Holy is the Lord
The last message looked at the two throne scenes that John saw. Now lets examine the throne a little closer. Begin by looking at Revelation 4:
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
Around the throne is a sea of glass and four living creatures. Remember from our previous studies that John uses images to communicate truths about God that can’t be expressed in words. John’s understanding was opened up as he not only saw, but experienced the truth of God in ways that words can’t describe. John uses illustrations to communicate truths that are beyond the grasp of words. So he uses illustrations to explain how that seeing God went beyond his eyes to fill his understanding by touching every part of his being. How does one see the holiness of God experiencing it? John communicates that experience by stirring our ‘mind’s eye’ to go beyond our normal reasoning and attempts to give us a small taste of his heavenly vision.
Sea of Glass
The sea of glass is mentioned twice. Before the throne of hope, John said, “before the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal”. In Revelation 15, John again brings our attention to this sea as God’s plan unfolds:
15:2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
The sea of glass represents the deep unsearchable judgments of God. The sea represents depth, and crystal represents purity. Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” And Psalm 19 tells us that the law of God is perfect, His testimony is sure, His precepts are right; His commandments are pure; and His judgments are righteous. Those who desire them as gold will have a delivered soul, wisdom, a rejoicing heart, enlightened eyes, and by keeping them there is great reward.
The judgments of God are deeper than the sea and cannot be searched. God reveals these things to those who ask for wisdom and seek God with all their heart. God promised that He would reveal Himself to those who seek with all their heart – or as Proverbs 2 puts it, if you seek wisdom and understanding as if for a hidden treasure and cry out for discernment and understanding, you will find the knowledge of God. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright and is a shield to those who walk uprightly”. The Lord will guard your paths and preserve your way and you will understand righteousness, justice, equity and every good path (Proverbs 2:1-9). The understanding of the things of God can only be revealed by God.
The sea of glass is the unsearchable depths of God that are revealed to those who seek Him with all their heart. God said, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know”(Jeremiah 33:3). To cry for wisdom is not a confession of the mouth, but a complete surrender of the heart. Most Christians want to live for God, but the hardest thing you will ever do is give yourself to God in complete surrender. Each step that draws us closer to God is usually a battle, but none as great as the moment of complete surrender. I can remember committing myself to completely surrender many times, but in my heart I always held back. Almost unconsciously, that barrier of my will would always stand. Even if you verbally surrender every day, you will not truly surrender until you truly trust God. Even after I surrendered to the ministry and was actively serving God, I was not completely surrendered. But there was a moment in time when I set my heart on God’s plan and realized that there was nothing else. Like passing through a hedge, I surrendered and crossed over. Trust must come first. Complete trust means trusting everything God says. If I can’t trust God’s promise of satisfaction and fulfillment, I won’t completely yield. If I don’t trust God to meet my needs, I will not yield my financial life. If I can’t trust God’s promise that He will guide all my steps, I can’t trust God in my problems. If I can’t walk by faith, I will resent His commands. Until you trust God with all of your heart, you cannot surrender your heart completely to Him. That is the point when you will experience what David understood fully:
Psalm 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
119:127 Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold!
…
140 Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.
When you recognize that God’s ways are to be treasured and loved, then you will see the benefit and desire it. If you walk by sight, you will be attracted to everything that glitters. If you walk by faith, you will find the hidden treasures of God.
In both Revelation 4 and 15 we see the sea of glass. The only difference is that in 15 it is mixed with fire. The fire represents the righteous anger and indignation of the Lord. Even in wrath, God’s ways are pure. Even in the fierceness of God’s anger, God never leaves order behind. He never looses control like we envision with human anger. Anger is not a sin unless it is out of control. The Bible says, “Be angry and do not sin”. There is a time for anger. Even the anger of God is unleashed within His foreordained purpose. The sea never becomes troubled. The saints who overcame stood peacefully on top of the calm surface and sang praises to God and declared His holiness while God executed judgment on those who are in rebellion against Him.
Four Creatures
The King James Version of the Bible calls these angels beasts. Living creatures is a more accurate translation. The Greek word ‘zoon’ is properly translated as living creature. The word ‘beast’ is usually translated from the word ‘therion’. Zoon is only used in the passages referring to the living creatures around the throne. These are seen and described in Ezekiel and Isaiah as well. Isaiah calls them seraphim and Ezekiel calls them Cherubim. Seraphim is a visual description while cherubim is a classification. Seraph means ‘fiery one’ and a cherub is an angel. Each time we see these angels, they are testifying to the glory and holiness of God on the throne. As we will see, the purpose of their testimonies is to declare the glory of Christ. These angels are not celestial bodyguards as I have seen others suggest. The Bible makes it clear that anything that is not filled with the holiness of God will be consumed by His presence. The purpose of these creatures is to behold and then proclaim the glory of God. The image described as being filled with eyes is symbolic of understanding God’s purposes. These angels never cease from beholding the glory and purposes of God and declaring them as holy. They do not let anything God reveals escape their vision, but they apply themselves so to not allow anything to be neglected from their testimony. Each of these creatures declares a different part of the testimony of Christ. Each of these creatures represent an aspect of the testimony of Christ. The lion is the mightiest of wild animals, the ox strongest and greatest laborer of the field, the eagle master of all birds, and man is the crown of all creation. Lets look at these and see how they apply to the glory of Jesus Christ.
