Heaven on Earth
Revelation 4
For me, last Friday evening was a little taste of heaven. I was struck by this as I sat on a beautiful evening with friends, young and old, good food, and wonderful, meaningful music and testimony at the Gray Havens concert at Westwood Barns.
We all have different images we conjure up when we think of heaven, and Christians throughout all time have held various views and understandings of just what heaven is. But there’s one thing we can be sure of, and scripture makes this abundantly clear – heaven is where God’s presence is.
The apostle John is given a sneak peak, a vision of heaven, recorded in Revelation 4. What he experiences it seems he finds difficult to put into words, but he describes the scene with words like lightning & thunder, emeralds & rubies and gold, and he sees a sea of glass, clear as crystal. He sees a throne and elders, and majestic creatures, and angels, and saints.
And what he sees and hears, the very content of heaven, is worship. Day and night, the worship goes on and on and on:
“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty ‘who was and is and is to come.’”
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
The apostle John experiences the most beautiful, incredible, unimaginable, eternal worship service. Day and night and right now. The activity of all eternity is worship.
Now some of us may prefer to picture heaven as the perfect round of golf, or a tropical beach vacation… not a worship service. But this is a misunderstanding of worship. Heavenly worship is not limited to singing some songs, and praying some prayers, or sitting in a pew. No, Romans 12:1 calls us to a greater understanding of worship.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
And so whether you are seated at your kitchen table in the quiet of morning, relaxing on your couch after a long day, or anywhere in between today, this moment is literally another opportunity to join in heavenly worship as you take your break, as you go to class, as you drive to work, or do the dishes. Whatever you do, you can join in the heavenly worship that is already, and eternally occurring. It doesn’t have to be a picture perfect concert evening.
Because our God is immaterial and infinite.
He is unbound by space, or time.
He is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and all-present. God is with you.
Christ’s atoning sacrifice has torn the veil between heaven and earth. And if you confess Him as Savior or Lord, and the Holy Spirit dwells within you, then today you can live a life of worship, and experience heaven on earth.
Heavenly Father,
Give us a vision for this eternal life of worship, not only for the future, but in the present today. Life is busy, we are easily distracted, and often find it difficult to keep this perspective because sin clouds our sight, and all too often our priorities are misordered. Holy Spirit, may we realize and experience your presence with us today. In Jesus name, Amen.