WORSHIP: CALLED TO FALL DOWN
Revelation 4:1-11
Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” 2 And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. 3 The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. 4 Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6 In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.
In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. 7 The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. 8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things, and they exist because you
created what you pleased.”
REFLECTION
It is so amazing to imagine the worship of heaven! In this passage John recounts two hymns of praise sung in heaven: one by the "four living beings" who glorify God's holiness, power, and eternity; the other by the "twenty-four elders" who glorify God for his work of creation. The twenty-four elders are mentioned many times falling down before the one seated on the throne (Revelation 5:8, 14; 7:11, 11:16, 19:4). This seems to be the most natural posture before the Almighty. It should be our posture as well. Worship leader and songwriter, Matt Redman, writes:
"When we face up to the glory of God, we soon find ourselves facedown in worship... Facedown worship always begins as a posture of the heart. It's people so desperate for the increase of Christ that they find themselves decreasing to the ground in an act of reverent submission. When a soul is so captured by the Almighty, to bend low in true and total surrender seems the only appropriate response."
May this be true of us. As we face up to the glory of God, may we find ourselves facedown in worship.
RESPONSE
1. How does Revelation 4 inform your imagination and biblical view of heaven?
2. Do you ever find yourself facedown before God in worship? If so, when?
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