Revelation 4 Devotional

A Throne at the Center

““Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.””Revelation 4:11 (BSB)

Before Revelation shows a single judgment on the earth, it opens a door into heaven (4:1). The first thing John sees is a throne, with someone seated on it (4:2). Everything else in the chapter is arranged around that throne: a rainbow gleaming like emerald, twenty-four elders on their own thrones, lightning and thunder, a sea like crystal, and four living creatures who never stop declaring God's holiness (4:3-8).

The order matters. The churches of chapters 2 and 3 faced poverty, prison, false teaching, and death. Revelation 4 does not explain those troubles away, but it shows that the world is not ruled by chaos or by any power that threatens God's people. It is ruled from this throne. The elders lay their crowns before it and declare that God is worthy of glory because he created all things, and by his will they exist (4:10-11). The one who made all things has not lost hold of them. You can begin the day by worshiping him before you worry about anything else.

To think about: What would change in how you face today if you started from the fact that God's throne is still occupied?