“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
Be praise and honor and glory and power
For ever and ever!”
The four living creates said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation 5:13-14)
In the book of Revelation, we get a picture into the worship of God – the extravagant, never-ending worship that happens day and night. Before this passage, John saw the elders falling down and telling Jesus that He is worthy. He also saw ten thousand upon ten thousand angels surrounding God’s throne, all shouting, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).
Given our church culture, we expect the people in heaven to be worshiping Jesus. We expect the angels to give their all worshiping. But given our experience, we don’t necessarily expect the earth to be worshiping God. Yet that’s exactly what John saw in Revelation 5.
It’s so easy to look at our world today (especially given the things that the media tells us about) and see that it is fallen. Even in the wilderness, animals eat each other, blight comes and destroys entire forests and ecosystems, and fire and flood change the landscape. When dramatic, ugly changes come, it’s easy for us to walk away being very aware of the fall of mankind and the world in general.
But somehow, even with the fall of mankind, the earth and everything in it are still capable of worshiping God. It’s still capable of every creature in the whole world to cry out with their entire being, “To God be praise and honor and glory and power forever!”
Are they doing it now? Or will they do it in the future? There’s so much in Revelation that seems to be now and later and in between and… It’s not always easy to pin down exactly when this stuff happens. But I know that whether it happens constantly or only sometimes, the creatures of the earth are still giving God glory and praise. And I am very willing to join my voice with theirs to give praise and worship to God.
