Point / Counter-Point ...

In the old days of Saturday Night Live (SNL), they used to run a skit entitled Point / CounterPoint during their weekend update news segment.  The humor came not from the topics they discussed, but from the incredibly rude and horribly anti-politically correct language they used to discuss them.  The name calling was most of the fun for viewers, and generally so distracting, that it was hard to pay attention to any real debate or substantive statements made during the verbal brawl.  Humor aside, for any point-of-view, you can bet there is a different point-of-view, a competing point-of-view.  And in the decades that have passed since this skit was in its prime, the name calling and personal attacks, have moved from a clear attempt to illicit laughter, to mean-spirited attacks meant to illicit tears, and break any thought of self-esteem in the other party.  What has changed is how we see each other, and worse, what motives we ascribe to each other.  And when one side believes it has the only truth, it is easy to see any other side as not only wrong, but evil.

This phenomenon did not start with us.  It began in heaven of all places.  God was truth, He is still is.  He has a way of doing things that works, it is also the best way.  It turns out, His ways, are the only ways, that can avoid pain, and even death.  These ways of God were not developed to be punitive.  They were developed because He loves us, He loves the entire universe.  And who would not want more joy, instead of more death?  It is rather a silly comparison.  But Lucifer did just that.  For every way God naturally followed, Lucifer looked closely and set up an alternative way of doing things.  Most of them involved loving self, instead of loving others.

As an example, God creates monogamy to foster intimacy, so that 2 people can come to know and love each other in a way so strong, no one else could come close to understanding it.  Within the bounds of this kind of intimacy and vulnerability and trust, procreation becomes a by-product.  Satan looks at all of this and offers instead his alternative, his counterfeit.  He offers the momentary high of biology.  Reducing others to meat sacks of mutual consent.  Not pursuing intimacy but destroying it altogether, until people mean nothing, and are only objects that can provide a moment’s pleasure.  To have children in this venue, is a risk to be avoided.  A punishment for not thinking ahead and being careful, while you pursue an endless line of self-worth-destruction in the form of others for a moment’s pleasure.  It turns out the “alternative” is not just “different”, it sucks.  It is not happiness packaged in a different way, it is pain, wrapped up to look like happiness, but with no fulfilling characteristics at all.  In short, it is a lie.  But then, when you choose to deviate from truth, where else would you expect to wind up, but in a lie.

And so what started in heaven, by no means ended there.  Satan has been creating counterfeits, and telling lies about God since the very beginning, with no intention of ever stopping, until he is stopped once and for all at the end of all things.  Satan ascribes his own motives on to God, hoping you will believe the worst about God, and nothing about the devil.  Where it comes to the Word of God, Satan has been lying about that since Moses first picked up a quill and parchment to begin writing it down.  Matthew, in his gospel to his contemporaries, in chapter 28 records one really significant case of “point / counterpoint”.  And honestly if I had been Matthew, I might have seen the wisdom of opening by talking to Satan, and saying something like the old SNL skits started … “Satan, you ignorant slut”.  Might still be good for a laugh, but in this case, it is also true.  Instead Matthew takes us back, picking up in verse 1 saying … “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”

The women of cast-iron-faith, are again first to go to Jesus, even though He is dead.  They have no reason to do this, at least no logical reason.  Dead is dead.  When a Messiah is killed, that is pretty much the end of it, at least it has always been so.  But for these women where love drives their faith, something naws at them.  They remember His words.  He predicted that He would rise again on the third day.  There is a nagging hope within them that defies logic, and will not go away, and will not be silent.  So women do what men continue to be too afraid to do.  They travel to his burial site, in spite of the fact they are sure to encounter the 100 Roman soldiers, and who knows how many temple guards sent as well.  These women of cast-iron-faith are sure to be surrounded by the enemy, and make no mistake, the enemy sure looks to be in charge.  They have the swords.  They have the spears.  And they have the anger that will not go away.

Matthew continues in verse 2 saying … “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. [verse 3] His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: [verse 4] And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.”  Here is where a hundred Roman killers are made as scared as a flock of sheep.  All their spears and swords, and pent up cruelty, are worth nothing against a single angel of the Lord.  The stone which took several men to put in place, is rolled away like so many paper towels in a kitchen.  The seal is broken without so much as effort.  But this angel is not there to kill lost souls the Lord was sent to redeem.  The Romans keep their lives.  And the angel takes no threatening posture with his own sword drawn and ready.  Instead he hops up on the stone he rolled away and sits down like a teenager might do.  From here he casually begins talking to the women.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. [verse 6] He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. [verse 7] And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”  The first evangelists of the Christian faith are commissioned.  The first preachers of the gospel are commissioned.  And they are ALL women.  This had nothing to do with a preference by God, for one sex or the other.  But it had a great deal to do with who faced their fears and went to seek Jesus, despite it not making sense or being logical.  When loves drives the motives, miracles happen.  When love is not in the motives, miracles are prevented.  Women were here.  So women were commissioned.  God works with whoever comes to Him.  He makes no distinction of the sex, or age, or color.  He loves us all.  He will work with us all.  Who of us, will come to work with Him?

