, the primary focus is on things that are future from John’s point of view (perhaps AD 95). Why a book on future events? Because God wants us to know that we can trust Him to get us where we need to go. We don’t need to know everything He knows, as long as we stay close to Him and follow Him.
The Book of Revelation was given to us in order to spare us anguish. Remembering its instructions will keep us from getting lost as the future unfolds.
Read Revelation 4:8–11 and compare Revelation 5:9–14. What can you learn about true worship in these passages? In chapter 4, why is the Lord God worthy of being worshiped, and, in Revelation 5:9–14, why is the Lamb worthy?
Revelation 4 gives a general description of the throne room in the heavenly temple and of the worship that repeatedly takes place there. While the worship in chapter 4 praises God’s creative power, chapter 5 celebrates the redemption provided by the slain Lamb. These chapters show that true worship recounts and celebrates God’s mighty acts of Creation and Redemption. God, who created the world in six days, has the power and ability also to restore the world to its original condition and to turn it into the eternal home for His people, all of which He has promised to do.
Think about what the gospel teaches: the One who created not just us and our world, but the entire cosmos, also was the “Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 5:12) for us. What amazing hope does this teaching present amid a world full of pain and turmoil?
The whole plan of redemption is in these two chapters. Chapter 4 refers to creation and Chapter 5 to the redeemer. John is here seeing the heavenly sanctuary service in progress.