Sunday, April 17, 2005

God's Miniseries, Part Four

“We must realize that things can easily be presented on television so that the perception of a thing may be quite different from fact itself.”

“In the midst of all this Christians must not uncritically accept what they read, and especially what they see on television, as objective.”

-
Francis A. Schaeffer – “A Christian Manifesto”

I doubt that you will see or hear anything at all about worship, which is at the heart of the book of Revelation, in NBC’s “epic.”

Part four of God’s miniseries follows, and as you’ll see, it’s all about worship. This is all quite appropriate for a beautiful Sunday morning:

Revelation 4 (New Living Translation)

Revelation 4

Worship in Heaven
1 “Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things." 2And instantly I was in the Spirit,[
a] and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it! 3The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones--jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. 4Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. 5And from the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven lampstands with burning flames. They are the seven spirits[b] of God. 6In 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. 7The first of these living beings had the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth had the form of an eagle with wings spread out as though in flight. 8Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty-- the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come."
9Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down and worship 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 everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.”

Footnotes:
Revelation 4:2 Or in spirit.
Revelation 4:5 See 1:4 and 3:1, where the same expression is translated the sevenfold Spirit
Author’s note on Revelation 1:4, 3:1, and 4:5 (the sevenfold Spirit)– see also Isaiah 11:2

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