The entire gospel message is summed up in what the angel has said.  Jesus is risen.  Go and tell, in this case his disciples.  These women must preach to the future preachers, because the future preachers are hiding allowing their fear to overcome their faith.  They heard the same words of Jesus regarding his resurrection at the same time the women heard them.  But nothing was nawing against the hearts of the disciples except the fear of self-preservation.  Fear can be drowned-out by love, and it cannot be drowned out without it.  When love is an after thought, fear can hold sway.  And so it did.  Love, as what men think of love, was in the hearts of the disciples.  But the Love of Jesus was not there just yet.  Later when that love of Jesus did enter the disciples, they feared nothing, and endured everything for the cause of Christ.  But now, the early adopters, were the women of cast-iron-faith, tempered by the furnaces of love.

Matthew continues in verse 8 saying … “And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. [verse 9] And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. [verse 10] Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.”  And just in case you could doubt the word of an angel of God, we have his words reaffirmed by the Jesus they all knew, up close, and in person.  This was the point of the gospel.  This was the love of the gospel made manifest.  Jesus takes the time to personally greet His new evangelists, to appear FIRST to the women.  This was I believe a reward for their faith.  Faith that drove them to move, even when it made no logical sense at all.  Faith that drove them to hope, because they remembered the words of their Lord and trusted in His Truth.  The “Point” goes to God.

Now for the counterpoint.  Time for the ignorant slut to spin his lie.  Matthew continues in verse 11 saying … “Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. [verse 12] And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, [verse 13] Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. [verse 14] And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. [verse 15] So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.”  The lie has teeth.  It spreads.  It makes common sense.  It is more logical, and therefore more believable, than say a miracle.  Occam's Razor would side in favor of the lie.  The soldiers risked their lives to spread it, for sleeping on duty, would get them placed on crosses of their own.  The priests vouching for them with Pilate, would be the only way, they “might” escape that fate.  Counterpoint goes to Satan.

And in this situation, ascribing evil motives to the alternative story to the resurrection is understandable.  After all, Satan is evil.  And he has nothing but evil intent.  God’s story is the story of your redemption, and re-creation.  It is the story of your personal reconciliation with God.  You get to go home.  You get to hang out with God, eat dinner with Him, listen to Him, talk to Him, laugh with Him.  God is not just about sitting on a distant throne in heaven, you are a thousand miles away from.  He is about getting close and personal with you, being with you.  God being God, He can do that with you, at the same time He does it with me, and so on, and so on.  Everywhere at once.  This is not a “thousand mile away” proposition.  It is about going home, to be “with” God.  Never parted again.

And what does the counterpoint offer?  Meaninglessness.  Your life is a random accumulation of circumstances that mean nothing.  You mean nothing.  You are all alone.  You will die alone.  And no one will care.  In a thousand years, or ten thousand, you will be a speck in a memory long forgotten.  Your pain, your joy, are all random, and mean nothing.  Your suffering means nothing.  In short, in the counterpoint proposal, you have no meaning to anyone, so … why live?  Take the yoke of morality off of you and swing for the rafters.  Be Hitler if it pleases you.  Or be Gandhi.  But no matter.  Both are dead now.  So what difference do either make?  Counterpoint has NOTHING to offer you, it is based on lies, that would rob you of infinite joy, and infinite life.  It is meant to deceive you, and distract you, to keep you from a faith that overcomes fear, because it is driven by love.  And love does matter.  In the here and now, and throughout the eons of time, love will always matter.  Do not let the lie, rob you of your meaning.  Do not let logic, rob you of the love you have coming, and the love you are capable of sharing.  There is no alternative to truth, only lies that lead to pain.

The gospel allows us to see each other, past the struggles with evil, and to what potential He would bring in our lives.  Instead of ascribing any motives to our brothers and sisters, what if we just loved them unconditionally instead.  What if our love for them, looked like God’s love for them?  Might that offer a reason to seek Jesus in the first place?  The Truth is revealed when Love is revealed.  The Truth is not revealed by debate, by words, but by love in action.  Because of Love, I care more about you than I do about convincing you of anything I believe – except to seek Jesus in everything.  My doctrines can wait.  If my doctrines are truth, then I can trust Jesus to reveal them to you in His time, in His manner, and in the way in which you will come to need to hear them.  That is a wildly different approach, than me trying to cram what I believe down your throat, all the while showing as little concern for you as I do the mosquito biting my arm.  And becoming frustrated if not angry with you, when you refuse to see things the way I do.  That kind of doctrine-based approach to evangelizing should go the way of the dodo-bird.  It does not work, and it does not last.  My beliefs are not as important as my love.  And how I can benefit you will be more determined by how much I love you, than what I esoterically believe about anything.

God has the point.  Satan has nothing.  You can see the truth of it, when you look at the life of Jesus Christ.

