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.)
Revelation 11:16-17 provides the fourth usage of “Almighty” (“the One Who has His hand on everything” is a literal rendering of the original New Testament Greek word): “And the four and twenty elders, [who] sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, ‘We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, [Who] art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.’” The “elders” are representatives of the Church; their very presence in heaven is eternal evidence of the saving touch of our Savior God. Verse 18 continues the elders’ words of praise: “And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldst give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” The omnipotent hand of the “Lord God Almighty” then, is employed in both divine justice and in divine blessing. We are again faced with a decision, for we must choose how the hand of God will rest upon us. He is eternally the same (“[Who] art, and wast, and art to come”). We are the ones who are unsettled in our thinking and in our ways. May we be sure that we have called upon Jesus as Savior such that His holy hand has settled upon us in secure salvation.