Heaven (Revelation 4)
Twenty-five years ago, Dad took a new preaching position about 20 minutes from my hometown. Mom and Dad, therefore, sold the house where my brothers and I were raised to move into the church’s parsonage. My younger brother Aaron and I saw no problem, but our baby brother Kyle lost his mind over selling that house.
On Father’s Day weekend 2000, we three boys helped Mom and Dad move into the parsonage. We even set beds up so Mom and Dad and Kyle—who was home from college—could sleep in their new home. Mom and Dad did; Kyle refused. He spent a final night in our childhood home.
How many of you have fond memories of home? Can you picture your mother putting a fantastic meal on the table? Can you picture your father doing maintenance around the house or mowing the lawn? Can you see you and your siblings playing together? Isn’t there just something special about home?
And God has a home. In Revelation 4, John is shown God’s home in heaven. John’s glimpse of heaven teaches: “God dwells in heaven.”
Scripture (Revelation 4)
verses 1-6a:
John was caught up into heaven, “and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.” God’s throne represents his authority as King of the universe.
- “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” (Ps 103:19).
- God shall judge the world from his throne: “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them” (Rev 20:11).
God’s great splendor is represented by his dazzling appearance.
From the throne “came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder.” These phenomena accompanied the giving of the Law at Sinai, so the imagery shows God’s authority as the Law Giver.
verses 6b-11:
Four living creatures surround God’s throne. They never cease to praise God by saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
When the living creatures praise God, the 24 elders fall down and worship. There are a couple different ideas about what these elders represent. That’s not important; what’s important is that they fall before God in worship, for he is worthy of their worship.
Application
“God dwells in heaven.” Heaven is a place where you and I shall have eternal joy and peace after Jesus’s Second Coming. However, heaven first and foremost is the place God lives.
Understand two truths because “God dwells in heaven.”
One: God has Power
John saw a throne in heaven, a symbol of authority and Power. Because he sits on the throne of his Power, God has all authority. “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Ps 47:8). “The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!” (Ps 99:1).
Because God sits on the throne of his Power, you must submit to him as king to go to heaven. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21). Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb 5:9). Only by submitting to God’s Power can you enter heaven.
However, God will never force you to submit to his Power in this world. He allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He allowed Aaron to make that golden calf. He allowed David to commit adultery with Bathsheba and then kill her husband. He allowed Judas to betray Jesus. He allowed Ananias and Sapphira to lie about the land they sold.
You don’t have to submit to God’s Power now. But one day you will submit to God’s Power, like it or not. That rich man didn’t like being in torment, but, he can’t do a thing about it. When you stand before God’s judgment throne, you will—like it or not—confess Jesus as Lord: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11). Will you submit to God’s Power now, or will you wait and submit to his Power at the Judgment?
Two: God has Praise
The four living creatures and the 24 elders Praise God without ceasing. In heaven, you will Praise God without ceasing. Those who escaped the Roman persecution praised God by saying: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev 7:10). Those redeemed from the earth “were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders” (Rev 14:3). Those who conquered the beast sang “the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Rev 15:3).
God will richly bless you in heaven—every tear will be wiped from your eyes, there will be no more sorrow or pain or death. However, heaven is primarily about God, not you. You will spend eternity around God’s throne in unceasing Praise.
I’m constantly amazed that so many folks want to go to heaven but never bother to assemble for worship on earth. If you don’t want to spend an hour in Praise to God on earth, why would you want to spend an eternity in Praise to him in heaven? It makes no sense.
How is your Praise to God? Do you give him the Praise he so richly merits? Do you need to give him that Praise this morning, not just with your mouth, but with your life?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.