 

Saving Faith [part 3 of 3] ...

All that matters is results.  If you promise a thing, you must deliver a thing, or your promise is worth little.  With humanity, we are used to disappointment.  We promise outcomes, and make commitments, and over time we deliver almost none of it.  It jades the thinking, until the cynic expects nothing, and is usually not disappointed.  But where a matter of salvation is concerned, it is an all-or-nothing game.  Being “better” sounds good.  Being better perhaps avoids some of the pain that being worse brings with it.  But none of us are looking for a heaven filled with “better” people.  We are looking for a heaven filled with people who no longer even consider killing, or stealing, or lying about it.  We are looking for a heaven where we can have absolute trust in our neighbors, not have to lock the door, re-rig up the security system, consider moving to a better subdivision, and train the dogs for protection (again). 

A heaven where just one unapologetic sinner gets in, is a heaven where the crime rate will never be zero.  And it is not even about the apologetic aspect of sinning.  The fact that the killer feels bad about killing does not stop the pain he causes.  Heaven is not supposed to be about a criminal justice system, nor is it a place for rehabilitation.  The rehabilitation is (or should be) happening now.  Now is the time for a prep, in order to be able to re-enter that Garden of Eden without fear.  Now is the time, for us to be getting made ready for a bite from the tree of life.  If I am that sinner, that somehow slips into heaven, I will mess it up from everybody.  When I get there, it will only have been from the mercy of God.  A mercy that does not end with forgiveness but with reformation until I am something entirely different than I am today.  Something else, and something better.  But not just better, better is not enough, something perfect.  For without perfection, how will I ever be ready?

Jesus did not die, just to forgive “some” of our sins.  Nor is Jesus content to just leave us in the lives of sin we have figured out how to live.  Forgiveness is a baseline He offers, a ground zero from which to build.  But mercy cannot look at someone in pain and just leave them there.  Mercy was meant for something more.  We were meant for something more.  Not just life after death, but real “life” even when we are surrounded by death.  Perfection then is not a pre-requisite, it is the result of a continued encounter with Jesus Christ.  Perfection slips up on you unannounced while you were paying attention to Jesus.  You cannot explain how it comes.  You can explain from where and why.  It comes because Jesus wants it for you, and creates it within you.  It is Jesus who changes how you think, as soon, and as much as you let Him do it.  It is Jesus that changes how you love, and who you love.  It is Jesus who brings passion for others, and a seeming disinterest in yourself.  “You” becomes less and less of a priority to you.  “Others” become more and more of a passion for how you live.

It may not be instantaneous.  But it is certain.  And its results are demonstrable over time.  So what is the difference between stupid faith, ridiculous faith, and saving faith?  Consider the end of Matthew’s snippets in act three beginning in chapter nine picking up in verse 23 saying … “And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, [verse 24] He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.”  Jesus arrives and affirms the reason the angel had to guard the Tree of Life so many millennia ago.  The girl who is dead, is sleeping the sleep of death.  Consider for a moment that if the girl had died, and her ‘immortal’ soul simply is freed from her body, and went to heaven; then why on earth would you pull her out of perfection and back to the hell that is our world.  Her perfect character would revert to her sinful one (or at least expose her to daily risks of reversion).  Even with the love of her father, her life would be full of hardship.  The leadership of the Temple were now certainly out to get her father, for declaring for Christ, they would not simply ignore a risen example of Jesus’ authority over life itself.

If her character had been made perfect in order to enter heaven, then pulling her back would now do what, undo that reformation?  Imagine the unkindness of pulling her back.  If she died and went to a hell of fire and flame, then by Jesus offering her a chance no one else down there gets, is that not completely unfair?  In either scenario, the interests of the girl are not served, only the selfishness of the love of her father.  But, if she did sleep the sleep of death, and knows nothing; if all she does is rot in the earth unaware of time or consciousness; then pulling her back does her no detriment to her.  That act restores the love of her father without causing the girl undo harm.  The sleep of death we practice each night is the state from which we will all one day be called.

Consider too, the audience for what is about to happen.  There is a large crowd still following Jesus eager to know if this request is going to be honored.  His disciples are there every bit as curious.  But the mourning party at the home is not curious, or amused.  They are there to perform a time-honored tradition of showing proper respect for the dead (who if you are a Sadducee are not ever coming back).  History supports the side of the mourners.  Once you die, you die.  There are no second chances.  So to end this funeral tradition early is like slapping the family of this little girl in the face and stating we don’t care about your pain.  But Jesus is consumed with our pain.  He is not looking to exacerbate it, He is looking to extinguish it.  The mourners don’t see it.  So when He states she is just sleeping, they change their wailing to laughing Him to scorn.   

