Are you Joining in the Thanksgiving Service in Heaven (Revelation 11:16-19)? Our offer of thanksgiving as believers is tied to our understanding of God. The deeper our understanding of God, the more our gratitude is tied to the spiritual and eternal. The more we know of His Nature and Character, the more deeply we trust Him, and thank Him for all He does to shape, use, and guide our lives His way. The shallower our understanding of God, the more our gratitude is tied to the temporal and the physical; and the less we understand our struggles and troubles, and the more trouble the less gratitude we have. Thanksgiving season is when we pause to look back over all the goodness and kindness of God we have seen Him pour out upon us. Looking back often helps us to see most clearly how good God has been. Thanksgiving Looks Back As we offer our thanks to God in communion this evening, a wonderful picture for us has been given in the book of Revelation. As we open to Revelation chapter 11 we can actually see ourselves in the future, as the gathered saints of Christs church all assembled around the Throne in heaven, actually offering thanks to God. Think about this as we read these words: this is how thanksgiving is offered after we see everything in life. Remember hindsight is 20/20? We always see things so much clearer after they are over. What will we be thankful for after our lives are over? What amazes me is that when the elders, representing all of us in perfect thanks, offer their thanks it all is focused upon God. What He did, and how perfectly He works His plan. All of that thanks in this passage is tuned to the character or attributes of God. Thanking God for Who He Is What God does is based upon who He is. Here in these verses we can trace seven attributes of God that we will offer on that day in the future. Systematic theologians have identified about 25 attributes of God taught in the Bible. What are the seven characteristics of God that become the elements of this ultimate, future, perfect Thanksgiving Service? Let me show you what I mean. First, follow along as we hear these words in Revelation 11:16-19 (NKJV): And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. 18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. Here in these words perfectly preserved for us in God’s inspired Word, we can find the content of the ultimate thanksgiving service in Heaven. As we trace down through these words offered as thanks to God, we can see that they trace seven of the eternal attributes of our God’s nature and character. Reflections Upon Who God Is Let me show you each of them, then define them, and then we can offer our thanks tonight, just as we will in the future at this amazing moment we will be a part of someday in Heaven, around the Throne of God Almighty and the Lamb. God is Almighty, which is part of His OMNIPOTENCE: v. 17a saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, God is Everlasting, which is part of His ETERNITY: v. 17b The One who is and who was and who is to come, God is actively involved in the events on Earth, which is part of His WISDOM: v. 17c Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. God Judges all injustices, which is part of His JUSTICE: v. 18a The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, God rewards all good deeds, which is part of His GOODNESS: v. 18b And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, God rewards all evil, which is part of His WRATH: v. 18c And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” God keeps His promises, which is part of His FAITHFULNESS: v. 19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail So, we could say that the content of the ultimate Thanksgiving Service, surrounds these seven character qualities or attributes of God: Thanking God for His: Omnipotence, Eternity, Wisdom, Justice, Goodness, Wrath, & Faithfulness. Now, let me just take the simple summaries of these seven attributes that we have been learning as elders and deacons. For a couple of years we have studied one chapter of Systematic Theology each month at our elder/deacon Thursday evening meetings. Describing the Amazing Character of God Here is what we have learned: Omnipotence (or His Power and Sovereignty). God’s omnipotence means that God is able to do all his holy will. The word omnipotence is derived from two Latin words, omni “all,” and potens “powerful,” and means “all-powerful.” Whereas God’s freedom referred to the fact that there are no external constraints on God’s decisions, God’s omnipotence has reference to his own power to do what he decides to do. Nothing can thwart, hinder, and stop our God from accomplishing all of His good pleasure. What a source for thanksgiving to know God has all power to do everything needed to be done, especially when we are so weak. God is Almighty, which is part of His OMNIPOTENCE: v. 17a saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Eternity. God’s eternity may be defined as follows: God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time. God sees everything past, present, and future at all times. Thankfulness wells up in our hearts as we remember that He has chosen to forget all of our sins by placing them upon Himself in the person of Jesus Christ who took our sins and made them His very own. God is Everlasting, which is part of His ETERNITY: v. 17b The One who is and who was and who is to come, Wisdom. God’s wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals. This definition goes beyond the idea of God knowing all things and specifies that God’s decisions about what he will do are always wise decisions: that is, they always will bring about the best results (from God’s ultimate perspective), and they will bring about those results through the best possible means. God is Actively involved in the events on Earth, which is part of His WISDOM: v. 17c Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. Righteousness, Justice. God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with what is right and is himself the final standard of what is right. In English the terms righteousness and justice are different words, but in both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament there is only one word group behind these two English terms. Therefore, these two terms will be considered together as speaking of one attribute of God. God Judges all injustices, which is part of His JUSTICE: v. 18a The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, Goodness. The goodness of God means that God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval. Thus, God’s mercy is his goodness toward those in distress his grace is his goodness toward those who deserve only punishment and his patience is his goodness toward those who continue to sin over a period of time God rewards all good deeds, which is part of His GOODNESS: v. 18b And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, Wrath. God’s wrath may be defined as follows: God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all sin. It may surprise us to find how frequently the Bible talks about the wrath of God. Yet if God loves all that is right and good, and all that conforms to his moral character, then it should not be surprising that he would hate everything that is opposed to his moral character. God’s wrath directed against sin is therefore closely related to God’s holiness and justice. God rewards all evil, which is part of His WRATH: v. 18c And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” Truthfulness (and Faithfulness). God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.. God keeps His promises, He is faithful to His relationships, and we are forever thankful that we are those who know this awesome, mighty, and faithful God. God keeps His promises, which is part of His FAITHFULNESS: v. 19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail One day soon each of our lives will be over, and we will be standing, kneeling, and falling on our faces before God Almighty. Then we will see perfectly our whole life on Earth. Then we will thank God for His: Omnipotence, Eternity, Wisdom, Justice, Goodness, Wrath, & Faithfulness. Today we are just getting ready for that ultimate Thanksgiving Service, the one at the Throne!
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 16:12:07 +0000
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