Lion
The lion represents the strength and power of the judgment of Christ. Jesus is called the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ (Rev 5:5). The testimony of the lion is the righteous judgement of Christ against the wicked. Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.” The purpose of Christ’s first coming was compassion and instruction as He showed us how to live and then paid our debt so that we could follow His example. When He returns, it will be in righteous judgment. Psalm 50 tells us that the wicked who have rejected His instruction and cast His words behind them have not gone unnoticed. Look at Psalm 50:21-23
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.
22 "Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver:
23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God."
Verse 22 is the warning. Those who forget God and refuse to consider the consequences will be torn in God’s vengeance. That is the image being presented through the lion. This is hard for many to understand because they have this image of Jesus as a passive monk who is not capable of anger and does not require holiness. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus came to show compassion so that we could live in God’s holiness, but those who reject compassion store up wrath for the day of judgement. Proverbs 19:12 says, “The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.” God always offers the blessing or the curse. The King of kings and Lord of lords offers us either His lovingkindness that is as refreshing as the dew on the grass or the wrath of a lion. Each one will choose one or the other by their response. The face of a lion is the testimony of the righteous judgement and wrath of Jesus Christ. Jesus spells it out for us in John 5:
24 " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25 "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29 "and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Calf
The Ox represents servitude. The calf is a young ox and represents the sin sacrifice as required by the law. It is the labor of the ox that ploughs the ground and does the work that enables the farmer to plant for the harvest. In that same sense, this angel testifies to the servant heart of Christ. It was Jesus Christ that labored to fulfill the law. It was His completed work that fulfilled the law and then His sacrifice for our sins that paid our debt and makes us right with God. It is the work of Christ that ploughs the hard ground of our heart and allows the seed to be planted in soil that can receive it.
The sacrifice of the ox is taken from the law given in the Old Testament. A young ox is often used as a sin offering. Each sin required a sacrifice. Even sins committed in ignorance was counted as guilt and had to be atoned for. All of the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to the coming perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Old Testament atonements were a sacrifice of faith. They could not clear guilt. They became works of faith that would one day be completed by Christ. Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Salvation has always been by God’s grace and received by faith. In the Old Testament, they believed God and acted out of faith without knowing what their sacrifices represented. When Jesus came, He revealed all things and fulfilled the only atonement for sin by His perfect sacrifice of His own blood. Look at Galatians 3:
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Those who kept the law out of faith did so in hope of the promise that has now been revealed in Christ. The testimony of this angel is to declare the labor of Christ as our servant and the sacrifice He made on our behalf. They declare what Jesus pointed out in Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Man
The angel with the face of a man declares the holiness of God and the humanity of Christ. The book of Philippians tells us that though He existed in the form of God, He humbled Himself and put off His rightful glory and took on the likeness of man. His glory was veiled and He humbled Himself, but it is not possible to remove Himself from His deity. He took on the human form so that He could be touched with our infirmities and touch our needs. Hebrews 2:
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
It was necessary for Him to become like us so that He could bear our burdens become our faithful High Priest. He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He knows what it feels like. He was tempted in every way like us but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Even though Jesus was 100% human, He was also 100% God. He may have been tempted, but in order to sin, there must be an inward response to the outward temptation. Because of His divine nature, there was never an inward response. It was because of His human emotions on the cross that was able to feel the pain that allows Him to identify with our pain. He did not shield Himself from our pain and we know that by His suffering on the cross. Not only physical pain, but mental and emotional anguish tormented Him as well as He cried out, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” We are given a detailed inside view of this crucifixion scene from Jesus’ perspective in Psalm 22. We also know that even while He experienced the feelings of abandonment, He was never abandoned. Psalm 22 declares the victory over His suffering beginning in verse 24, “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.” The amazing grace of God is that He did not shield the pain, but took on every pain so that He would hold true to His declaration in Lamentations 1: when He said, “Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow”. The creature with the face of a man declares the holiness of God and testifies to the Son of Man and God’s purposes fulfilled through Jesus’ earthly visitation.
Flying Eagle
The flying eagle represents mighty protection or a deadly predator. In Isaiah, God says that He will fly over His people and protect those who are the apple of His eye. God also uses the eagle as a representation of swift judgement coming upon those who are at war with God. Look at Job 39:
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command, And make its nest on high?