And here is where only results matter.  Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. [verse 26] And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.”  Jesus brought life to one who was dead.  There was certainty of her death.  The mourners knew it.  The father knew it before he left to get Jesus.  The only thing that mattered here was saving faith.  The kind of faith that saves from death, that conquers death.  It either happened or it didn’t.  Your Bible is either real or it is not.  But if Jesus is real.  And if your Bible is real.  Then what happened is real.  Death was conquered by life that ONLY Jesus could, and did bring.  This is true of our physical condition.  This is true of our spiritual condition.  We need not fear sneaking into heaven as the last sinner God pities.  We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment.  And we will enter it with no thought of sin ever again.  Our choice will be made.  The same choice we make today.  To trust Jesus Christ more than we trust ourselves.

In order to save us, only results matter.  Jesus is our results.  He brings them, or creates, or inspires them, or they simply do not occur.  We do nothing, but have faith in Him to save us, from … ourselves.  Whether that seems stupid, or ridiculous, or the sensible way that humanity will be saved, is immaterial.  It is how it happens.  Or it does not happen at all.  In a game when all that matter are results.  I know of no other way than the one Jesus offers us all, it is ALL or Nothing …

 

A Preview of His Kingdom and Power ...

A preview is not the same thing as the main event.  In our world, we use “warm up” acts in live musical concerts, or stand-up comedian acts to get the audience in the mood for what will come next.  In boxing, there is such a thing as the “under-card” which is usually a series of fights that take place before the main event bout.  Obviously these previews are not what we paid to see or were most looking forward to, but there have been a fair number of musicians, comedians, and fighters who transitioned from being the warm-up act to being the main act because of the exposure they got during their entertainment previews.  And the previews themselves do serve to get the audience properly prepared for what comes next, in order to heighten the experience of the main event.  No one knows how far back this practice dates, but given that Jesus had one, we can say at least 2,000 years.

Peter records how it all started as he recited it to John Mark to transcribe beginning in the gospel of Mark chapter nine, and verse 1 saying … “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”  In these words, Jesus is talking to His disciples.  He has just given them a sort-of salvation tutorial in the previous verses.  That was a detailed explanation of what it means to be able to be like Christ is, to follow Jesus where He was going.  Now Jesus is taking that idea a bit further, He is telling them, that at least some of them will not die until they have seen Him as God, and His Kingdom coming here with power.  Of course our human minds, which live nearly 2,000 years since those words were spoken, immediately “wants” to interpret them as being a promise of a quick second return by Christ to take us all home.  But as 2,000 years has passed since then, we know that is not the case.  Further, since the laws of aging were not suspended for the disciples (allowing them to live until now without getting old), we can further conclude that the “main event” of His return was also NOT what He was talking about.

So what was Jesus referring to?  The answer can be found in the texts immediately following these remarks and continuing this story.  Mark continues writing in verse 2 saying … “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.”  Note this is the very next verse following the lead-in written above.  You don’t need to search through scriptures to find an event that may somehow fulfill the words of Christ, it is the very next thought.  What happens in only six days, is that Jesus takes Himself, Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain in order to be alone with them (out of the reach of the crowds).  He then “transfigures” Himself before them, or in other words, He reveals the “God” portion of who He is.  He takes the mask of humanity off for a few moments and reveals the God side, the infinite side, of who He really is.  Up to now, this has never happened.  Up to now, and since His birth, there have only been a few incidents where God the Father’s voice was heard acknowledging Jesus as His son.  Even when Jesus performs miracles for us, it is always with Jesus cloaked in humanity, never showing anyone what is under the veil.

Imagine the brilliant light that emerges from Jesus when Peter sees more God than man standing before him.  Imagine the purity of Christ’s love and brilliance of the Creator now shining through in this lonely place high on a remote mountain top.  I can imagine that even here, Jesus must hold back the fullness of who He is, or the disciples would perish at the sight.  But I can also imagine that for these 3 men, who will ever be only human, the plain sight of His divinity would have overwhelmed them.  They may well have prostrated themselves on the ground at His first revealing.  This was no small event, and it was not one that would be repeated often or with casual regard.  This was an epic event.  This was the true revelation of God underneath the human form.  The power that emanated from that purity was beyond our words to relate.  But yet here it was.  None of us could ever do this.  No other wanna-be Messiah could come close to doing such a thing.  This distinction between man and God was forevermore marked here.

Peter tries to describe what he saw to John Mark in verse 3 saying … “And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.”  Perhaps doing his best to look at Jesus once the God identity has been unveiled, Peter can only see his robe which up to now, has been a home spun garment, full of the dirt and sweat that comes from climbing a high mountain.  Up to now, the robe of Jesus was not especially different from Peter, or James, or John.  But look at it now.  It is a brilliant white, a white more white than anything Peter has ever seen.  It shines.  The robe now gives off a light Peter cannot explain.  This brilliance is not something mankind is possible of duplicating or making.  Peter takes special note to call out that no “fuller” (a profession of clothing cleaner) could ever make a robe as white as this one is.  Indeed the beginnings of the Kingdom of God are being revealed, for this is clearly a picture of God being revealed to His three disciples.

