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 opens with details about a literal temple on earth in Jerusalem (verses 1-2); it closes with information about a temple in heaven: “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings; and an earthquake, and great hail” (verse 19). We should not be surprised that there is “the temple of God” in heaven. After all, heaven is the location of the immediate presence of God and is thus a place of worship. Furthermore, the Bible makes it plain that any earthly place of worship, including the divinely-ordained temple built by Solomon, is but a temporal representation of an eternal reality. Hebrews 9:24 states, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures [copies] of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” As we worship here, we are also preparing for the greatest time of worship, when we will join with all believers and the angels in thanksgiving and praise.