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Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they  existed, and were created.”

            Revelation was written by the Apostle John. Though some think it was written in the middle of John’s career, but due to condition of the seven churches mentioned in the first three chapters. Most think it was written between 81 and 96 AD. This is due to the Emperor Domitian and his persecution of the Christian churches.

            The first vision in the Book of Revelation is about the seven churches. But chapter four of Revelation has John being taken to heaven and there he sees a throne and upon the throne is God, and he looks like a highly polished Jasper stone.  Jasper is a chalcedony which is form of Selica made up minute bits of Quartz. It can have a glassy appearance and can range in many colors including red, brown, black, white, and yellow, but also green and blue.  It is a sedimentary rock. Think about those colors… we are made in his image as is all the earth, and this verse is about that creation. 

            I am sorry I had to go there… my father taught me before I entered school about the three forms of rocks…sedimentary which is basically a layered form, igneous which is formed by heat like volcanic, and metamorphosis which is pressure that changes the other two rocks. It is my favorite gift to receive… rocks… plain ordinary rocks.

                                                After I read this about Jasper stones, I had to have a few… I placed them on my book case as a reminder that God’s face is like a polished jasper stone and all the colors of creation are within God’s face.

            He goes onto speak of God is on the main throne and there were also 12 smaller thrones… and I thought about the song “Be thou my vision” which is a favorite of mine… and there is a line in it “High King of Heaven”. The Methodist thought that term was too sexist and took it out… but they missed the point… there may be 12 smaller thrones of elders, but God is the High King, and in Ireland there were lots of kings but only one High King over all of them. John sees these marvelous things that are impossible to understand but yet he is given a glimpse of what is come in the last days…

            But at this point what John hears is praise… God is worthy of praise… God created all things and only because of Him do all things around us exist. Well, you ask, “What about radio, internet, and a world of other things? God created the people that invented those things.  They would not have been invented if God had not created the inventor. God created the ways rocks would be formed…

            I can hear the questions about what about science, and all of that… Back when I was at Erskine, my dear friend Ramsey said to me that if you look at how creation is laid out it is exactly as we conceive how everything began except the dates don’t add up…I mulled over that a few years and came to conclusion he was right. Then I read a book by Troy Brewer that messed with my head further… He said there was no need for time when the earth was first created. But then Adam sinned, and from that point onward there was time because before he sinned, there was no death. Our lives have a beginning and end because of sin.  I am still mulling over that one… Mulling can take years. Besides I have what I call my questions for God, and I put them in this invisible box in my head and if I don’t get an answer for them while I am on earth, I will have my answers in heaven.

            But what does this mean for us today?

            It means that today is a beautiful day… step outside and rejoice in the beauty of the day… when you meet a person whether unknown or known to you remember they were all created in God’s image. Rejoice in God’s creation. If you can read these words, rejoice that God gave us ways to learn and to inform others. If you travel anywhere today, rejoice in the fact that God created the minds that created our cars, trucks, etc.  In Philippians 4:4 Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” I have quoted on my pantry across from my office. It is a reminder to always rejoice…no matter what comes my way.

Today’s Question:

            How will you rejoice today?

Ever in Christ’s Love,

Mary Elizabeth Todd

March 7, 2024