Jesus is coming back in glory as King to rule the Earth. He's going to put down all unrighteousness before establishing His kingdom. He went from riding in on a donkey to riding in on a white stallion. He is known as Faithful- the only One we can fully trust. Other people and things will eventually let you down. He is known as True- we must agree that everything He does and says is right, fair, and true. Again, not a lot of that in the world today, I'm afraid.
We are coming back to Earth with Him, as His bride. Ephesians 5:25-27 provides the picture of the intimate relationship between Jesus and His church. Church has a definition that means "called out". In a way, He calls us out of heaven to present to the world. In another way, it has a meaning that portrays holiness- being separate from the world. How are we doing with that? We are married to Him. The marriage supper will be on Earth and will last 1000 years! Ah, if only we could get our eyes off the junk of this world and on to things of heaven and eternity. Let's take the broad view of things- God's perspective on life.
Notice, He takes down evil instantly. There is no fight (2 Thes. 1). The armies of the world had already gathered and been engaged in battle for a time at the Valley of Meggido or Armageddon. When Jesus returns, they will all join forces to turn on Him! The war is over in an instant. He captures the Beast and False Prophet and throws them into the Lake of Fire. Everyone else is killed by His Word. Also take note, that we don't do any killing, but we are right there with Him. I believe we should take this immediacy to heart. Evil is not hard for Jesus to eradicate. He said He could call legions of angels to come to His side if need be, while He was on Earth. The point is, our problems are not too difficult for Him to solve. They are easy and simple to Him. He can calm the sea in an instant. Nothing is impossible. It's a good thing to be strong in belief regarding this truth- no matter what you are going through. Surrender your circumstances to Him and count on His provision throughout the process of His will coming to fruition. You can trust Him.
It's going to take eternity to get to know Jesus fully. There's literally no end to Him. We are also going to get to know each other better in heaven than we are doing down here! I know, guys are notorious for just staying on the surface of relationships, but that's going to change. We will also know ourselves better then. I hope our love for Christ will continue to grow, even while we are only here on Earth for a short time. When we grow in our love for Christ, we grow in our love for others. Those are the two most important commandments He gave us. Everything else follows those.
There may be three big surprises in heaven: people there that we didn't think would be, people not there that we thought should be, and the fact that we are there! Let us keep the big picture in mind as we go through the grind- a good rhyme to keep in mind! Know where we are going eventually. Maybe it will help motivate us while we are here.
There is much to celebrate in this chapter, just as there truly is much to celebrate for what Jesus has done and means to us today. We are to worship Him and His character. We are to praise Him. Our lives are to be about exalting and elevating Him, and not ourselves. Let us give up trying to build our lives and be about the work of building His life within us and around us. We are to carry on. God is in control. Don't worry, fear, or be anxious about anything. We will one day see perfectly clear, how everything that happened to us fits into His perfect will. Have faith that is true, even today. Let us be careful to remember, He's been very deliberate to teach us that anything that detracts from Him has to die. We must die to our selves to find true life, taking up our cross, and following Him. He must increase, we must decrease. May we walk wisely and live for Jesus.
We are but a few short chapters from being at the close of the written Revelation of Jesus Christ and the beginning of new beginnings. It's a very exciting time for us. What a story. Celebrate today, in faith, that it will happen. Our King is Faithful and True.
