Who Christ Is - His Revelation

I finished the book of Revelation today, actually completing the New Testament in 90 days, chronologically. It is interesting to me how the end of Revelation is future, but has already happened, that is, it is already certain what the future holds. It kind of puts Matthew 6 in good perspective, storing up treasures in Heaven, and not worrying so much about what tomorrow brings, but keeping my focus on what needs to get done for God…today.

“Kings of Kings, and Lord of Lords” – we are so familiar with that expression, and we know that Christ is prominent in Revelation 19 as He triumphantly returns. Let me expand on this terminology, though, as it appears in the text, because I tend to gloss over it. I find great encouragement when I learn more details about how something is written, and what we can take from that. He is indeed this King, this Lord, and when He returns, all will know it

Take note of WHERE “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” is written. On His robe and on His thigh – more directly, the part of the robe that covers the thigh. For a rider on a horse, something written here would be in plain sight for all to see, easily read, not to be missed. When Christ returns, He will make it very clear, undeniable, in fact, who He is.

For Christians everywhere, He has already made that declaration, we know who He is. Yet I know I personally don’t fully grasp just all of what that means. But this I do know, we can read Revelation and try to be in awe of Him, that’s fine. We can also do our best to show the world who Christ is. That means talking to them about Him, demonstrating His Spirit at work in our lives, and defending His name to those around us who do not yet realize who Christ is.

Now, just as in the end times, Christ demands our worship. He demands to be known for who He really is: The Creator (Rev. 4:11), the Redeemer (Rev. 5:9), and the Conquering King.

What's your reason?

This past week I came close to making a potentially bad purchase, related to an ad I came across on an online classified ad site. Long story short, it was a “too good to be true” deal, though it seemed legitimate. In fact, the items for sale may indeed be very real and accurately depicted, though very likely stolen or ill-gotten, at best. I was a bit disappointed, because I thought I had found a great deal on something I had been patiently waiting for, only to find out I was chasing the wind

My 90-day Bible reading brought me this week to 1 Peter, which, in the past was a “go-to” source of mine for a reminder of the eternal security of salvation. After all, Peter uses the direct words for “born again”, followed by imperishable, incorruptible. But I was particularly drawn this time to a word I saw repeated four times in the first chapter, six times over all in the book of 1 Peter.

HOPE

Yes, we have eternal security, and yet we still live here and now, dealing with life’s ups and downs, and we are to be keeping in mind that big picture referred to as hope. Naturally, to hope in someone or something would necessitate that the object of that hope would be reliable, trustworthy, unshakable. That, my friends, is Christ. I can’t list the words that describe Him here, because none of them come close to matching the true glory that is His.

At Christmas time, we celebrate a very long story (eternal!) made to seem short as we see it through our very limited concept of time. God wrapped Christ in human flesh to save us, forever, so that we might place our hope in Him, not in the things of this world, but in Him! We place our hope in Christ, in SPITE of this world, in fact.

Jump ahead to 2 Peter 3:13, where Peter writes, “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

God made a promise.
He backed it up with His Son.
He gave us the down payment of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22), so that we might live according to that hope, and be ready to give a reason for that hope (1 Pet. 3:15).
And He’ll come again to gather us to Him. (2 Tess. 2:1)

Here’s to Hope!