The End?

Readings for today: Revelation 19-22

“Come, Lord Jesus!” Echoing Paul’s famous phrase from 1 Corinthians 16:22 - “Maranatha” - John finishes the Revelation with what has become the heartcry of Christians for centuries. Come, Lord Jesus. Come soon. The vision John has received has reached its climax. The new heavens and new earth have come. New Jerusalem has descended out of heaven. God in the midst of her. The gates are open continually for the nations of the earth to receive their blessing. The leaves of the trees that grow beside the river of God are for their healing. God has wiped away every tear. God has done away with every evil. There is no more crying or suffering or pain. God has made good on His promise. The Alpha has issued the final “Omega.” What was once broken is now whole. What was ruined has now been restored.  The incomplete has been brought to completion. It is truly finished. All things made new. 

The delay of the “parousia” or 2nd coming of Jesus has plagued Christians for centuries. Why does Jesus not return? What is He waiting for? Many Christians have believed He was coming back in their lifetimes. As they looked around at the evil and suffering in their world, they could not imagine things getting worse. Many believed they were seeing the four horsemen of Revelation storming all over the earth bringing war, disease, famine, and death. Such has been the lot of humanity since Cain first slew Abel all those years ago. The Apostles were no different. John, Paul, Peter, along with most of the Christians of the first century, believed Jesus was returning in their lifetimes. It colors some of their advice to the local churches they were writing to. Scholars suggest you can even see Paul grappling with this delay, especially in his correspondence with the Corinthians and Thessalonians. 

Why hasn’t Jesus returned? Our atheist friends suggest it’s because God doesn’t exist. The “Father” Jesus so faithfully believed in is a myth. Jesus, as good as He was, made a mistake. Others suggest it’s because the work of the church isn’t finished. The Great Commission has yet to come to completion. We haven’t preached the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation so everyone hasn’t yet had a chance to hear the good news. Still others believe it’s because the events of Revelation haven’t yet come to pass. The anti-Christ has yet to be revealed and as bad as things may be, they will get much, much worse before the end. To be honest, I have no idea why Jesus hasn’t returned and can only assume it’s because His plans for this world have yet to reach their fulfillment. Time doesn’t pass for God like it does for us. While we are stuck in “chronological” time. Time as it ticks by. God exists in “Kairos” time. Time outside of time. Special time. Anointed time. The appropriate time. And only God knows where we stand according to His eternal clock. What we can know is that Jesus promised He would come.

And what should our response be? To come to Jesus. “Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, Drink freely of the Water of Life!” (Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭17‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬) Don’t miss this! The movement goes both ways. God comes to us, we come to Him. God returns to us, we return to Him. God draws near to us, we draw near to Him. This is the pattern God has set since the first chapters of Genesis and it repeats itself here at the end of Revelation. This is God’s great desire. It is the primary message He’s been preaching through the entire Bible. It is the Word He longs for us to hear and receive and respond to by faith. So trust Him, friends! Accept His invitation! Believe in His name and receive the salvation He offers you by grace! 

The Call

Readings for today; Revelation 14-18

Amidst all the fantastic visions and angelic pronouncements about the end times, there is this call to the saints of God. “Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately patient, keeping God’s commands, staying faithful to Jesus.” (Revelation‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬ ‭MSG‬‬) It’s so tempting when we read a book like Revelation to spend all our time trying to decipher what John was attempting to say. We do our best to cross the cultural divide. Analyze the apocalyptic text. Search for clues to help us discern whether these ancient prophecies are coming true in our own time. We spend all kinds of time, attention, and energy debating the finer points of each vision as we look for the day when Christ will appear and all things will be made new. All the while, Jesus is calling us to “stand passionately patient, keeping God’s commands, staying faithful to Jesus.”

This is the fundamental call for every Christian in every time and place. Yes, we can spend our time debating end times theology. Yes, we can spend our time wrestling over the timing of the eschaton. Yes, we can argue pre-millennial, post-millennial, and amillennial points of view. But at the end of the day, the challenge remains the same for each one of us. Are we living lives of faithfulness to Jesus? Are we seeking to follow His commands? Are we remaining passionately patient? Fervently praying for His return? No matter the cost? Life has its ups and downs. So does history. There are periods of persecution followed by periods of peace. There are seasons where following Christ is affirmed and seasons where following Christ is challenging. There are places in the world today where it is safe to be a Christian and places where it is unsafe. Often, our perspective on the end times will be shaped by our experiences in this world, good or bad. Through it all, the call remains the same. Remain patient. Keep God’s commands. Stay faithful to Jesus.