Then comes the fullness of a kingdom’s description as John Mark continues in verse 4 saying … “And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.”  And thus the remainder of the kingdom appeared: mankind with God.  That is what the Kingdom of God was all about, reconciling mankind with God.  Here were both groups of mankind represented in this first preview of the coming of Christ in His second return to earth.  Elias or Elijah had never died but was fully transformed in character before his earthly death and taken to heaven by angels pleased to carry out that job.  Moses had died, and was raised from the earth fully transformed in character, ready to greet his Lord in the air, carried to heaven by angels glad to have been assigned that task.  Mankind was here now, in the form of both of these saved groups, talking plainly with Jesus.  These were not ghosts, or disembodied spirits, they were men like you and I.  They were there right now, united with their Savior.  This was the first preview of the Kingdom of God, beheld in power as was promised by Christ only six days earlier.

As usual Peter is not quite sure what to do, or say, but as usual Peter has to say something.  That boisterous personality cannot just keep still at the sight of something that overwhelms the others.  So he recalls to John Mark his best efforts at the time picking up in verse 5 saying … “And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. [verse 6] For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.”  No human had ever experienced what was going on at this moment, nobody, ever.  There was no basis in scripture to have studied.  There were no stories handed down from father to son.  In the 4,000+ years of earth’s history, nothing like this had ever occurred.  So Peter tries to make conversation by offering to build 3 tabernacles on that ground one for Jesus, Moses, and Elias.  A normally flattering offer, but none of them are interested in the attempted flattery of Peter.  There are no ego’s here to stroke, only a continued united mission to redeem mankind from itself.  But there was still one thing missing from the definition of His Kingdom, a unity between God and man.

John Mark continues transcribing in verse 7 saying … “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. [verse 8] And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.”  God the Father had come, He masked Himself in a cloud, for even here in this preview event, He could not reveal His glory to those who were still marked by sin lest He destroy the object of His love.  But God the Father had a message for those three disciples, that Jesus was indeed His only Son, and that they should hear Him.  Almost as quickly as these events began, they were ended.  As the disciples looked around they saw only themselves, and Jesus as He had been before.  His robe was as dirty and sweaty as theirs.  No Moses, or Elias, just the four of them.  At this point, each disciple must have wondered if they were hallucinating.  But then how could all 3 of them have seen exactly the same thing at the same time in their respective hallucinations.  No, it had to have been real.  It was after all the preview event Jesus had promised that some of them would see.

In the aftermath of this event Jesus charges them with a familiar charge.  John Mark records in verse 9 saying … “And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. [verse 10] And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.”  Jesus again asks for secrecy, but this time only until He is risen from the dead.  This is a new condition, and the disciples have no idea what it means.  They still cling to a false idea of the role of the Messiah.  Having seen Him transfigure and get the support of Elijah and Moses, only deepens the false idea they cling to.  If Jesus has access to all this power in heaven, surely He will use it to accomplish creating His kingdom here on earth.  The preview they just got, must be a prelude to an anti-Roman paradise, what else could it be?  So they decide to change the subject slightly and see if they can get more information out of Him.  They ask a different question.

John Mark continues writing in verse 11 saying … “And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? [verse 12] And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. [verse 13] But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.”  The disciples ask why the Pharisee leadership and scribes think that Elijah must come before the Messiah fulfills His role.  Jesus answers that again they have a mistaken interpretation (how like us), but if you examine it … Elias just did come in the flesh, and in the message of John the Baptist.  Both in person and in truth has Elias come ahead of the fulfillment of the Messiah’s role, albeit, not the role the disciples wanted Jesus to fulfill. 

When we read scripture, we do what the disciples did.  We read it from a preconceived set of traditions, and personal hopes.  We read the scriptures that support our ideas, and ignore the texts that do not fit them well.  We, like the disciples, cling to our ideas and views of the role of Christ, despite what He directly tells us that we simply do not understand.  This is all because like our Pharisee forefathers, we do not seek Christ to lead us to truth, we instead attempt to tell Jesus what our truth is and expect Him to conform to it.  If we are even to read rightly, we must learn to submit ALL our ideas to Jesus first.  We must read through the lens of Jesus where loving others is the primary concern.  Only after full submission, and being led by Christ, can we begin to understand what was written, and what it means to each of us.  To distinguish between previews and main events, and to understand what Jesus asks of us, we must read through the lens of Jesus Christ and after submitting our will to His.  And there will be far more Peter has to say to us …

 

Bleeding and Dying No More [part three] ...

In this series, perhaps the World Series of establishing the identity of Jesus Christ, the first three events had happened in fairly quick succession.  In the space of only a few days, Jesus had commanded nature, and bent time and space.  In this first act, He established Himself as our world’s Creator, and the Author of physics (not its slave).  Next, the infinite power of His Love, commanded an entire host of nearly 2,000 demons to leave a tortured possessed man with a single command.  In this second act, He established that no amount of enemies could stand before His Love, they were compelled to heed the voice of the Son of God who they acknowledged despite what the Pharisees were saying about Him.  In the third act, a woman whose desperation led her to lift her self-imposed limitations and imagine a cure was possible if only she could secretly touch the hem of His garment, and her crazy scheme worked.  But in the third act, Christ wanted this woman to know that she and her terminal disease were important to Him.  He called her His Daughter, blessed her, and sent her home safe in the knowledge that she would never be unimportant to Him.  Now we resume an examination of his fourth and final act to establish and affirm His identity.

