Revelation 4:8 - Meaning and Application

We have now considered the sights the apostle saw in heaven. Let us also notice the songs he heard, for heaven offers not only what pleases a holy eye, but also what deeply delights a holy ear. That is true of Christ’s church here on earth, which is a kind of heaven on earth, and it will be even more true in the church made perfect in the highest heaven.

I. He heard the song of the four living creatures, the ministers of the church. This points back to the prophet Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah 6:1-13). In that vision, they worship one God, and only one, the Lord God Almighty, who never changes and lives forever. They also worship the three holy persons in this one God, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are one infinitely holy and eternal Being, who sits on the throne and lives forever and ever. In this glory, the prophet saw Christ and spoke of him.

II. He heard the worship of the twenty-four elders, that is, of the Christian people they represent. The ministers led, and the people joined in praising God (Revelation 4:10-11). Notice several things here.

First, the object of their worship is the same as that of the ministers, him who sits on the throne, the eternal, ever-living God. The true church has one and the same object of worship. If there were two different objects of worship, whether equal or one under the other, worship would be confused and worshipers would be divided. It is wrong to join in worship with those who either misunderstand or add to the object of worship. There is only one God, and he alone is worshiped as God by the church on earth and in heaven.

Second, consider their acts of worship. They fell down before him who sits on the throne, showing deep humility, reverence, and godly fear. They also cast their crowns before the throne. In this, they gave God the glory for the holiness with which he had crowned their souls on earth, and for the honor and happiness with which he crowns them in heaven. They owe all their grace and all their glory to him. They admit that his crown is far more glorious than theirs, and that their own honor is to glorify God.

Third, consider the words of their worship: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power” (Revelation 4:11). They do not say, “We give you glory, honor, and power,” because what creature could claim to give anything to God? Instead, they say that he is worthy to receive it. In saying this, they quietly admit that God is far above all blessing and praise. He is worthy to receive glory, but they are not worthy to praise him, nor able to do so as his infinite excellence deserves.

Fourth, we have the reason for their worship, and it is threefold. He is the Creator of all things, the first cause, and only the Creator should be worshiped. No created thing may be made the object of religious worship. He is also the Preserver of all things, and his preserving care is a continuing creation. All things keep existing by God’s sustaining power. Every being except God depends on God’s will and power, so no dependent being must be set up as an object of worship. The best of dependent beings should be worshipers, not the ones worshiped.

He is also the final reason for all things. “For your pleasure they are and were created.” It was his will and pleasure to create all things. He was not forced into it by the will of another, and there is no such thing as a lesser creator acting under another’s power and will. If there were, that being still should not be worshiped. As God made all things according to his pleasure, so he made them for his pleasure, to deal with them as he chooses and to glorify himself through them in one way or another. Though he does not delight in the death of sinners, but rather that they turn and live, yet he has made all things for himself (Proverbs 16:4).

If these are true and enough reasons for religious worship, and if they belong to God alone, then Christ must be God, one with the Father and the Spirit, and must be worshiped as God. Scripture gives him the same work of creation. “All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).