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Revelation 4 gives us a rare glimpse of the heavenly throne room. Mostly it is full of images that we have no reference for; however, I was recently challenged to meditate on this chapter for a few days. I can tell you that my perception of heaven has certainly changed, and for the better!
One tiny verse really jumped out at me the last time I read this powerful chapter, however, and these few words are what has motivated this devotional.
The words are from the last line of the last verse of Revelation 4. We are very familiar with this verse, for it is often quoted: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Rev. 4:11 KJV).
With low self-esteem on the rise, with depression at an all-time high, with so many of us struggling with things that are completely outside of our control, it becomes easy to ask ourselves why we are here in the first place. We see ourselves as unworthy. We feel that no one values us, and it becomes easy to fall into the trap of believing that we are of no value. We insult ourselves, and like Job of old, we curse the day we were born: "Let the day of my birth be erased, and the night I was conceived. Let that day be turned to darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high,and let no light shine on it." (Job 3:3-4 NLT).
But wait. Just why are we here?
Rev. 4:11 gives us the clear answer to this question: We were created, "for Thy pleasure"!
Now I often get a bit bogged down in the KJV, and this is perhaps why this particular line never jumped out at me before. Consider it, however, in a couple of different versions:
NKJV & NIV: "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” (NKJV); “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (NIV).
This means, we were created because it was God's will to create us!
Yet God's will is also a difficult concept for us to understand sometimes. The NLT puts it this way: “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
Thus, since God created what "pleased" Him, you are here because creating you is something that pleased God!
It is, however, the rendition of this verse in the New Century Version that I find the most powerful: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, because you made all things. Everything existed and was made, because you wanted it."
You can't get it much plainer than that! The reason you are here is because God wanted you to be here! He knew that you were someone who would please Him, therefore He created -- you! You were created for God's pleasure!
And as such, there couldn't be a more poignant reason to have been created!
Wait. Does this apply to each of us? I mean, the majority of the world doesn't believe in God...
If you look at the text in Revelation 4:11, in any of these translations, you see the words, "all things"; and since each of us falls within that nebulous category of all things, then it certainly does apply to each one of us! Whether we follow God or not, we were created because God wanted us here!
The bottom line is this: God takes pleasure in each of His creations! And most importantly, He takes pleasure in ... you! That's why, when sin threatened to send us all to our just end in hell, God couldn't let this happen. He made a way so that every one of us could be saved! Jesus came as a tiny baby. He walked the path of sin and suffering, all the way to the cross. He did this to re-establish the closeness we were created to have -- with Him! He did this so that we could truly live for His pleasure!
That's why God wants all of us to be saved: "He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." (2 Peter 3:9b NLT). He wants us all to repent, so that we can be who He created us to be: people who would bring Him pleasure, people created by Him because He wanted us!
You may not feel worthy. You may not feel necessary. You may not feel respected or good enough. Nonetheless, Truth remains: You were created ... because He wanted you to be created!
Think about it!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Moderator, Associate Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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