Confronting Revelation

Most of us cinema goers will have watched movies which herald the end of civilization as we know it.  But ironically what I find most confronting in these types of movies are not so much the spectacular CGI disaster scenes, but the scenes where the news reports on the disaster go off the air one by one. When the last transmission cuts out, there is that eerie pause where the beleaguered survivors suddenly realise the world as they once knew it, is now gone.

It raises the question in our minds, “will this world as we know it really come to an end one day?” In my youth there was the scare of nuclear holocaust. Today it may be terrorists with nuclear weapons, environmental catastrophe, or even a one world dictatorship that robs us of all the liberties we once knew. One way or the other it is a feasible possibility?

The Bible itself tells us that this world as we now know it will not last. If you read the last book of the Bible called Revelation, you are in no doubt about this. It speaks there of unimaginable suffering in the “last days.” Many avoid it because it is not easy reading, and yet the book of Revelation was meant to be a blessing to its readers both then and now. It says blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.

But how can I be blessed by reading passages such as the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks, “fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. (“Lamb” is the metaphor for Jesus Christ as King and ruler of heaven and earth).

Jesus Himself continued to remind His disciples when He was on Earth, that one day He will return to this world to reign forever as “King of kings and Lord of lords”. Revelation as we have seen tells us that there will be people so terrified when Christ returns, that they would rather be covered by rocks, than see God in Christ face to face on that day. But their terror comes only because they spent all their lives rejecting belief in Him. Now they realise too late, that all that they had heard about Jesus Christ as Lord and God, had been true after all.  What they had heard were some other words of Jesus also in Revelation, where He says I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

To those who accept Jesus offer to have their souls saved Jesus promises He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. This is only possible because Jesus (God the Son) took all the punishment for the sins of the world, when He voluntarily died for us on the cross that first Easter. He then rose from the tomb as conqueror of death and promised one day to return to this Earth. Getting to heaven when we die is a free gift from Jesus, not something we have to earn. God knows we could never earn it.

This is why the book of Revelation is a blessing. In it we see the loving creator of the universe who became one of us and lived with us, giving us the message that this world as we know it will pass away. When we consider what this world is really like for most people on this planet, this can only be good news.

But unlike the disaster movies, it will be a world not of destruction but of perfection. Like it was meant to be before humanity decided to go it alone without our God back in the Garden of Eden. It will be an eternal paradise where we can walk and talk with God like a brother and a friend. For those of us who give our lives back to Jesus, and obediently trust solely in Him, that terrible day where some will want the rocks to fall on them, will be for us, the most blessed day ever.  The Scriptures say that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The Lord has given us this life on earth to actually give our lives back to Him. Whoever we are, our life here can end in a split second. Take the opportunity to speak to an Everyman/woman, a known Christian friend, a Chaplain, MCF, Fighting Words or Solid Rock members, to help you come to the point where you know you will rejoice, and not be afraid on that day when the present form of this world does come to an end.
 
Ken Matthews
Commissioner
Everyman’s