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.)
A literal message from heaven is recorded in Revelation 14:6-7: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the foundations of waters.’” An integral part of the Christian message is God’s “judgment” to “come.” Jesus spoke openly about the reality of hell, eternal separation from the sure mercies of God. In Matthew 25:46, Jesus clearly stated, “And these [unbelievers] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” In the original Greek, “everlasting” and “eternal” are the same word, indicating that hell is a real place of ongoing punishment just as heaven is a real place of continuing joy. It is the Church’s duty to warn people. Imagine that the bridge down the road is washed out and we just stand idly by while cars plunge into the raging river. We would be vilified, and rightly so. We might even be charged with criminal negligence. We must warn others of God’s coming “judgment” – His righteous justice. A church that fails to do so is a failure as a church.