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.)
People unfamiliar with “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) might be surprised to find that it is a book of blessing. Jesus says in Revelation 22:7, “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” “Blessed” in Scripture means far more than “happy” (the unfortunate translation in some modern versions of the Bible). Rather, it is a description of the favorable circumstances – the decidedly favorable circumstances – in which our Savior God has placed us. We see this new position of God’s favor by contrast with the divine justice that must be dispensed to those who persist in wicked rebellion against the goodness of God. I try to remind myself that, in addition to the blessing of being delivered from the negative “what might have been,” there are always at least two other blessings: there is the actual blessing itself, and there is the fact that our Lord is the One blessing us. Thus, the book of Revelation reveals a key theme for us: Jesus blesses.