Revelation Chapter 4 Verse 5 - 8

 John sees four living creatures which is exactly what Ezekiel saw and

these appear to have no other purpose but to proclaim the holiness

and power and omnipotence of God without rest, day and night.

Chuck Smith suggests that these are the highest order of angels.

Those that serve the throne of God directly and continually. What’s

perhaps intriguing most about that is where you can take it…

 Ezekiel Chapter 10 tells us that the four living creatures surrounding

the throne of God having the four faces are cherubim. Cherubim are

an order, if you will, of angels. Given their office and their position, it

is easy to agree with Chuck’s statement that these are perhaps the

highest order of angelic beings. Interesting, it could be that at one

point there weren’t four but five.

 Ezekiel 28:14-16 says, “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I

established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked

back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your

ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you.

By the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence

within, and you sinned; Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of

the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, o covering cherub, from the

midst of the fiery stones.”

 So, it could be that these creatures here, perhaps the highest order of

angels, were at one point led by the Lucifer himself…who rejected his

post and fell from heaven. And the song that still rings out today is a

continual slap in the face to the enemy of God. Holy, Holy, Holy…a

blessed trinity of perfection, Lord God Almighty…who was, and is

and is to come!

 “Holy” is the only proclamation of God that is repeated over and over

again in the throne room of heaven. Not “righteous,” not, “loving,”

not, “perfect,” not “judging.” It is holy, holy, holy!! Proclaiming

essentially all of those things but also that God is altogether not like us

in nature (if I can even use that word to describe something of God).

 And this scene is incredible to just picture for a minute. John sees the

throne and One sitting on that throne in unapproachable light. 1

Timothy 6:15-16 says, “He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the

King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling

in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom

be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” And in the midst of the

throne and around the throne were four living creatures and around the

throne were 24 elders. And there were thunderings, lightnings and

voices proceeding from the throne. And seven lamps of fire were

burning before the throne…

 When you walked into the Tabernacle or into the Temple, specifically

built per the specifications given by God, there on the left was the

seven lampstands, to the right was the showbread, representing God’s

communion with creation, living creatures. In front of you would be

the table of incenses filled with the voices of the prayers of the people.

To the left would be the seven lights, and beyond it all would be the

Most Holy Place, the throne of God. The Tabernacle and the Temple

being an earthly copy of the heavenly authentic!

 There’s also a connection to Jesus that some draw here and I rather

like it. The four living creatures are indeed creatures. Created beings.

If they are created then Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things

were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and

invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through Him and for Him.”

 So, these four living creatures are already tied to Jesus in terms of

creation AND one was like a lion, one like a calf, one like a man, and

one like a flying eagle. Each of the gospels of Jesus Christ present

Jesus in a slightly different light that seems to track with the four

living creatures. Matthew presents Jesus as the promised Messiah, the

King of the Jews, the Lion. Mark presents Jesus as the Servant, the

Calf, or as Ezekiel put it, the Ox. Luke presents Jesus in His humanity,

the Son of Man, the Man. John presents Jesus in His divine Nature, as

God…, the flying Eagle. And Ezekiel actually says that every living

creature had all four faces… Just as Jesus is all four of these things.

Revelation Chapter 4 Verses 9 – 11

 The expression or worship includes creation and existence which is

yet another reason why I believe these 24 are representatives of

mankind itself. Not seen by Isaiah and Ezekiel because the work of the

redemption of man had not yet been accomplished by Jesus Christ.

 And so, we see here worship given to God for the fact that He has, by

His will, created all that we know…in heaven and on earth. If you

were to take the information in the single cell that is formed at the

point of conception of a human being…if you were to take the

information contained therein…concerning the color of your eyes,

your height, hair color, dimensions of your nose, density of your toe

nails…., if you were to contain that information in code, it would fill

1000 volumes of 500 pages each…in just that one cell.

 Scientific fact regarding the genetic code of a zygote…the single cell

organism formed at the time of human conception. And the lessons

being taught to our children in the schools today say that they are as

common as a random occurrence. When reality teaches something

quite different… Here, in this scene, in reality, “You are worthy, O

Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all

things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

 It takes far more faith to deny the glory and power of God than it takes

to believe in One who has created all things and by Him all things

consist. The worship ringing out constantly in heaven, “You are

worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power…” This is the

part so often missed by those that deny God… Why? Because the

central point of rejection of God is, “If God is good then why does He

allow bad to happen.” That’s only the second part of the worship,

which is, “For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and

were created.” The first part must and does fit with the second…

 The truth is that God doesn’t allow bad things to happen to good

people. For one, define bad. If nothing is perfect, there is none good,

no not one, then all is bad… ALL of it. All have sinned and fallen

short of the glory of God. What’s more, every evil deed will be

punished. For the unsaved their punishment far outweighs their sin!

Eternal separation into 100% loss. For the saved, the full weight of

punishment was poured out on Jesus Christ… The real rejection is that

there are some that just don’t like the situation…, and truly, I get

that…

 And we arrive back at the holiness of God. Completely and utterly

different. Ways above my ways and thoughts above my thoughts. How

far above? Further than almost possible according to Isaiah 55. So I’m

left with a choice, reject the truth because I don’t understand it or

accept the truth by faith… Each of us face that same choice that will

ultimately decide our destiny…

 John came back from heaven. I bet he was bummed…he left the island

of Patmos…obviously because we have this book…and he would

spend the rest of his days living amongst the church in Ephesus. They

would bring him in, John the elder, place him in front of the

church…and after seeing all that he saw, tradition tells us he would

preach a five-word sermon.

 All that he could say, all that he had seen, heard and knew…from

walking with Jesus to being present and faced with the very throne of

God…and yet, when they placed him in the position of prominence

and asked him to speak, all he would say is, “Little children, love one

another.” Astounding…why? Because in this scene we have visited

today, even though the things he saw and heard, the lasting

impression upon him is the same as it will be for you when you

accept the presence and lordship of Jesus Christ, God Himself in your

life…it was and is and will be…overwhelmingly that all that we deal

with is so temporary, so truly unimportant compared to what is ahead

and compared to the glory, honor and power of the One who is seated

upon the throne!