The doors of heaven are opened to John and he is given a behind the scene VIPS tour, to see this world from heaven’s perspective.
(1) God is King of Everything (Rev.4)
Amid all the other sights and sounds of heaven, at the very centre is GOD’S THRONE! It’s mentioned more than a dozen times.
Imagine a throne. What comes into your mind? Kings, Queens, Rulers. A throne is a symbol of power, control and authority. Heaven is God’s throne room and control centre, where He is directing His plan for the rescue of this world.
In a circle around the throne are “four living creatures” (4:6-8) representing all of creation. After them are “24 elders” (4:4) sitting on smaller thrones – they probably represent all of God’s people in heaven. Then after them we zoom out more and see “many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands” (5:11). And what are they all doing? They all are worshipping God on the throne.
Listen to their song: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you CREATED ALL THINGS” (4:11). God is king and is on the throne because He’s the creator. He’s the reason anything else exists. Your science teachers will tell you that everything exists because of the Big Bang – but where did that come from and what caused it? The greatest human minds have no answer – but God answers “in the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). As creator, all things belong to Him and He has the right to be their king.
There’s nothing bigger or more powerful than God: He was here first and He will always be here. He will outlast and outlive all competition. He is God alone! So in the good times and in the bad, we need to remember what John sees in the control room: God is safely on His throne and He’s got the whole world in His hands.
Things in this world often seem out of control and not going well. But the good news is God has a plan to fix that: the scroll.
(2) Jesus Deserves Worship By Everyone (Rev.5)
The next part of the drama in heaven is about who is able to open the scroll in God’s hand. The scroll is rolled up and secured by seven seals or locks. This scroll contains God’s future plans to bless His people and to renew this world. But all of heaven is sad because there is no one found who is able to unlock the scroll. If the scroll is not opened then God’s plans cannot be happen! This is awful news for John – there is no hope…
But then it’s announced: “Weep no more; behold, the LION of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5). HEARING this John looks around to see the Lion, a powerful and mighty conqueror. But he’s surprised at what he SEES: “I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne” (5:6-8). Who is this? It’s Jesus who died and rose again, and all of heaven breaks out into thunderous applause and celebration! It’s even better than what would happen if the Scotland win the rugby world cup! It’s bigger than the cheer as One Direction come on stage at Wembley.
Jesus is described as all powerful (7 horns), all seeing (7 eyes) and everywhere present (7 spirits of God throughout the earth) because Jesus is God the Son and God the King.
Heaven is celebrating because Jesus was sent on a mission for God’s kingdom and He has returned victorious. Jesus has made it possible for God’s rescue plans for this whole world to happen.
Today Jesus is on heaven’s throne, and in His nail-pierced hands are God’s plans for the future of our lives and our world. For those reasons Jesus deserves our worship.
(3) We’re Not The Centre of the Universe! (APPLICATION)
This vision poses a really important question for each one of us. God and Jesus are on the throne at the centre of heaven receiving worship.
But what is on the throne of your life receiving worship: is it Jesus or something else?
We all worship, we were made to worship and do it instinctively – it’s like breathing, we just do it and don’t think about it. We see something we like so take a picture to post on Instagram or Facebook with the caption “This is awesome”. We see someone do something impressive and say: “They’re amazing”. That’s worship.
Our problem is that we are very good at worshipping the wrong things! People worship idols, not made of stone but idols of money, sex, popularity, success, pleasure, sport. But the biggest idol that we worship is probably ourselves! Someone has said:“Many people function as if they are God. They act as if they believe the universe, everything and everyone is there for them. They put all their efforts in building their own little kingdom. They experience themselves as the centre of the universe… By nature, I worship myself. I live as if I am God. I live for my desires, my comforts, my ambitions”.Does thatsoundlike you at all? I know it sounds like me sometimes! We want to be the ones at the centre of attention, we want to be loved, adored. We want it to be our name in lights. We want to be the hero, to be the one everyone looks up to and listens to, and to be better than the rest at our sport, at our school, or whatever. We demand everyone to do things our way and not annoy us.
I saw an interview of Kanye West a few weeks ago in which he was talking about being “the greatest music artist and rock star ever”. And then he screamed: “I AM A GOD”. I just thought: Kanye you’re an arrogant idiot! Yet there’s a bit of Kanye West, even a bit of Emperor Domitian in all of us. We all want to be like God: to be at the centre being worshipped and served by others. I am very good at living a self-centred, self-absorbed, selfish life.
But here’s the thing: I am not God and you are not God. You are not on the throne of heaven. All of creation doesn’t owe its existence to you. And your life will be filled with frustration and disappointment if you try to take God’s place, because you are doomed to fail because you’re not God!
It gets worse: for daring to put ourselves in God’s place, and trying to push Him off the throne, we’re rebels who deserve to be punished forever. But the amazing thing is what God has done for rebels like you and me. Jesus, the glorious King, has stepped down from His throne, left behind the adoring crowds of angels and the splendours of heaven. He came into this dark world which hated him and attacked him. He suffered, bled and died for us. He endured the punishment for we deserved. He loves you so much to do that! Today He’s back on His throne in heaven and He wants you to love Him and give Him His rightful place in your life.
