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 21:8 ends with the reality of “the second death” for those who persist in refusing Jesus’ great and gracious offer of everlasting forgiveness through a personal relationship with Him. Verse 9 returns the focus to the heavenly city: “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talked with me, saying, ‘Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’” As we studied previously in Revelation 19:7-9, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” is the Church, gathered together to be with “the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 5:12), Jesus our Savior. The contrast between these two eternal destinies is clearly presented to each one of us throughout Scripture. I remember reading that the esteemed preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once delivered the following humorous statement to make a serous point: “I hope that the closest anyone here gets to hell is my face!” I echo his sentiments. It is possible to close one’s eyes to avoid seeing me (and I fully understand and endorse that decision). However, none of us should close our eyes to the truth about hell and heaven. What some refuse to see now cannot be ignored then. The wise individual calls upon Jesus today: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2b).