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 opposite of the opportunity to “rejoice” in Revelation 12:12 is God’s pronouncement of “woe” upon “the inhabitants of the earth” who with stiff necks, hard hearts, and closed minds refuse His tender mercies. This sobering warning of our Lord’s impending righteous justice reminds us that He “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9b). However, many choose to reject Him and His offer of eternal salvation. “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition [destruction] of ungodly men” (II Peter 3:5-7). The word “willingly” can be translated “willfully”; this modern translation helps us to see that this refusal of God’s goodness is a decisive and decidedly negative act of the will. “Woe” must inevitably follow such an irrevocable choice.