We are coming to the end of our journey through the Bible this year. What does 2024 look like for you? What’s your plan to grow spiritually? To dive deeper in your faith? What goals have you set for yourself? What goals has the Holy Spirit set for you? What will it look like for you to remain passionately patient as you await Christ’s return? Where do you need to align your life with the commandments of God? What areas of your life do you need to submit to Christ? What does it mean for you to remain faithful to Jesus? How is such faithfulness reflected in the way you spend your time? Where you put your attention? How you spend your money? These are great questions to reflect on as you think about 2024 and beyond.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 19-22

Judgment

Readings for today: Revelation 11-13

I find most people live with a sense of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, everyone generally agrees that our world is not in great shape. There is too much violence. Too much pain and suffering. Too much disease. Too much inequality. Too much resource disparity. Too much anger. Too much hate. We generally blame God for not stepping in. Not taking care of things. Not leveling the playing field. Not solving our problems. Not restraining evil. At the same time, everyone generally agrees they want to be free. Free to make their own decisions. Free to live their lives the way they want. Free to pursue the fulfillment of their desires. We don’t want God to tell us what to do. Don’t want God to challenge our choices. Don’t want God to restrict our behavior. But we can’t have it both ways. The fundamental reality that the Bible affirms is that we are free, moral agents, created in the image of God, capable of great good and great evil, fully responsible for the decisions we make and the impact those choices have on others and this is why we are subject to God’s judgment.

God loves the world. He loves everything He has made. He loves every creature He has made. He loves every human being He has made. And that’s why God hates what we’ve done to the world. He hates what we do to each other. He hates what we do to ourselves. And He holds us responsible for each and every action and non-action. He holds us responsible for each and every word we say or don’t say. He holds us responsible for the way we respond to those around us and especially the way we respond to Him. He created us. He created us to worship and to serve Him forever. And when we reject His creative purposes for our lives, we live for ourselves and living for ourselves is what ultimately leads us to ruin. God, however, will not abandon us. He will not abandon the world He has made. He is coming again to judge the earth and everyone in it. He is coming again to make all things new and take control of His world once and for all. Listen again to how the Apostle John describes it, “The kingdom of the world is now the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah! He will rule forever and ever! The Twenty-four Elders seated before God on their thrones fell to their knees, worshiped, and sang, We thank you, O God, Sovereign-Strong, Who Is and Who Was. You took your great power and took over—reigned! The angry nations now get a taste of your anger. The time has come to judge the dead, to reward your servants, all prophets and saints, Reward small and great who fear your Name, and destroy the destroyers of earth.” (Revelation‬ ‭11‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

Thanks be to God that we know the end of the story! Now the challenge is for us to live with God’s glorious end in mind. Live now as if the kingdoms of this world have already become the Kingdom of our God and His Messiah. Live in the reality of God’s reign and rule on earth. This is the call to the church. This is the call to every Christian.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 14-18

When?

Readings for today: Revelation 6-10

I often meet Christians who believe the Lord is coming back in their lifetime. They look at the world around us and see the evidence of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The white horse gallops through places like Ukraine where Russia seeks to conquer her former republic. The red horse rides through places like Gaza and Somalia and South Sudan and Yemen where terrorist groups disrupt peace with violence. The black horse visits nations afflicted by famine due to natural disasters, locust plagues, climate change, and other calamities. And the pale horse eventually comes for us all, bringing not only famine but disease with him. Of course, these four horses don’t just ride in other parts of the globe. They are very present here at home as well. The conflict between political parties and extremist groups is real. The violence in cities like Chicago or on the southern border cannot be ignored. The plight of those living in food deserts in communities all over our country or those who struggle to find sustainable housing is heartbreaking. And the death of those we love due to tragedy, diseases like cancer, or some other event that robs those we love of life is more common than we want to admit.

