August 8 Our Provider

Revelation 4:1-3 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once the Spirit took control of me. There in heaven was a throne with someone sitting on it. 3 His face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian, and all around the throne there was a rainbow the color of an emerald.”
 
SUDDENLY the scene shifts. Jesus has spoken to John about the current state of his church on earth. “After this” means it’s time for something new. Jesus now  wants to show John – and his church – the future. Now it’s time to learn of the heavenly realm.
    Chapters 4-8 are one vision. Keep this in mind as we read through this. These chapters reveal the Lord God’s great assurance that he is on his throne. His purposes will be accomplished as his holy perfection triumphs over evil.
     Note first the Lord’s authority. When he says to John, “Come up.” John has no choice. He can’t say, “When I get time, Lord.” or “When I feel I’m ready, I’ll come up there, Lord.” It’s true our Lord often gives us this option to wait on his Word. But generally this should not be our response. Jesus speaks God’s declared will here. The Bible tells us many times that what God wants done will happen immediately when he decrees it. How does it happen? Through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit took control of John to accomplish what the Lord Jesus had decreed.
    The Lord’s will here is to display his magnificent splendor to the church. Forty times in Revelation we will read of God’s throne room. Jesus reveals God’s throne here for two reasons. First, the church needs to know the Lord God is greater than any earthly ruler. Remember how worldly desires strive to elevate man above God. This is certainly true in pagan cultures. Rome’s emperors, for example, sat on the world’s most beautiful thrones to indicate their god-like status. God’s power and glory, of course, is above any earthly ruler. The Lord’s bejeweled throne establishes the highest power of all.
    It’s true, isn’t it, that the visible world continually intrudes into Jesus’ visible church on earth? Jesus must continually remind us and demonstrate to us that he is Lord of all.
    Second, the throne’s pure stones and wealth signify God’s perfection and provision. All we have comes from the earth he created. He has distributed his wealth throughout the world, so all people and nations may benefit from the natural resources. We are to properly use them for our care. To waste or ignore God’s natural gifts is to neglect his creative authority.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for a view of heaven’s holy throne room. I pray we understand your sovereign benevolence to rule your earth with ample provision for your people. Amen.