Good Morning,
The Lord gave us a summer-like day yesterday, the first full day of Autumn. We are just three months away from Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful gathering last night for our midweek service and Bible Study. We are studying the Book of Revelation, a prophetic book intended to change how we see life. History is going somewhere, headed toward a purposeful conclusion, one in which Jesus will return to right every wrong and dry every tear. It will be a new world of justice, healing, and hope. It also has an impact here and now, not just when the end of days occurs. The future impacts the present. This prophecy should affect our goals and priorities, how seriously we resist sin; how we pray, our love for unbelievers, and our determination to obey God. “We live in the present as people who will be made complete in the future” (N.T. Wright). Because of this prophetic book we see how the Risen Lord is the author of history. History is His story.
Eugene Peterson writes, “The biblical story began, quite logically, with a beginning. Now it draws to an end, also with a beginning. The sin-ruined creation of Genesis is restored in the sacrifice-renewed creation of Revelation…the story that has creation for its first word, has creation for its last word.” God will come to make all things new; he will bring forth a new Heaven and new Earth. Then (finally) we will see God’s will fully done “on Earth as it is in Heaven.”
This apocalyptic book gives us great hope. A young child was reading this final book of the Bible, finished it and excitedly cried, “We won!” Isn’t it comforting to know that the final battle with sin has already been decided? We have the assurance that, though we are living in a Hell-threatened environment, it is a Heaven-penetrated world. This should give us confidence in facing tomorrow. History is headed to a wonderful conclusion because our Lord, the Author of history, reigns!
When will Jesus return? His coming, according to Scripture, is “immanent,” which means it could occur at any time, even today. That is not the same as claiming that his return is “soon.” It would be a presumptuous claim, and anyone making such a claim is implying that they know something the Bible does not reveal. Beware of date-setters! Many people have set dates that have come and gone and they’ve lost much credibility. Beware of those who believe they know the identity of the Antichrist. Many preachers, who seem very sure of themselves, have confidently proposed names only to look foolish in the end.
We must ask ourselves this question, “Is God’s love and redemption working in the history in which I live?” As we await our Lord’s return, how are we faring? We are living somewhere in the midst of God’s story, where pain and sorrow and sin afflict us daily, but we confidently trust the Author as we turn the next page. We can be driven by a fear of tomorrow or we can trust the One who holds tomorrow in His hand. The vision of Christ in the book of Revelation is there to sustain us as we undergo the hardships of this present world.
Our job is to be watching and waiting, ready for whatever happens. However events transpire, God will prepare and equip us. We need not fear the coming Day of the Lord. Eugene Peterson again writes that the resurrection appearances of Christ are not complete; there is one more to come. The risen Christ will return and put evil in its place. In the meantime, we need to proclaim the Gospel with a sense of urgency, and encourage one another with this Blessed Hope: God will prevail!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFMkpT12fE
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