This is why we cry out with the saints who have gone before us, “How long, Strong God, Holy and True, how long before you step in?” (Rev. 6:10 MSG) I imagine Christians throughout history and around the globe today join us in that same cry. Can you imagine, for example, what it must have felt like to live in Europe during the Black Plague when 1/3 of the population died? Imagine living in the Holy Land when the Crusaders arrived or in Spain under the Inquisition? Imagine what it must have felt like to live under Stalin’s purges or the regimes of Pol Pot or Mao Zedong where millions lost their lives? Imagine what it must have felt like to live in the death camps in Nazi Germany or to be Tutsi in Rwanda during the genocide? I don’t share these examples to diminish the very real pain and suffering so many of us face on a daily basis but simply to help us gain some perspective on the delay of the parousia or the Lord’s return.

God has a plan. He is never early. He is never late. He arrives precisely on time. He sees all the evil that is taking place on the earth and He will one day come to judge the living and the dead. No crime will go unpunished. No wrong will fail to be made right. No injustice will be allowed to stand. No sin will go unaddressed. Those who bear His seal will be saved and will represent a multitude from every tribe, tongue, and nation on the earth. But until that day comes, life on earth will not be easy. We will experience trial and tribulation. But we can take heart for if we persevere in faith, we will receive a white robe, washed in the blood of Jesus Himself. We will find ourselves standing before the throne of God, serving Him day and night. We will hunger no more neither will we thirst. God will wipe away every tear and take away every sadness and make all things new. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Come quickly!

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 11-13

Alpha and Omega

Readings for today: Revelation 1-5

It’s the day after Christmas. The day after we celebrate the first Advent of Christ’s coming. The day we begin to turn our thoughts to the new year and what’s to come. Many will make resolutions in the coming days. They will set goals for 2024. They will reflect on their physical health, mental and emotional health, relationships, professional goals, etc. What about your spiritual life? Do any of your goals for the new year include growing in your relationship with God?

It’s an important question because the Advent of Jesus Christ is not a “one and done” affair. He is coming again. He is coming with all the power and authority in heaven and on earth in His hands. He is coming to judge the living and the dead. He is bringing the new heavens and the new earth with Him. He is coming to establish His reign and rule in glory once and for all.

When will it happen? No one really knows and the Book of Revelation is notoriously difficult to decipher and understand. So here are some basic ground rules as you wade into the final book of the Bible. First, it is written by John while in prison on the island of Patmos. In order to get this letter out to the churches, John had to write it in code. The Roman authorities would have screened every piece of communication coming in and out of the prison so John had to be careful. Second, the writing is apocalyptic which is a very specific genre known to many in the ancient world. The fantastic images and visions are hallmarks of this type of literature. Third, the churches John is writing to are under persecution. They are facing the prospect of torture and death on a daily basis. This book is meant to encourage and equip them so they can endure the rough days ahead. Fourth, many faithful Christians approach this book from many different interpretive angles. There is no one way to read the book and we want to make sure to extend liberty and charity to one another as we go. Wherever you land on the “End Times” theological spectrum, what’s most important is that we all agree Jesus will come again. 

So let me begin this home stretch with one of my favorite verses...“I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation‬ ‭1:8‬) Or, as the Message version puts it, “I’m A to Z. I’m The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive. I’m the Sovereign-Strong.” God spoke the first Word in creation and God will have the last Word in consummation. He who began all things, will bring them to a close according to His will and good pleasure. God is. This is all we know. This is all we can really say. God stands outside the time and space continuum He created and will remain there looking in until He determines the time is right for His return. As John wrote in His Gospel, God revealed Himself to the world but the world did not recognize Him. He revealed Himself to His people, His family, and they rejected Him. But when He comes again, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. He will leave no doubt. “Riding the clouds, he’ll be seen by every eye, those who mocked and killed him will see him, People from all nations and all times will tear their clothes in lament. Oh, Yes.” (Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭‭7‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

These are important words to reflect on as we begin the home stretch, as are the Spirit’s warnings to the seven churches. They provide a good spiritual barometer to help us discern how ready we are for Christ’s return. Have we abandoned our first love? Are we facing persecution for our faith? What idols do we cling to? What sexual immorality do we engage in? Do we tolerate sin? Are we ambivalent towards the gospel? Is our faith lukewarm at best?

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 6-10