The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: (11) "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."
In Revelation 4, John first describes what he sees; the glorious radiance of God on the throne. Then he describes what he hears; worship!
When the sound of worship rings out in the throne room of God, the 24 elders kneel down in worship and cast their crowns down before Him.
Each one of us wear a "crown." It might be a crown of status, title, position, reputation, fame, achievements, wealth or importance. Maybe you wear a crown of pride because of achievements or success. But let us follow the example of these elders - and lay down all these things before Him. He alone is worthy of praise and adoration. He is higher than my highest achievements, greater than my greatest rewards, more precious than anything I could treasure in this world.
And this is the essence of worship: to make someone else greater than myself. To esteem them higher than I esteem myself. To count them as more valuable than I do myself. To make myself smaller, and make them bigger.To point away from me towards the object of my adoration and worship.
For many people on this planet, their object of worship is a Hollywood star, or a sports legend, maybe even a car or some kind of trophy. For the believing Christian, our focus is on our God. And we worship Him alone.
3 days left before our Multi Media presentation of Revelation as a Book of Hope.
Grace Church, Perth, 6 Sept'09 - 6pm. Afrikaans Service
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