Peter recalls to John Mark in his Gospel in chapter five how the fourth act would proceed.  Jesus was still en-route to the home of Jairus to heal his daughter.  Jairus remained a part of the ruling class of Israel, part of the Sanhedrin that was already deep into conspiring to see Jesus killed.  Jairus maintained his association with the very group of men bent on killing Christ.  Justice would demand a life for a life.  Justice would demand that someone bent on killing Christ, should himself suffer the fate he intended for Jesus.  Even if Jairus was not personally a part of the group intent on killing Christ, he had done nothing to distance himself from them until this day, when he submitted in humility before Christ in order to see his own daughter healed from yet another terminal illness.  Justice is and remains the battle cry … of Satan.  It is Satan who cries for justice in the hallowed courts of heaven.  It is Satan that demands that we pay for our sins, for a penalty must surely be paid.  Those who demand justice, echo the demands of Satan.  Our God is not interested in ensuring equality, fairness, and justice; for His Love offers so MUCH more than mere equality and fairness.  His Love is willing to forgive what otherwise Justice could not forgive.  His Love is willing to serve that which does not deserve service.  His Love is willing to reclaim, re-create, and restore that which by self-decision had abased itself beyond comprehension.  There is no Justice in our redemption … there is only Love.

But the decision to humble himself before Christ must have been a hard one for Jairus.  When his daughter fell ill, Jairus must have done what all of us do, what the woman who was just healed did.  He called in the doctors, and physicians.  Money was no object to Jairus, he would gladly spend it all to see his daughter healed.  But alas the best of human wisdom is still often not enough.  And his daughter’s condition got worse instead of better.  Unlike the Roman commander, who “knew” Jesus could heal with a simple command, and did not need to be there to see it done … Jairus had made a different request.  Jairus had asked for Jesus to come to heal his daughter.  The faith of Jairus in Christ was there, but not as great as that of the Roman, who did not have to personally witness what Christ did, the Roman was content to hear the words from His mouth, and to know it would be done.  Jairus needed to see.  But the time Jairus had spent in seeking a cure outside of Jesus Christ, had proven to be time wasted.  Is it any different for us?

How often, in our desire to be redeemed, do we seek a cure for our sins, outside of the transforming power of Jesus Christ?  We look to find spiritual growth in the things we do.  We read the Bible.  We study our weekly lessons for church classes.  We attend services.  We sing our songs of praise, and pray our prayers for blessings (for us).  We give what we can afford to give, be it time or money, to those who are “less fortunate” than ourselves.  In short, we are like the rich young ruler of scriptures, who when he encounters Christ, states that from his youth he has “kept all the commandments” of our God.  But what we spend little time contemplating in our spiritual lives, and spiritual “accomplishments” is “why” we do what we do.  The list cited above is not a bad list.  In point of fact, the transformed heart does all of these things, but it does them for a different reason, and it experiences a different outcome.  Those who pursue doing these activities “in order to see themselves rid of sin” do not see their goals achieved.  It is not our actions that rid us of the desire to sin … it is our surrender to Jesus Christ alone.  It is only the power of Christ who can remove within us, what we cannot remove, no matter how many spiritual things we attempt to do.  It is not our power that can remove our sinful desires, it is the power of Christ alone.  When we seek another remedy for sin, outside of surrendering to Christ, we see only continued failure.

When however, like Jairus, in desperation, we finally decide to humble ourselves and admit we cannot do what must be done … taking our sin, and our sinful desires to the feet of Jesus Christ … we finally experience what His power alone can do for us; whether our disease is in a terminal state, or whether we have already died in it.  Jesus can revive not only those who are spiritually wounded and suffering from a terminal disease, He can revive a heart that has experienced spiritual death and up to now has wanted nothing to do with spiritual things.  The transformed heart, learns to love like Christ loves.  The transformed and resurrected heart learns to love others like Christ loves others.  In so doing, the transformed heart looks for truth in the pages of Truth, and studies through the lens of Jesus Christ leading.  The transformed heart gladly goes to church because it longs for the joy of association and the opportunity to serve others, not to be served.  The transformed heart sings songs of praise, not just in sanctuaries dedicated to that purpose, but in the car, on the street, at the office desk, and in the home; because it CANNOT keep silent.  Gratitude overflows and leads to continual praise.  The transformed heart prays only for others, because it knows its own needs have been far exceeded in being met.  The transformed heart gives everything it has to others, and holds nothing back for itself, because it cannot afford to pass up an opportunity to give.  And in humility it never claims to have kept the commandments, but rather re-directs any notion of goodness, back to the source of Christ, for nothing within it is good without Him.  Why we do what we do matters.

