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.)
A myriad of passages in the Bible speak of the details of the Millennial Kingdom (see, for example, Psalms 2, 24, 72, and 96; Isaiah 2, 9, 11-12, 63, and 65; Jeremiah 23 and 30; Daniel 7; Zechariah 14; Matthew 25:31-46, and Romans 11:25-27, among many others). Revelation 20 does not provide much additional specificity, for it does not have to. Instead, it emphasizes the confinement of Satan (verses 1-3) and proceeds to discuss the crucial concept of resurrection (verses 4-6): “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” “The first resurrection” here means that it takes place before the resurrection at the end of the Millennium (verses 11-15), but it is not the first resurrection ever. The very first is the Resurrection: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (I Corinthians 15:20). The primacy of Jesus’ Resurrection is the foundation of our faith: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (I Corinthians 15:17). Jesus is risen; He is risen indeed.