All Things

Last Sunday was our first service together in three months of not having anything in person together.

And it was a great time. We sure enjoyed being together.

And we looked at a place in God's Word where, long ago, services were disrupted.

And then, after a period of time, resumed again.

And we looked at that day when King David led the people of Israel to begin services again at the tent that David set up in Jerusalem.

It was a joyful day. It was just a wonderful time.

David encouraged the people to get the instruments out.

He got the worship team together.

And he shared one of his own songs that day as an example of the kind of praise and song that they were to offer to the Lord.

And we saw last Sunday that the kind of worship that God desires is worship that comes from the heart.

We saw, in David's words, that God is worthy of our praise.

He deserves it. It's fitting for him to receive that from us.

And we looked at a whole bunch of reasons that David put into that song of why God is worthy.

Of us coming together and worshiping him Sunday after Sunday.

Well, today we want to add another reason to that list.

A reason for why God is worthy of our worship and our praise.

And we find that reason in Revelation chapter 4.

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

Revelation is a unique part of the scriptures.

It has some of the characteristics of a letter that's been written to a number of churches.

But it also has characteristics of a vision which God gave to the Apostle John.

And not just any vision, but a prophetic vision.

A vision in which things of the future are revealed.

And so, up until this point in the book of Revelation,

John is on the island of Patmos where he has been exiled because of his preaching the word of God

and because of his giving testimony about Jesus.

And it's here on the island of Patmos that God gave him an amazing vision.

The Lord Jesus himself was who John saw revealed to him that day.

And he saw the Lord Jesus not just in ordinary human form, but in his glorious appearance.

And the Lord Jesus commanded him to write words down, letters to give to various churches.

And it's just following this that we pick up the story of this vision that John is experiencing in chapter 4.

After this, I looked, and there before me, says John, was a door standing open in heaven.

And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said,

Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.

At once, I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven.

With someone sitting on it.

And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.

A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones.

And seated on them were 24 elders.

They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder.

In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing.

These are the seven spirits of God.

Also, in front of the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures.

And they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.

The first living creature was like a lion.

The second was like an ox.

The third had a face like a man.

The fourth was like a flying eagle.

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around,

even under its wings.

Day and night, they never stopped 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 forever and ever,

the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne

and worship him who lives forever 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.

Well, this is a very strange vision.

There are a lot of interesting details in it.

Lots of things that, if we're honest,

we have no idea what John is talking about.

But let's look at a few of the details that we see here in this vision.

The first thing that we want to notice is that this is a vision of heaven.

This is one artist's rendition of this vision.

John says,

There before me I saw a door standing open in heaven,

and a voice invites him, the voice who spoke to him earlier,

the voice of Jesus, to come up here and see some things,

and in some mysterious way that's beyond our understanding,

John was in the spirit, in this vision,

and it's as though he was taken up through this door into heaven,

where he got a glimpse of some very strange things,

some very amazing things.

John describes the first thing that he saw as a throne there in heaven,

and someone sitting on the throne.

He describes the appearance of this one sitting on the throne,

and his description is like no person that we have ever seen.

In fact, we almost get the sense that even John is reaching for words to describe this one.

Verse 3,

The one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.

Perhaps John means to describe something of the way that he's beautiful,

he's glorious, he's reflective.

There's a bit of color there.

He goes on to describe 24 thrones that are seated around this one throne.

Here's another artist's rendition of it.

And an emerald rainbow, you can kind of see it around the throne.

Flashes of lightning coming from the throne.

Rumblings and peals of thunder.

You can see there on the picture, seven lamps blazing in front of it,

and the four living creatures.

A very strange and mysterious vision indeed.

And when we read this, I mean, we have all kinds of questions, I'm sure.

Like, why did God give a vision like this to John?

Is this actually what heaven looks like?

Or is this just a vision that kind of reveals truth or reality of what happens in the spiritual realm?

Is it symbolic?

What are the seven spirits of God?

What kind of creatures are these with six wings and eyes all over their bodies?

And who are these 24 elders, these kings who sit on these thrones and have golden crowns?

Well, I have a short answer and a longer answer.

And my short answer is I have no idea what all of these things refer to.

The slightly longer answer is that God doesn't waste his breath in anything he says or reveals.

And so I trust that there is some important meaning and purpose for revealing just what he did to John that day.

But sometimes God gives us more of a glimpse than an opportunity to gaze and fully understand.

