PRAISE FOR CREATION Revelation 4v9-11.
In chapter 4 the worship of God is focused on creation and directed to God the Father as the One sitting upon the throne. In chapter 5 the worship is focused on redemption and is directed to the Lamb who overcame. These two aspects of God's work are not unrelated. The ultimate end of redemption would involve removal of the curse of sin on the earth (which is accomplished at the end of the book). In these verses we have seen the effect of the throne of God on those close by. None of us can experience that now but what we can experience is the wonder of God's creation all around us. Souls who have been redeemed ought to see in the creation the wonders of God. Just as "day and night" the living creatures pay homage to the Lord, so here in this world far from the throne we all of us are surrounded by the glory of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." (Psalm 19v1-2). The wonder of creation is all around us and redeemed eyes should be opened to see what others cannot, the very glory of God proclaimed in the sky and in the fields and in the rivers and in the mountains etc. etc. The following should be part of our everyday experience in the words of the hymn writer:
When through the woods and forest glades I wonder,
And hear the birds sing softly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art,
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Another hymn writer has put it like this:
Heaven above is softer blue, earth beneath is sweeter green,
Something lives in every hue, Christless eyes have never seen,
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow, flow’rs with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,I am His, and He is mine!.
Men and women, the world over, are all persuaded of the mysterious wonders of creation; they speak about it, they write songs about it, but there is one dimension missing and that is they do not see beyond the wonder to the God who created it all. That is the one big difference between the believer and the unbeliever, and those of us who are redeemed should seek to learn more about the creation to appreciated its wonders in a way that only spiritually enlightened eyes can do.
The four living creatures worship God for His incomparable Person. To Him they give glory and honour and thanks for His eternal greatness and existence. The twenty four elders, who come from a different dimension, give honour to God for His wonderful works by saying "Thou art worthy o Lord to receive glory and honour and power; for thou has created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. In accordance with His promise to Noah "summer and winter, seed time and harvest, day and night have never ceased." The planet travels at vast speeds around the sun, turning on its axis, yet not a ripple is felt by anyone. The waters fall and the sun evaporates. The same amount of water is in the earth as was present at the very beginning. The grass of the field continues to grow, the mountain streams meander down to the valleys. The cycle of life goes on and if it were not for the mal-distribution of man there would be plenty for everyone. The benign hand of the Creator is upon all His creatures, despite their waywardness. There is a worldly expression "the sun shines on the righteous;" this is untrue; because "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5v45).
The elders acknowledge not only the wonder of creation but the reason why God created the earth. "For thy pleasure (more accurately because of Thy will) they are and were created." This is an astounding statement, and answers the greatest question of all; why are we here, what's it all about? We are here because God Almighty willed it to be so and the intrusion of sin has not affected one iota His original purpose for this earth. We exist by the will and for the pleasure of God. It is not all about us, it is all about the will of God. In this last verse they say because of Thy will they were created; that was God's original purpose. They also say because of Thy will they are created; that is God's ultimate purpose. Nothing that has happened in between can alter its course. We are all here by His will and for His pleasure. On the way through we breathe His air, we eat His food, we wonder at the beauty of His creation. We were placed on this earth to worship Him. Let us all now render to Him the honour due to Him! The day is fast approaching when we will see Him closer, meanwhile, "until then my heart will go on singing, until then with joy I'll carry on, until the day mine eyes behold the city, until the day God calls me home!"
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