Thoughts in Worship
Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Today’s Scripture:
“…Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Revelation 14:7).
Introduction:
This verse is so pregnant that it has taken over a week to glean truths from it. We will have a look today and tomorrow, and then move on through the Revelation.
Before we move on, we must recognize the blessing of God’s creatorship, in relation to His judgment.
Today’s Observation:
All throughout the Bible, the enemy has taken potshots at God’s authority. War started in heaven, and the devil was evicted with his angels because he refused to repent for trying to usurp the authority of the Most High (blessed be His name). The devil was cast down to the earth where he deceived Eve into accepting his words over the eternal Word of God at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. On countless occasions, he incited the people of God to erect graven images of people, birds, four-footed beasts, and insane combinations of all. So God made certain to make it very clear that He is the only true and living God through various assaults on these contrivances. He destroyed idols, caused them to bow, sent plagues, fulfilled prophecies, vanquished the idol worshippers who thought to stand against God in war, etc. Time and time again, our God manifested His Sovereignty above all others.
Interestingly, the Law, which is the objective standard for all judgment has always revealed the basis for God’s authority—His creatorship. Here’s how the Law reads on this point: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8–11). You will notice that our theme text uses very similar language to verse 11 of the fourth commandment. John said to worship God who created the heavens, earth, and sea. Whenever I study the Bible and see similar language in various places, I immediately take notice. This is no accident. In this case, the Ten Commandments (Law of Liberty according to James 2:10-12) is linked directly to God’s creatorship. His command to keep holy the seventh-day Sabbath is linked directly to His creatorship. He’s the One who made the heavens, earth, and seas. He is the only One worthy of worship.
Conclusion:
You may be wondering why I have taken the time to highlight this blessing here. Well, if God has revealed it, we must pay attention. As we saw in Revelation 13, and we will see further in future texts, the authority of God is under attack by powers that think they can change His Law, assault His government, and marginalize His authority, thereby setting itself up in God’s place. The Sabbath stands stalwart right in the center of God’s immutable Law to remind all of us, that His authority is unquestionable. He is the only One worthy of worship, because He is the only One who created the universe. Since this is the case, and all other false gods must fail of proving their eternal power and beneficence, it is our privilege to commemorate our relationship with the God of heaven who also created us.
A Prayer for Your Hearts:
Lord, please help us to continue giving our lives to you. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.--L. David Harris (www.davidwritesalot.com)