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.)
When we started our study of Revelation 13 several weeks ago, I pointed out that this part of “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) has little to say about Him. By complete contrast to the forces of evil (including the Antichrist and his false prophet), though, Jesus is revealed to be thoroughly and eternally good. For example, the message of Satan’s malicious minions is negative and nihilistic: “Repent, or die.” Verse 7 says of the Antichrist, “It was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given unto him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” Verse 15 says of the false prophet, “He had power to…cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” This immediate threat of death will convince some to choose to “worship” one who not only cannot save but also does not want to save. Jesus refuses to employ this method of forced conversion. His message is simple: “Repent, and live.” He rejected the religion of the sword (see Matthew 26:1-54 and Luke 22:51). Instead, He offers a genuine choice, with an outcome that benefits us for eternity. Jesus – only Jesus – is mighty to save.