Worship God the Eternal Creator
The Eternal Creator is Worthy of all Worship
Many different things come to mind when people think of holiness. Holiness is difficult to understand. There is no “thing” on earth to compare it to. Essentially, this is what holiness is. It is “other.” It’s something different. Unique.
The Bible declares that God is, “Holy, holy, holy.”
The repetition screams out for the reader to pay attention. This is important! God is Holy.
Holy, holy, holy.
This declaration is again found in Revelation.
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8)
In this passage, we see an aspect of God’s holiness is defined. God is eternal. He is everlasting. There is no beginning to God. No end. He has always existed. There was never a time when He did not exist. He is the God who was and is and is to come.
The eternality of God is seen and understood best in contrast with His non-eternal creation.
At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!
(Revelation 4:2-8)
Created beings use concrete language when we describe material things. We are capable of describing objects with relative certainty and clarity. For example, if I am describing a Blue Jay, I would say it’s a small blue bird with black markings and a white belly.
It is not so easy when attempting to describe God. Why? Because He is holy. The Apostle John wrote the words we read in Revelation. He was strengthened in the Spirit to be able to behold this awesome sight. Even still, John cannot describe God concretely or exactly. He must say that God who is seated on the throne has the “appearance of.”
This means that God’s appearance was “kind of, but not really” this. Jasper and carnelian is the closest objects John could come up with to describe God seated on His throne. They are precious, expensive, and beautiful stones. Yet, even the most beautiful and costly of these stones on earth could not describe what John was seeing. Not fully. Not completely. The appearance was like this. But it wasn’t this. Even the most beautiful and precious of items can not fully describe the beauty, glory, and awesomeness of the eternal, holy Creator God.
God is holy, holy, holy. He cannot be described or compared to any created object. Not fully.
John’s vision shows God surrounded by His creation. We read of the twenty-four thrones around the throne of God. Seated on them were twenty-four elders. Twenty-four created beings. But God is not like them.
Then there are the four living creatures. Fascinating creatures. “Full of eyes in front and behind … each of them with six wings.” A lion, an ox, something like a man, and an eagle in flight. But God is not like them.
God is holy, holy, holy. He is other. Different. Unique. Higher. Greater. More glorious, more awesome, more beautiful, and more terrifying.
He is the Eternal Creator.
It is demonstrated in this passage that God’s holy presence brings forth a response from His creation. Worship.
Worship God - This is Right
Those who share a near proximity to God see clearly that He is the only One worthy of glory and praise.
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Revelation 4:8-11)
God is the holy, eternal Creator. He is worthy to receive the worship of all His creation. All the time. We must not make the same error that the Israelites did in thinking that He is like us.
You thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. (Psalm 50:21)
How Can We Approach This Holy Creator?
We cannot approach God on our terms. He is thrice holy. Everyone who fails to treat God as holy in Scripture or approach on their own terms finds out quickly the folly of this decision.
We must approach God on His terms.
It is here that Scripture presents us with a problem.
as it is written:
None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God. (Romans 3:10-11)
There is none on earth that will come to God. None who can. Not on our own. All have gone astray, have turned, every one of us, to our own way (Isaiah 53:6 paraphrase). There is none on this earth that does right before God. Thus, there is judgment to be poured out on man.
How then can man approach their Creator God who is holy, holy, holy? The answer is found in the next chapter, Revelation 5. It is found in the Lion of the tribe of Judah:
Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb standing as though it had been slain, Jesus the Christ. (Revelation 5:5-6)
Come back for the next post. We see that all worship is given to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ because of His finished work on this earth.
(If you would like to hear more about this article, you can listen to the podcast episode: Worship To Both the Father and the Son)