But alas, the time Jairus (and us) spent in looking for a solution outside of Christ was time wasted.  And in this case, it was too much time wasted.  Peter recalls to John Mark beginning in verse 35 saying … “While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?”  Game over.  You waited too long, wasted too much time, and failed.  It was too late.  She died.  There is no further point.  Once you were dead, you were dead.  Half the Sanhedrin did not believe in any form of resurrection even at the end of all things.  Jairus and his household may have been of that inclination.  But whether he was or not, the time to heal a terminal disease was done.  Might as well, let God move on to other priorities, help those who still have time to be helped, help those who have not wasted ALL of their time just yet.  Death was a bell that could not be un-rung.  In all of the scriptures Jairus was deeply familiar with, there had never been a story of the dead coming back to life.  They ALL slept, awaiting the final day of God’s Kingdom being established on earth.  There may have been ghost stories from witches who derived their power from Satan, but demons impersonating dead men, were still a far cry from an actual dead person getting a second chance.  So far, death was an absolute ruler over the fate of mankind.  It did not matter whether you were good or bad, faithful or not, everyone died.  So the game needed to be called for an expired time clock.  Death had claimed the players, and there was nothing left … or was there?

John Mark records the reaction of Christ in verse 36 saying … “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”  This was asking the impossible.  Jesus, was asking Jairus, to do something to believe something, that there was no precedent for.  He was asking Jairus to believe in spite of the facts, in spite of scripture, in spite of his beliefs, in spite of his education, upbringing, and tenants of his job.  This was not a combination of scripture and God.  This was a request to believe only in Jesus Christ.  The interpretations of the Sanhedrin where it came to the Messiah were largely mistaken.  They had confused the second coming and final establishment of God’s kingdom with the first coming where the lamb would be slain.  They had scripture all jumbled up.  And in none of scripture was there hope of an early resurrection, and nothing about the Messiah doing one of those.  So the request of Christ required faith in only one thing … in the person of Jesus Christ standing before him right then, and right there.  Is it any different for us?  To have faith that Christ can do for you, what you have been unable to do, takes faith in only thing … in Jesus Christ.  It is not your understanding of scripture that can see you rid of your desire to sin, it is Jesus Christ alone.  Your doctrines will not do it, but your Savior will, if you let Him.

Then Jesus did something that is at first a little hard for us to understand, Mark records it in verse 37 saying … “And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.”  Jesus dismissed the crowd.  Even within His own disciples, only three were selected to see what was about to occur.  The obvious question was “why”.  The gospel of John we studied earlier offers us perhaps a little insight here.  John’s gospel highlights several occasions where the crowd was bent on forcing Christ to become their earthly king.  He had to use miraculous powers to escape those crowds or they would have succeeded.  The people at this time, and in our own, often look only at Christ through the lens of what is in it for them.  They seek Christ, like we seek Santa Claus and Bill Gates, to see what they might do for us.  We want, we want, we want.  Our prayers are like laundry lists of what we need God to do for us. 

Knowing He could heal, nearly the entire nation sought a health upgrade, and they got it.  Dealing with a matter of life and death, or more precisely, that death was no longer a barrier, might encourage a revolution against Rome where people would gladly kill themselves on Roman spears and swords, expecting to be raised up by their newly crowned Messiah.  If death itself could not stop their army, they would indeed be the greatest force on earth, and all the world including Rome would have to submit.  Even His own disciples harbored some of these feelings.  So the group of witnesses had to be smaller, in order to see this blessing occur.  Our inclination to selfishness necessitated a restriction of the vision of the power of God, as it does today.  How many believers today, if endowed with the ability to heal the sick without exception, would be able to withstand the temptation to take the credit for themselves, to accept the celebrity our society would heap upon them, to become a leader in the eyes of the nation, and in some ways be worshipped as a demi-god?  How many believers today, could refuse the praise of those impacted, and remain humble, dependent, and ever seeking ONLY the will of the Father as Jesus did.  Our inclination to selfishness, necessitates the restriction of the outpouring of the true power of the Holy Spirit.

Peter then recalls his own personal witness to what transpired next as John Mark continues writing in verse 38 saying … “And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. [verse 39] And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.”  There are several things to note here.  First the perspective of God is not like our own.  We see death as a barrier from which there is no return, Jesus and God see it only as a nap, or night’s sleep, like we take every day.  Time passes while we are unconscious, but when we wake up, we pick up where we left off, and resume doing what needs to be done.  From the perspective of Christ this remains true of death.  Adam is still sleeping.  Adam has no concept of the nearly 5000+ years that have passed since he fell asleep in death.  He is napping.  When Christ returns he will be woken up, and resume a life he is familiar with, but without the stain of sin any more.  When we sleep, we are unconscious.  We are not still living in some sort of ghost like state, we are simply asleep, unaware of time, or any other concerns.  The declaration of Christ is not just trying to get the crowd here to feel better about the girl’s condition, it is about getting all of us to understand better what death itself is actually like.

