A Picture of Heaven
12/2/25 Bible Thought (Revelation 4)
Worship is the vocation of heaven.
This is exactly what we see in Revelation 4.
After addressing the seven churches, the exalted Christ with a trumpet-like voice turns to address John specifically once again. In today’s chapter, we will see a brief tour of the throne room in heaven given by the Lord Jesus Himself.
As John enters the room, he sees what amounts to a grand scene of worship and One enthroned who is beyond compare.
Truly, precious gemstones are the closest thing that John had to describe the appearance of God (see Rev. 4:2-3). At the end of the day, finite earthly descriptions will never be sufficient for the One who is infinite.
Nevertheless, what is clear is that heaven is a place of unprecedented and incomparable splendor, and even more, nothing is more splendorous than the One seated upon the throne.
A Place of Worship
Within the throne room, John sees four utterly unique living creatures, who cry out incessantly,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8b).
God is entirely distinct from anything else in the created order.
He is without rival and without parallel. He is in a class all of His own. Holiness not only carries the connotation of perfection or uprightness but fundamentally has the idea of something that is unique or separate.[1]
What I find fascinating is that these creatures around the throne are covered with eyes. Like a kaleidoscope that is always presenting new pictures as it is rotated, these beings are always fully engrossed in God and His sheer perfection from new angles.
Not only this, as they have a front-row seat like no other, they never notice a blemish. They have an abundance of eyes from which nothing could hide and yet when they see the Lord in His glory, they only have one word to describe Him—holy.
This scene of worship climaxes with a group of 24 elders around the throne, presumably representative of the Old Testament and New Testament saints[2], bowing and humbly casting their crowns before the throne.
Truly, how could anyone have even an ounce of pride when exposed to such majesty?
To be enthroned around the throne seems backwards. Though in a place of prominence they fully realize their utter unworthiness to be there and cast their crowns, crying out:
“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” (Rev. 4:11).
They were entirely aware that they were unworthy to be there. He alone is worthy.
An Invitation
As we see such a beautiful picture of heaven’s glory in Revelation 4, we should be reminded that worship is practice for eternity.
There is so much I don’t know about heaven.
Certainly, we should all agree that Scripture never intends to be exhaustive when showing us what heaven is like. I am positive that on the day I first step through the door as John did, I will be in awe like I can only begin to imagine.
Nevertheless, what we do see in Scripture is that heaven is filled with worship.
Heaven isn’t about us—it’s about our God. The One who is perfect in His being and mighty in His power. The One who created all things, us included, and likewise ransomed us through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It is His presence that makes heaven heaven.
The anthem of heaven is consistently that this God is holy and He is likewise worthy. That cry is something that we can join in when we worship, even down here, today.
Challenge for Today:
Do I ever find worship boring?
As human beings we frequently need to be reminded not to fix our eyes on the method or act of worship but on its object: the true and living God.
[1] THE LEXHAM ANALYTICAL LEXICON OF THE HEBREW BIBLE.
[2] Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Hebrews to Revelation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 280.