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.)
Two angels proclaim God’s truth in Revelation 14:6-8, warning of impending judgment. Everyone on earth at that time in the Tribulation hears. As Paul writes in Romans 1:20d, “They are without excuse.” Our Savior God continues to display His goodness with a third warning: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If any man worship the beast and his image [see Revelation 13:8-18], and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture [without dilution] into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name’” (Revelation 14:9-11). In the book of Revelation, the expression “for ever and ever” is used of God’s eternal existence (4:9, 10; 5:14; 10:6; 15:7); the eternal glory of the Lamb, Jesus Christ (5:13); the eternal reign of believers (22:5); and the eternal punishment of Satan (20:10). Thus, it is clear that the torment of those who refuse Jesus’ offer of salvation is also eternal. Some people try to teach annihilationism, the absolute destruction of the human soul, but it must be rejected as speculative heresy. Man is created in the image of God; thus, there is no end to man’s existence. Rather than charge God with unfairness, we should all heed His direct warnings and rush into the embrace of His everlasting grace.