Revelation 4:11 “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.”

I keep coming back to the awareness that we generally operate in too small a concept of God. He is the Creator, as this verse stresses, and that means that He is everything, because He existed before time even existed, since time is dependent on the material universe. That’s why scientists speak of “the space-time continuum.” I wrote on this issue on the 18^th, because of Paul’s doxology written to Timothy: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17) We very quickly run out of words when it comes to talking about God, naturally enough because He is infinite. The Revelation to John contains imagery that he was hard-pressed to describe, just as Ezekiel and Daniel had trouble describing what they saw. Now days scientists speak of multiple dimensions beyond the four we normally perceive. They can describe them with mathematics, but words fail! It’s no wonder we can hardly talk logically about the One who created it all. This gap between the Creator and the created was a major reason He sent His Son to be born as a physical human being, because otherwise the words we use to describe Him would indeed be no more than words. It’s kind of like trying to describe a painter simply from the paints, brushes, and brush strokes he used to create a particular painting. Then someone else, working from a different painting, might describe him differently! God has indeed given us many indications of Himself in the created universe, as Paul noted, (Romans 1:20) but deeper knowledge of Him has to come with the help of the Holy Spirit, by His revelation to our mind and heart. In all of this, however, we need to remember that He is absolutely holy and He is absolutely worthy of everything good and honorable, as this verse quotes the elders as singing. As a matter of fact, I think music was given as a method of expression that transcends words, as a powerful tool for communication in general and worship in particular. Be that as it may, we need to remember that God is always greater and more wonderful than however much we might grasp at any given moment.

I have mentioned before that I once had an experience of God so strong that I felt that one more drop, metaphorically speaking, would cause my physical body to give up and I would go straight to heaven. That was in a small group, singing and praying together. I have also experienced times of being more sure that God was real than that I was real, which is actually only logical, since He existed infinitely before I ever did, and He cannot “not exist.” Even with such experiences, however, I spend a portion of my life, probably every day, when I’m not consciously aware of Him at all. As Paul said, quoting a Greek poet, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) It’s kind of like fish not being aware of water. Even as I desire this for others, I need to be more consciously aware of God so as to be listening and responsive to Him, to do what He desires and nothing else, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the many reminders You give me in so many different ways. Help me indeed be fully responsive to You, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!