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 22:21 provides this benediction: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” As we studied yesterday, this granting of unearned favor is most compellingly expressed in the Cross of Christ, for it is the greatest possible giving of Himself. We have no need for other evidences of the grace of Jesus, but there are others. For example, He provided this letter (for Revelation is that) to the churches of the first century and to us. Remember, John was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos. He did not have the information needed to address the problems of the individual churches mentioned in chapters 2-3, but Jesus did. A letter, of course, does not tell us everything, but a good letter does convey everything that we need to know. The specific communication and information of this last book of the Bible is certainly an example of great grace. We should also recall that throughout Revelation Jesus sends angels (to John but also to the entire world at that time – see Revelation 14:6-8) to speak needed truth. He reminds us of this expression of His grace in 22:16a: “I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify these things in the churches.” Both the fact that Jesus desires to communicate with us and the actual words that He says are powerful illustrations of our Lord’s grace. A simple application is to appreciate this grace each time we open the Word of God.