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 demonic activity detailed in Revelation 9 takes place in the Tribulation period at the end of this present age. The reality of Satan and demons raises the question of the extent of their actions today. Not all problems can be attributed to their activity (what is called a part-for-the-whole fallacy, a major error of some Christians). We live in a world cursed by sin (Genesis 3:17-19), and we also possess sin natures (Romans 7:15-25). However, demons do exist, and their nefarious work is usually quite subtle. In I Corinthians 10:20-24, Paul writes to the haughty, troubled church at Corinth. By bringing pagan concepts into their gatherings, these benighted believers were giving demons an opportunity to corrupt Christian fellowship, replacing it with “fellowship with devils [demons]” (verse 20). The resulting disruption of genuine fellowship with Christ and with Christians was at the very heart of this church’s problems. The Church needs to be careful, for when we adopt worldly ways and man’s methods we are providing an opening for Satan to cause rancor and division. We will not see Satan nor the demons, but we will observe and experience their negative influence if we are not circumspect.