And I think that's what's happening here.

Who are these four creatures?

What are they?

Are they real?

Or are they symbolic?

I think we're wise not to make too much of them.

Or presume in pride to know just what they are.

But I think it's also wise not to make too little of them.

They show up 11 times in this vision, this story which God has given.

And we can speculate.

We can guess.

We can look at all the details of the crowns and the clothing that they wear and the types of creatures that they are.

But I think it's safe to just admit that we don't know just what this is all about.

It appears as though God is just giving us a glimpse into something that is beyond us.

He does that sometimes.

Sometimes he does it in order to reveal something but also conceal something for a later time in which we will know more fully.

So what can we take from this very strange vision?

And really this is just a piece of the whole thing.

Well I think that we can start by concluding that wherever God rules from in the heavenly realms, it's glorious.

It's beautiful.

Not only that but he, the one who sits on heaven's throne, is glorious and beautiful.

He is someone who is to be feared.

John describes flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder coming from the throne.

Can you imagine how John would have felt in the midst of that, witnessing that?

Just a couple weeks back we had some storms come through Davidson.

And I still remember seeing the living room window just lighting up with flashes of lightning.

And hearing the booms of thunder.

And we just had to pause what we were doing and just kind of stand in awe and listen like,

Wow, this is powerful.

Even little Caleb, his attention was captured.

And he had to come over to the window and talk about the booms that he was hearing.

Can you imagine how John would have felt in this vision?

To see and hear that coming out of this glorious throne in heaven.

The Lord is glorious.

He is beautiful.

He is someone to be feared.

And all of this vision, in some ways, really points to the truth that he is holy.

That he is other.

He is above.

He is beyond.

He is distinct from us.

Superior.

Here he is.

And he is being worshipped day and night by creatures the likes of which we have never seen in our world.

They are declaring this truth.

That he is holy.

Holy.

Holy.

The repetition of that word signals that it's not just a little bit of holy.

It's a lot of holy.

So far above us.

And all other beings.

Holy.

Holy.

Holy.

Holy is the Lord.

God.

Almighty.

Holy.

The story goes on.

John sees these living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne.

And we just get the sense that we, through John's eyes, are seeing a worship moment.

A moment in which God is receiving worship.

And it goes on from here.

The 24 elders, John tells us, they, when they see the creatures giving praise to God, they fall down before this one seated on the throne.

They lay their crowns before him and they worship him.

Just think of that for a second.

You, as a human being here on earth, what would it take to get you to bow down before another person here on earth?

I mean, we can hardly even imagine a situation where we would do that.

It would have to be the greatest of rulers, a powerful man, a person worthy of great respect, a person who is truly worthy to get us to bow down before him.

Now, flip that around and imagine that you are such a king.

And you have a kingdom and you have a crown of gold on your head that represents your rule and reign over your kingdom.

What would it take to get you to fall down on your face before someone else?

And to take the crown, the symbol of your authority and power and rule, and lay it at the feet of another.

You would only do that before the greatest of kings that this world has ever known.

This is the kind of moment that we see happening here through John's eyes in his vision.

Not only do they bring, do they take up the posture of worship and fall down before the one on the throne and lay before him their crowns, but they speak words of worship.

Verse 11, you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.

Just think about those words for a moment.

Worthy.

It is fitting.

It is right that you receive glory, worship.

It's what you are due.

Why?

They give one reason.

Also in verse 11,

For you created all things,

and by your will they were created and have their being.

This is an awesome statement.

And it's worth taking a time to just slow down and ponder it.

For you created, you made everything.

And it exists and continues to exist because of your purpose and intention, your will.

You are worthy for doing that.

You are worthy for doing that.

I love that little phrase.

Created all things.

That's a big little phrase.

All things means a lot.

Let's consider for a moment what is included in all things.

It includes the things of heaven.

It includes the things of earth.

It includes the physical.

It includes the spiritual.

It includes the really big things like clusters of galaxies.

It includes the really little things like protons, neutrons, and electrons.

It includes the laws which govern our world like gravity, thermodynamics, the laws of motion and physics.

It includes the systems which we see happening all over.

The rain cycle.

The tide.

The ebb and flow of the tide.

The way the moon affects those things.

All of it.

All things includes that liquid we call water

in which there are countless different kinds of living creatures.

Swimming.

Living.

It includes the sky and all the flyers which navigate the currents of wind

that we can hardly even imagine.

