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 Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) provides merciful warnings to all. Revelation 21:8 is one such warning: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” All unbelievers are inherently “idolaters.” The First Commandment, as we should logically expect, is emphatic and comprehensive: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This considerate prohibition – and it is considerate, for all “other gods” will fail us now and forever – includes false religions and false ideologies. It also includes anything that we try to put in place of God – money, power, pleasure, personal achievement. Likely the largest fake god is simple selfishness, putting our own will ahead of God’s perfect and loving will. All of us are tempted to seek self-promotion and to follow our own stubborn ways. However, Revelation 21:8 is referring to a settled decision to reject Jesus and replace Him with someone or something else. To attempt to supersede the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16b) is folly, an unnecessary folly, an eternally unnecessary folly.