28 On the rocks it dwells and resides, On the crag of the rock and the stronghold.
29 From there it spies out the prey; Its eyes observe from afar.
Here, the eagle represents God’s watch. Though He may seem far off, He stands in a position of strength and can judge at His own will. He does not answer to commands, but abides on high – or a position of authority. In Hosea 8, God used the eagle as a warning of judgment. “Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord because they have transgressed my commandments and rebelled against My law”. The eagle is also used to represent God’s judgment swooping down against the enemies of His people.
The eagle also represents God’s power on our behalf. In Exodus 19, God reminded the people of the mighty works He had done on their behalf and how He carried them on eagle’s wings. God then instructed them to trust Him and keep His commandments and He would be their strength and inheritance. The eagle represents the strength of Christ. His strength and power is uncompromising. He is not directed by our will but calls us to come into His will. Those who respond and surrender will have His strength on their behalf. His purpose will be accomplished with us or without us. His plan for our life, however, is conditional on our obedience and submission. If we will yield to Him, He will carry us on His wings. The eagle cannot be trained. Instead, by its power, it accomplishes its purpose. Look at Deuteronomy 32:
11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings,
12 So the LORD alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him.
13 "He made him ride in the heights of the earth, That he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock;
14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.
The Lord desires to give His lovingkindness and blessings to us. This can only happen if we allow Him to be in complete control of our life.
This living creature beholds and testifies to the immovable strength of Christ. He is high above the earth and uses His strength for both judgment and mercy. Nothing is hidden that His eyes do not see. He observes the righteous and the wicked alike. Both will know His power. The wicked to judgment but the righteous to victory and His promises.
Holy, holy, holy
Whenever you see something repeated in scripture, it is a stress on importance. When Jesus said, “truly, truly I say to you”, He was stressing how important this truth is. Paul also used this same way of stressing importance by repeating statements that were critical for us to understand. He frequently made an important point and then said, “I say to you again…” and would repeat the statement. Here we have these angels repeating, “Holy, holy, holy”. Not only is it important that we stress the holiness of God, but it is of supreme importance. There is nothing of greater importance than that we understand the absolute holiness of God. I could not find anything else in scripture that was stressed more than twice. The word holy means separated, set-apartness, and sacred. I am not sure that we can fully grasp the holiness of God, but our holiness means to be set apart for God.
The holiness of God is the completeness and the awesome, unchanging, uncompromising uniqueness of God. There is nothing in earth or in words that can describe God. When we try to label God with a finite attribute, we get a heretical view of God. For example, we hear people describe God by saying, “God is love”. Indeed God is love, but love is not all that God is. Love is an attribute of God and God is described by His attributes, but God cannot be put into a box by limiting Him to our descriptions of His attributes. When people make the mistake of labeling God as a single attribute like love, they, by definition, throw out all other aspects of God that do not agree with their own definition. In reality, those who do this are trying to create God in their image instead of trying to conform themselves to the holiness of God.
God is love, but God is also judgment. God is patient, but God is also angry. God is gentle, but God is also fierce. God is gracious and gives, but God also takes away. All of the attributes of God make up the holiness of God. The attributes of God that we see, depend completely on where we are standing. If we see the condemnation of God, it is because we have chosen to reject the compassionate instructions of God that lead us to His mercies. Our view of God is not so much a reflection on who God is as much as where we are spiritually. I can never experience God’s anger unless I am in rebellion against Him by rejecting His commands that lead me to His mercy. One thing is certain, the absolute holiness of God is a testimony that God will always do what is good and remain 100% consistent with His word. God will never be angry without first offering forgiveness. God will never condemn without first offering mercy. Because God is holy, He will never do anything that is against His own character. Because He is holy, He has first revealed to us how to find His favor so that we don’t have to stand in condemnation. What kind of God we see depends on where we choose to stand. The attributes of God make up His holiness. God’s attributes are always a blessing or a curse. Our response to His character determines what we choose. We can’t choose what we want God to be. We can’t isolate His love and declare ‘God is only love’. Or as those who openly hate God do, we can’t declare ‘God is a cruel Judge’ and stand in truth. The Lion of Judah can be our defender or our judge. The Ox can gore his enemies or become the sacrifice for our redemption. The Son of Man can be our High Priest or an undefeatable warrior. The Eagle can be our protector and provider or a swift predator.
Whichever side we decide to align ourselves, we can be sure of one thing, God is absolutely holy and His ways are absolutely holy. He offers to us the richness of His goodness but gives us the right to choose to separate ourselves from Him if we despise Him. God will never force Himself upon those who despise His love. He opens the door to heaven but He will not drag anyone through it. Heaven would be hell for those who do not want God as He is. A heart that will not change here will not be forced to change in eternity. A will that refuses to submit to God in this life will not be forced into submit to Him in the life to come. It is here and now that we are given the choice of God’s favor or judgment.
*** This sermon can be downloaded as a Word document by following the link at http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/sermons.htm
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