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The questions regarding the character of God must be
answered; not for the universe who witnessed their fulfillment at Calvary, but
for us who continue to ask “why”. In our
previous study John began his final revelation of Jesus Christ. While it was not steeped in fantastic imagery
and prophetic symbolism, it was in simple and plain speech. It was meant for us to understand. It was a simple answer to the complex
question we ask of “why”. We resume our
study in the final 22nd chapter of Revelations, it is here at the
end of what would become the compilation of scripture we know as the Bible,
that the last prophet of scripture would again reveal the motives of God
clearly.
John writes in verse 12 ... “And, behold, I come quickly;
and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. [verse
13] I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Here again is the promise of God, that He is
coming back to retrieve us, to reconcile us to Himself. This world is not our home. A perfected character within us is His
reward. An eternal life of service and
love to others is His reward. He is the
beginning of our salvation from ourselves, He is the Alpha. He is the ending of our salvation from
ourselves, He will see it completed in us, He is Omega. He loved us First. He will love us Last. He is the reason we seek to see ourselves
changed into His image. It is His love
that draws us. It is the power of His
love that will change us, and make us into the creations He intended us to be. His “reward” is not punitive. This is not another veiled threat for the disobedient. It is a promise of close proximity for those
who have permitted Him to save them, and claim them as His own. There is no higher calling the in the gospel
than that of redemption.
John continues in verse 14 … “Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city.”
Blessed are they. We could easily
define blessed as “relieved”. We could
define it as “fortunate”. We could
define it as “lucky” or “gifted”. Blessed
is not about the attainment of wealth.
Blessed is about a recognition that in having been transformed from the
former things we used to want, we are now FREE to live another way. We are free from the chains that bound us to
pain and death, and able to live for loving others, in the perfect freedom to
serve others. In this context, the
commandments are automatic. In the
context of perfect love for others, the commandments are not nearly enough of a
definition for loving God, and loving others.
Our “right” to the tree of life and entry into the holy city our home is
intended to be, is not founded upon our own will, or actions, but upon our
complete transformation wrought by Him within us. We are permitted entry, and given the fruit
of the tree of life, because we no longer want sin in any part of our hearts,
minds, or lives. We are free from
sin. We are made free from it by
Christ. We automatically keep the
commandments now, because loving others is “who” HE made us to be. There is no part of the definition of love
contained in His commandments that is foreign to us, or a problem or us. They are inherent in our thoughts and
desires, for our desires have been transformed by Christ. We are safe to admit into the perfection of
our heavenly home, because our desires have been perfected within us by our
Savior Jesus Christ.
We LONG to spend a special day with our God, where He takes
the time off to be with us. We would not
consider taking His name in vein. We
love Him above all else. He is first to
us. There is no other. For our fellow man, we would not consider
taking or coveting anything they own.
Instead we long to give them anything that might make them the least bit
happier. We do not lust, or consider
adultery, or in any way wish to break the special bond of intimacy that is
shared with our own spouse, but instead we prize and treasure this bond of
unity above all others. We love our
parents and think only how we might serve them better. We never want to see death again, nor pain of
any kind. We would gladly give
everything we own to God, or anyone in need, 10% is 90% too little. We do not wish our appetites to cause any of
Gods creations to suffer or die; instead we would gladly eat anything he
provides to us in whatever form it comes. We are no longer governed by the chains of
self-love, but have the perfect freedom to love others alone, and God most of
all.
This is HOW we were made to live. This is how life was meant to be. This is what we will one day come to embrace
as natural to us, instead of a struggle for us.
But to become natural, Christ must make it natural within us. What is carnal within us must be killed, it
must be eliminated. What is created by
Christ within us in its stead, is what makes us Blessed. The law becomes a part of who we are, of how
we think. Love for others alone
motivates us. It becomes the “why” we do
what we do. Credit for our actions is no
longer wanted. The gift of what we do
for others, is itself, our only reward.
To make others happy is all we seek.
This is what He frees us to experience.
This is the reason we are safe to admit into heaven. This is the reason it is safe for us to live
forever eating from the tree of life; for we will no longer live eternally in
pain, or in sin, but in perfect freedom and happiness and love for God and
others.
John continues in verse 15 … “For without are dogs, and
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth
and maketh a lie.” Here is partial list
of the opposite of Blessed. In this
instance “dogs” is not a literal designation, but a representation of those who
would eat anything, attempt to have sex with anything, and bite or destroy
anything that pleases them. Sorcerers
are those who would embrace the quest for power at any price, even of that of
their own souls. Sorcerers know it is
not God who offers them supernatural power, for they are know that God is not
about control but about choice. So
knowing full well that evil alone powers them, they embrace the demon that would
offer power and lose themselves in it.
Whoremongers are men and women who want sex at any cost, from any one,
any time. They are the self-indulged, they
prize orgasm above morality, and treat it as biology alone. Murderers kill any as it suits them, or feeds
their greed, or makes them feel powerful.
Idolaters need not bow before wood, or stone anymore, they need only bow
to the image in the mirror before them every day.
Those who “love” and make a “lie” – how broad a
categorization of those who “claim” to love others, but in truth only “love”
themselves. Every person engaged in
adultery has always thought themselves “in love” with their cohort in
crime. Every person engaged in
pre-marital sex justifies their actions based on a declaration of “love” for
their partner, yet no commitment that would make it binding, just an intention
perhaps to one day see about taking the next step. Every person who claims to love another, but
does so only when it is convenient, only when they can afford it, only because
they feel it is a 50-50 relationship, understands little about the truth of
love for others, and is self-deceived in that they only truly love themselves. The love of self, is not love at all. It is a perversion. It is an abomination. It is the cause of every sin, every pain, and
the reason for the existence of death.
These people who embrace the chains of self-love are those who are not
permitted entry into heaven, and do not live life, but rather live in a state
of tortured existence. It is not a
kindness to see them eat from the tree of life and remain forever in a state without
the hope of decay or death to end it. Having
rejected redemption, death is now their only hope for an end to it. It is a kindness to see the existence in
self-inflicted torture ended, either through redemption and rebirth, or through
death and non-existence. Anything is
better than living forever in the self-embraced tortured state of sin’s pain
and misery.
John continues in verse 16 … “I Jesus have sent mine angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the
offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. [verse 17] And the Spirit
and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that
is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Herein is the motive of God revealed. Herein is answer to the question of
“why”. It is Christ that bridges the gap
that ties together from before our genesis as the bright and morning star, to
the genealogies of Israel and house of David, to the Spirit and the bride who
say “come”. First and last, Alpha and
Omega, beginning and the ending, for all of time and eternity it is the love of
God that invites us to “come” and be with Him.
Everything He has done to redeem us, is about bringing us home with Him,
to be where He is, and to live with Him forever. This is the answer to “why” – it is because
He loved us before we even existed, and intends to be with us forever. Nothing that happens to us is meant to
distract us from that ultimate goal. No
evil that befalls us is outside of His notice or concern.
For love to be a choice, it MUST be a choice, it cannot be
forced or it is not love. So what He
offers us, is the invitation to His love, He bids us “come”. It turns out our God is not a God of justice,
more than He is of forgiveness.
Forgiveness was more important to God than justice. Love was more important and more powerful
than evil. Good triumphs over evil
because God is good, it was known, before there was ever an alternative idea to
good. Love is the over-riding motive of
our God in every CHOICE He has made, despite the ones we have. His Love was a choice He made for us. No one forced God to love us, He chose
to. No one forced God to forgive us, or
free us, or reclaim and re-create us, He chose to. It was His free-will choice to love us, and
that love stands behind everything He has ever done for us. Our choices have brought evil and pain upon
us, and despite what we have done, His choice remains to love us. He longs to heal us as we let Him. And here at the end of all things, His choice
bears fruit in surrendered souls who can now taste the perfection of life He
intended them to exist within. His
motive always was, and always will be, love for others.
Let whosoever will; anyone who wants to can drink of the
water of life freely. Anyone who wishes
to experience Christ for themselves is welcome to do so. There are NO restrictions. There is NO ONE who is excluded from doing
so, no matter how evil they think themselves to be, or how righteous. ALL can come to Christ, and drink
freely. All can experience salvation, to
be made free from the chains of self-love, to instead love others alone and God
most of all. Those who thirst, those who
perceive the need for something more, are bidden to come and drink freely. Those who have heard the gospel of Christ,
are bidden to join and echo the invitation bidding ALL to “come” and drink
freely. Notice there is not one hint of
condemnation in these precious words of hope.
Nowhere is there a prerequisite to be holy before we come, but instead
allow the waters of life to make us holy after we come. Nowhere in this text of redemption is a hint
of judgment and condemnation over how we live our lives. He already knows we are bound in the chains
of sin, it is the reason He wants us to “come” so that we can be made free from
them through submission to Him and His love.
He does not point us to focus on our pain, but instead maintains our
focus on Him, the cure for our pain. Our
lives will change, but this is His promise to us, not His edict. We will live differently because His love
changes us as we surrender. Not because
we “try” harder to be “good”. A
different way of thinking, of loving, and of living is the gift He brings to
us. He creates it within us. He makes us over again.
The message of the Christian should be to “come”. It should be an invitation to the world, no
matter what condition we find the world in.
The goal is not to keep the world outside of the church, but to get the
entire world into the church in order to free it to love others. The waters of life that flow from Christ
cannot be polluted by the sin sick souls who come to drink. Rather they purify those who drink and begin
to change them from the inside out.
There is no risk that Christ will be tempted by the sins of the world,
He instead longs to free us from the sins of the world. It is NOT the job of the Christian to
maintain the “standards” of the church by eliminating or ostracizing those who
are caught in the pain of sin. It is the
job of the Christian to love them, and bid them “come”. We are to JOIN with the Spirit and bride and
bid them “come”. We are not to declare
war on the Spirit and the bride, and begin a campaign of exclusion, under the
self-righteous pretense of standards and holiness. We are to love the ones in need, and bid them
come.
John echoes a warning in verse 18 writing … “For I testify
unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book: [verse 19] And if any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of
life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book.” So often we attribute this
warning to maintaining the content of the Bible in its current form, with the
proscribed number and order of books in both Old and New testaments. Or we focus on insuring that the book of
Revelation is not altered in any way.
But what if the meaning is bigger than that? What if it applies to the invitation that
immediately precedes it. What if we are
supposed to ONLY offer the invitation in love to “come” and drink the waters of
life freely. What if the intention of
this warning was for the Christian church to keep it simple, to offer the love
of Christ freely and bid “whosoever will” and “anyone who thirsts” to come and
find the love of Christ reflected in us and directly from Him?
Perhaps the goal of this warning was not simply to keep the
scribes who would transcribe the texts of scripture faithful in their efforts
for the last 4 thousand years. Perhaps
it was to prompt Christians to remember that Christ bid them a great commission
to love others and in so doing let the world identify them as His servants. We need not embellish the words of Christ,
nor should we feel free to take away any words He uttered. Christ is sufficient to save us. We can instead speak the words of His
promises with absolute confidence that He has never failed, nor will He
ever. We can instead point to His
warnings and use them as a guide to reflect how we “feel” about them as an
indication of where we are in the transformation of our own desires. The scriptures we have been gifted with, are
sufficient to point us to Christ, and allow Him to lead us to His Truth, in His
time, and in His way. He knows what
needs to be done to save us, and He is able to complete that work within
us. We may not always understand His
methods, but we can have absolute certainty in His motives, and faith in Him to
complete this work within us.
John concludes his book of Revelations in verse 20 writing …
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so,
come, Lord Jesus. [verse 21] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
all. Amen.” John had no idea that these
words would be placed numerically as the last text written in what we call the
Bible. He did not know, nor could he
know, that other manuscripts from Paul, or Phillip, or Peter might someday be
discovered, collected, and compiled into a larger volume we would come to know
as the Bible. But God knew. It is no accident that the last verses penned
in our Bible are a longing for the return of Jesus Christ to our world. It is no accident that the “grace” of our
Lord Jesus Christ was offered as a blessing to all. It is by His grace that we are saved. Saved from our sin, saved from ourselves,
saved from the evil of self-inflicted pain.
We are saved by His grace. We do
not deserve our salvation, but are offered it anyway.
John concludes with a longing for His return. John concludes with a blessing in the
pronouncement of prayer that His grace with remain with us all. In this his final revelation of Jesus Christ,
John offers us the motives of our God – to be with us, to see us saved. No matter what happens to us, these remain the
motives of our God – to be with us, to see us saved. It is the answer to “why”. It is the reason for revelation. It is the Truth behind every scripture. It is the message of the gospel. It is the only doctrine that matters in the
Christian faith, for it is the only one that can see us – with our God, and
saved. All the rest of scripture can
give us insight into our God, and context for what has occurred. But the answers penned here are really all
that count – to be with us, to see us saved.
This was in the heart of our God before we even came into
existence. This was the plan of our God,
who in spite of His knowledge of the poor choice we would make, created us
anyway. For His love was greater than
our choice. His love was able to redeem
us in spite of our choice. And His love
has never faltered from the goal of wanting – to be with us, to see us saved.
If there is any better final thought to be penned in
scripture, I cannot imagine what it might be.
To be with us, to see us saved.
Let that always be how we choose to remember the Revelations of Jesus
Christ, and entirety of the book we call the Bible …
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