It includes all plants and trees.

It includes light.

It includes sound.

Everything.

All things.

You are worthy, our Lord and God,

for you created all things.

Everything.

What a statement.

Let's think a little more about some of these things

and just how they show the worthiness of God.

Plants.

Such an amazing thing.

There are so many different kinds all over earth

and they all grow and look a little different

and have so much variation and color,

different conditions in which they thrive.

You look up close, even at the back of a leaf,

and look at the detail,

the complexity of what's going on there.

I've got a massive poplar in my backyard

and it just floors me

that that whole tree grew out of a seed this big.

It's amazing.

Those of you who farm,

that tiny little canola seed,

isn't it amazing that the whole canola plant

is packed into that?

You can store it.

You can activate it whenever you want

just by putting it in the ground

and putting some water on it.

It's amazing.

Those of you who are doing some gardening,

maybe you've got some of these

that you're hoping to see in your garden

later this season.

Isn't it amazing that out of a tiny little tomato seed,

you can get a whole plant full of these

ripe, beautiful, red, juicy tomatoes.

God created all things.

Here's an example of something that we've created.

Let's talk about machines.

Some of you fix machines.

Some of you drive machines.

Here's a machine that's been made by man,

a combine, and it's pretty impressive.

It can do some pretty amazing things.

It's got lots of processes,

lots of mechanisms,

lots of systems.

It's got GPS.

I don't know if that model does or not,

but probably not.

It looks like an older one.

But what's amazing to me

is that all throughout our world,

we see that God has created

all kinds of machines,

living machines,

with all kinds of parts

and programming

that function in all kinds of ways

that blow this out of the water,

that make this look primitive.

I mean, think for a moment of this.

A dolphin.

It's got one of the most amazing systems

on the planet

for sonar,

echolocation.

I just have to tell you

a little bit about it.

Apparently, this thing is able to

create clicks

of all different kinds

and project them out into the water

through an acoustic lens

in its forehead.

It can bounce those sound waves

off a fish

up to 200 meters away,

get the waves back

through its jawbones,

and interpret that information

into a 3D image.

Like, that's astounding.

And what will blow our minds

even more is that

it's so fine-tuned

and it works so effortlessly,

so naturally.

It's part of the programming

and wiring

that it can do this

to objects far and near,

back and forth so quickly.

It can see a whole swarm of fish

just going like this

and zero in on a single fish

with those waves

and just zip right in there

and grab it.

Not by sight,

but by this crazy sonar system

that's wired into its head.

God created that.

It blows our minds.

It's amazing.

Here's another example

of something amazing.

Birds.

What a creature.

A creature which can go

from standing still

and just start flapping

and climb right up

into thin air

and just hover

through the air.

We've done the best we can

to replicate flight.

We've made our machines,

but they look big

and clunky

and they're primitive

compared to this.

I mean,

you think of what a bird

can do.

The engineering,

the design.

Birds are as common

as anything.

I mean,

we see them all the time

and yet

the acrobatics

that they can do

in the air.

They can snatch

an insect

out of the air

in mid-flight.

It's amazing.

A bird like this

can zero in

on a fish

down in the water

and dive

and grab that fish

right out of the water.

And all of that's

wired into this

little package.

All the programming

is there.

The mechanisms

are there.

It has just

the right parts.

It's amazing.

Another example

of the

awesome creativity

of God.

While we're on

the subject of birds,

I just had to put

one of these in there,

a hummingbird.

What an amazing creation.

This thing can fly

up to 50 kilometers

an hour

and then

in an instant

stop

mid-air

and just hover.

And then

if it wants to,

it can fly backwards.

This particular

kind of hummingbird

can do

in-flight fueling.

Come right up

to the flower,

hover.

Think of the

precision on that.

Its beak

is like

a tiny needle.

It can suck

the nectar

right out of a flower.

In-flight fueling.

Give SpaceX

a run for its money.

Another amazing

creation of God.

And all of that

packed into this

tiny little body.

It blows our minds.

How can it sustain

that kind of

muscle activity,

that kind of

energy requirement?

the fuel that it would

need,

the energy output

of this thing

is amazing

and it's all

in this tiny

little thing.

The best of drones

that we have engineered

doesn't even

come close to this.

You get maxed

10 minutes of flight

before the

battery's dead.

Or consider

the caterpillar.

Another thing

that God has created.

I love these.

