God's throne room in heaven is not only for God but also His chosen people represented by the twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:1-4). God has never been isolated: He has always been in the community of Father, Son and Spirit. In this chapter He is also seen as the God of His redeemed people. However, God's mighty power seen in Revelation 4:5 is uncontained, and is continually being expressed. He is not a tame god for us to manipulate to our whims, He is Holy.

Around the throne, John saw four living creatures which looked like the mightiest of God's created beings. The lion is the most powerful of the wild animals, the ox is the strongest domestic animal, the man is the wisest of God's creation and the eagle rules the air. These four represent the finest qualities of God's animate creation, but they are not in themselves animals or humans. The four living creatures recur throughout the visions in Revelation (Revelation 4:6-9; 5:6-14; 6:1-8; 14:3; 15:7 and 19:4) and are like the four living creatures of Ezekiel 1:4-14; 10:14 which have human form with legs and feet, but also have wings. They are also called cherubim in Ezekiel 10:1-5.

These creatures are all-seeing. They have witnessed what God has done on the earth and how the corrupted creation is in bondage (Romans 8:20-21) and decaying and in need of redemption (Romans 8:22-23). Yet these beings are fully liberated, in constant motion around God's throne as directed by God's Spirit (Ezekiel 1:12), escorting the chariot of God through the storm clouds of His wrath (Ezekiel 1:4-5). Like the seraphim of Isaiah 6:1-7 they are God's agents to purge the sins of His people. But their prime responsibility in heaven is to worship the Lord: to declare His holiness, to urge God's people into selfless worship (Revelation 4:9-11), and to hold the prayers of God's people as a perpetual reminder to the God of their faith that He will fulfil His promises (Revelation 5:8).

If this is the worship of heaven, how close does our personal and corporate church worship come? Do we give our best selflessly to the Lord, or strut our best selfishly before the Lord? Are we entranced by the beauty of His holiness or demand that He adores us? Do we live lives of worship as directed by the Spirit or do we construct our own best efforts and ask for His blessing? God's creation is ultimately designed to serve and worship Him (Luke 19:37-40); is that how we see our present lives? Do we seek our glory or desire that He will be glorified? As we prepare to share in His glory, ought we not to be learning to worship like the living creatures? If we do not, then we have lost sight of the Lord's holiness. When we recapture that vision, we will say, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5). That will be the start of spiritual usefulness (Isaiah 6:6-8); the real preparation for heaven.