ニューイングランドの母校からアドヴェントメッセージの便り　その21

2015 Gordon-Conwell Advent Devotional
Day 22

Revelation 4:9-5:5
In a vision so rich with awe that verbal commentary seems almost disrespectful, I will venture a few brief reverential reflections. How are we to think about giving God “honor and glory and power?” Who are we, or any living creatures in the cosmos, to give anything to God that He doesn’t already have? He has always had all honor and glory and power. Any biblical visionary peering into heaven readily sees that. But these visionaries also regularly witness a chorus of beings in praise and worship who cry out to give God these attributes He already has.

How does that make sense?

I think the answer lies in the nature of honor, glory and power. These qualities have both an objective reality and a subjective dimension. Yes, the God who becomes visible in Revelation is characterized by brilliant and awe-inspiring light, overwhelming and inestimable worth, and limitless cosmic sovereignty. But, somehow, an awe for these qualities, a reverential response to these characteristics, completes them. God’s objective dignity as the King of the Universe must be subjectively recognized. His “worth” or “worthiness” is mentioned three times in this passage and continues throughout Revelation 5. In a mysterious way, worshippers contribute to God’s glory and worth by recognizing it, by ascribing it to Him. It’s not that we could add anything to God’s character. Rather we are called by the angelic hosts to avoid the unthinkable: leaving His glory unrealized and undernoticed.

This seems a great crime in human behavior, perhaps our greatest. We simply do not keep in full view the glory of God. He is dishonored when we fail to honor Him. He is disgraced when we fail to grace Him with our praise. Public acclaim and recognition is the necessary and expected corollary to honor. The angelic hosts in Luke 2:14 remind us that we can begin on earth worshiping our God by “giving Him glory.”

Dr. Timothy Laniak
Academic Dean (Charlotte Campus

Dr. Timothy Laniak
Academic Dean (Charlotte Campus)