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.)
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) tells us that Satan and the demons are intensely active during the Tribulation, including their wicked warfare of Revelation 9. Their antipathy is not limited to just that time; their hatred of God and His creation is abiding and exists now. Their malice is particularly directed against mankind, created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and even more so against redeemed mankind, recreated in the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to labor successfully for the cause of Christ? One reason is found in I Thessalonians 2:18: “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.” The word “hindered” is a strong, vivid work in the original Greek, meaning “to cut into.” It was used of military tactics – and we are surely at war! Not all hindrances are demonic; for example, Paul wanted to preach in Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7), but God prevented him and instead directed him to Macedonia. However, there is no doubt that demonic activity will endeavor to subvert and destroy any genuine work of God. Let us be alert to Satan’s attempts to cut into our lives and into our churches. His evil efforts will only increase as we draw closer to the promised end.