They give,

they baffle the minds

of scientists

over and over

and over again.

It's the only creature

in our world

that we know of

that forms a chrysalis,

turns all of itself

into a chemical soup.

all of its organs

gone

into chemicals

and then re-emerges

as a totally

different creature.

A thing that

eats differently,

a thing that

moves differently,

flies differently.

It's nothing like

what it was

when it went in.

It baffles

the minds

of the best

of human biologists.

How could something

do that

in just two weeks' time?

It's amazing.

And we're just

getting started here.

The whole world

is full of all kinds

of stuff like this.

This is one of my favorites.

A living cell.

This is one of the most

complex things

on earth.

A single living cell

has,

and these are not

my words,

and these are not

just the words

of Christians,

it has all kinds

of micro machinery

inside of it

that are at work

performing

their various functions

all the time.

And I don't think

they've just chosen

those words

because, you know,

that's our experience.

So, yeah,

it kind of looks

like machines.

No, they're machines.

According to

microbiologists,

there are

biological motors

and rotors

and bushings

and walking mechanisms

and all kinds

of stuff

going on

all the time

inside just one

of these little things.

There's factories

called ribosomes

that help produce

proteins.

There's a storage

center

where all the

information

and blueprints

are kept

on strands of DNA.

There's little machines

that go in there

and make copies

of various strands

and bring those copies

to the factories

and then the factories

call for all these

other machines

to bring the various

pieces that are

required to

form these

massive chains

of amino acids

that then get

carried over

to this other machine

that folds them

into the

perfect shape

so that they can

function

as the protein

that they are.

And all of this

is happening

all the time

in this complex

world

of the living cell.

It's mind-blowing.

It's breathtaking.

God created it.

I just have to say here

there's one guy

that I just

I couldn't help but

I came across

his stuff this week

and he's working

at stuff

on a very tiny level.

He's a Nobel

prize winning scientist

and he's working

on a nano car

or he's actually

made it already.

It's a car

that's got

a little carbon

helix

kind of spherical

thing for wheels

on each side.

It's so tiny

you can't even

see it without

a microscope

and he's trying

to figure out

how to get this

to move

on various surfaces

how to coax

the wheels

to roll

and maybe we

can even load

it up with

a little cargo.

That's machinery

and engineering

on a whole

nother level

but it's

nothing compared

to what's already

going on

and the kinds

of machines

God has already

wired into

every living

creature.

not only

has God

made this

world

and everything

in it

so functional

so complex

but he has

made it

beautiful.

It's not

just all

of his

masterpiece

blueprints

enacted

he's made

the world

the universe

his canvas

and I mean

just think of it

all the birds

could be grey

all the butterflies

could be black

and yet

God has put

patterns

and all

different kinds

of colours

sunsets

and sunrises

he's infused

beauty

into all

of his

creation

it's amazing

foxes

this is the

start of the

summer months

we're about

to hopefully

all of us

get outdoors

and see

more of what

God has made

and I just

want to encourage

us to look a

little closer

to gaze a

little longer

to open our

eyes a little

wider

and to ponder

a little deeper

as we have

opportunity

to look

at all

that God

has made

right in front

of us

we're surrounded

by it

in fact

we are

ourselves

creations

of God

that cell

that I

showed you

just a

moment ago

that was

you

when you

started

you were

one of

those

and yet

all

you are

today

a living

breathing

human

being

was packed

into that

one

little

thing

everything

needed

to form

you

was

there

it's

amazing

there's

a

part

of the

scripture

where it

says

the whole

earth

is

filled

with

his

glory

and it

is

this

earth

this

universe

is

God's

masterpiece

and it's

a reason

why he

is worthy

of our

worship

you are

worthy

our

Lord

and God

to receive

glory

and honor

and power

for you

created

all things

it's

amazing

it's a

reason to

celebrate

to worship

day after

day

it's

a reason

to

continue

coming

and gathering

together

as we

are

today

to sing

to praise

and to

honor our

Lord Jesus

Father in

heaven

we thank you

for your

word

we thank you

that

in a sense

you have

given us

a glimpse

of heaven

and the

glory

where you

dwell

we thank

you

that you

have

made

this

beautiful

world

for us

to live

in

and that

it's

good

and that

we can

enjoy it

as a

gift

from you

and we

ask that

you would

open

wide

our eyes

to see

your

fingerprints

over all

of it

and that

we wouldn't

take it

for granted

we love

you

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen