Thinking in 3’s - Revelation 14:7 - Fear God; Give Glory; Worship

Thinking in 3’s - Revelation 14:7 - Fear God; Give Glory; Worship

Three angels, all called “another angel,” come to speak. Each one speaks something different: the first, and eternal gospel; the second, a prophetic message of Babylon’s fall; the third, a warning about receiving the mark of the beast. Our 3’s exercise is from the first, and it involves our response to the eternal gospel.

⁷ and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

It seems as though these three instructions, Fear God; give Him glory, and worship Him, all go together. Can you really worship God if you don’t fear Him? Can you give Him glory if you don’t worship Him? They are all of a piece.

But they are enumerated for a reason. I’m not sure that I have hold of the right reason, or the only reason. But let’s allow this list of three to force us to think about how we might approach God wrongly.

First of all, let’s take the opposite of “Fear God.” What would it be? Again, there may be many answers, but let me suggest, “Take God for granted.” Treat Him as if He were manageable, predictable. Suppose that He is bound by your purposes and expectations. Behave as though He can be bought off, as if we could cut a deal with Him.

The Book of Revelation, and the prophets of the Old Testament, show that the God of the Bible is complex. He is perfect in all His attributes. He is perfect in His love and compassion; He is also perfect in justice and judgment. This kind of God should frighten us a bit. He is all-everything. The totality of our lives is in His hand. The flow of world events is at His discretion. He hates sin. While none of these statements stand alone, they still stand. And when we begin to see something of the stature of this God, we recognize that we are as dust mites before Him. 

What is the opposite of “give Him glory?” That seems rather easy. “Steal His glory.” Make it about yourself. Take credit for all that you are and all that you have. Certainly the flip side of this is that we blame someone else for everything that we don’t want to take credit for. But this is the self-centered notion that the world should revolve around me. Everything is in orbit to me. And if something or someone, even God, does not cooperate, I will react.

When we become a child of God through faith in Christ, what a cosmic change should happen in our whole perspective. The center of the universe shifts, away from me, and puts God squarely at the center. We wonder how often, and in how many cases, this actually happens. Contemporary Christianity seems to allow for a lot of self at the center. I certainly can see it in my own experience.

Worship God. Here, the opposite is more troublesome than “don’t worship God.” Because we were made to worship. Even if we don’t worship God, we were still created by Him, and we were created to worship Him. Now, as fallen sinners, we are able, and driven, to worship something other than God. So the opposite is “worship something, anything, other than God.” It can be a person or a thing or an idea. It can be ourselves or someone else. It can be multiple things.

A proper understanding of who God is will draw fear and awe from us. We will see glory as something that belongs to Him, and what He deserves. We will discover worship to be one our highest privileges, so much so, that we do it whether we sing in an ensemble, or do the dishes.