Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Because Jesus is the winner in the greatest sense of the word, we can be certain that His plans will come to fruition. Revelation 1:1 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.” “Shortly” means “quickly,” assuring that the events predicted in Revelation will unfold rapidly. “Must” is a powerful word in the Greek, indicating the determinative will of God. For the believer in Christ, these are words of tremendous consolation and confidence, for we are a blessed part of this eternal plan. To the unbeliever, however, this doctrine is unpleasant and unwanted. After hearing a message about the coming Apocalypse, Kaiser Wilhelm, the leader of Germany in World War I, raved, “I never want to hear that kind of sermon again! Such an event is not at all in keeping with the plans we have for the future and the glory of the Fatherland!” In his day, more than a hundred years ago, Wilhelm was a big man, but all of his plans hurt millions of people and came to nothing (except helping to prepare for the rise of wicked Adolph Hitler). Powerful people like Wilhelm and Hitler are not the winners. No, Jesus is the winner; He “must” be.