The second thing to note here, is that if death is actually not the end of our existence, if there is actually life possible after our earthly sleep of death … then what kind of life would that be?  Satan encourages us to sin like there is no tomorrow, because we only have “one life” and time is short.  But what if he is only half right?  What if time is truly short here, and our opportunity to make a difference, to lead someone else to the real eternal life is wasted?  A life after this one, intended to be permanent, and lived in loving others can actually begin here through the power of Christ.  But to waste that, is to waste the chance to help another see what you have seen, and learn from Christ, what you have learned.  If we spend all of this life focusing on only our own temporal needs, when in our next life, none of those things truly matter, do we not waste our lives entirely?  Whether you live 10 years, or 20, or 80, it is a drop in the bucket next to eternal life.  Would it not be better to live whatever time you have left fully, and intensely, with the primary mission of bringing others with you into the next life of eternity with Christ?  To connect them with the same Jesus who is saving and transforming you, is the ONLY goal that counts with whatever time you have left here.  To love others, like Jesus loves others, is truly living.  Everything else, is such as waste.

The perspective of those grieving people was a lot like our own, we do not see past the limits we have set for ourselves, past our ideas of the facts as John Mark records in verse 40 saying … “And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.”  The people in their grief, “laughed Him to scorn”.  They took their limited vision, and assumed that Jesus was making an alternate medical assessment of the condition of the child.  They could not see something broader, perhaps nor do we.  Jesus was talking about life and death, and what is truly important.  And what we see is limited by our own ideas of the facts, history, and certainty in our knowledge.  But we are wrong, misguided, and will not see what Jesus is truly saying.  So Jesus does what must be done, undeterred and non-responsive to their criticism and ridicule, He simply escorts all of them all out of the house. 

Even though Jesus is in the right, even though Jesus alone understands life and death better than anyone there, He does NOT force others to accept His own thinking.  He does not compel them to change what they believe or what they say.  He does not laugh back at them, and call them out for the fools they truly are.  He does not humiliate them for being wrong, and not understanding what He is saying.  But how often do Christians treat each other this way?  How often in our certainty about scripture and its interpretation do we use it as a weapon to punish those with less knowledge than ourselves?  How often do we “defend” ourselves against ridicule and scorn, by inflicting ridicule and scorn on those who “deserve it”?  Jesus does not react this way, ever.  He never “gets even”.  He never looks for justice against those who keep wrongly inflicting their own pain and ridicule on Him.  Instead He continues in acts of Love, undeterred by those who do not understand it yet.

Peter continues the story in verse 41 saying … “And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. [verse 42] And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.”  Perhaps Jesus took this girl by the hand before He offered that command, because without directing it specifically at her, the entire fallen mankind might have arisen at that moment in time.  A single command had only recently expelled nearly 2,000 demons at once, so we know what He says carries great weight in a world beyond our vision and self-imposed limitations.  The girl of course, did what Adam did when Jesus had breathed life into him, she arose.  Jesus was not calling this girl back from the paradise of heaven her disembodied soul would have surely preferred to stay in.  Instead He was doing what He had already explained, He was waking her from the sleep of death, and from her nap.  She had no concept of the passing of time, of the weeping and wailing that had been going on for her departure.  She was asleep.  And now through the power of Christ, life had entered her again, and she was awake.  For the first time the 5 souls in attendance had their self-imposed blinders lifted.  They were astonished.

John Mark concludes this series in verse 43 saying … “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.”  What was being done, was to be witnessed by 5 people in person, and recorded not for them (they saw it), but for us.  The identity of Jesus Christ should have been firmly affixed in the eyes of three of His disciples, but all the more so for you and I.  What had just transpired was concrete proof that for those who believe in Jesus Christ, not even death was any kind of barrier to what He can do for us.  Our Creator has the power to re-create what we have by choice killed.  Our Creator can call life back into us, no matter how badly we have driven out every spiritual impulse in our lives.  But it is our Creator alone who can do this for us, not the power we mistakenly believe we have.  The dead girl was not a partner with Christ in her own resurrection, she was only a beneficiary of it.  Jairus did not “do” anything to see his own daughter raised, he was only a witness to it.  The disciples and closest followers of Christ, were not participant or partners in this ministry, they were only as witnesses.  A grieving mother, a hopeful father, a curious set of dedicated believers; all had different perspectives on what occurred and differing points of view.  But what was solely consistent was that Jesus Christ did ALL the work of raising the dead back to life.

It is exactly so in our Christian experience.  Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one who plants the seed of faith in us, we do not even do that much.  Jesus is the one who does ALL the work of bringing us back from spiritual death to spiritual life in Him.  We do nothing but let Him.  The dead girl could not refuse the command of Christ, nature could not refuse, disease could not refuse, the demons could not refuse the command of Christ; and our desires to sin will be unable to stand before the commands of Christ if we are but willing to let Him utter them on our behalf.  None of the opposition to Christ were working with Him to see change, all were working against Him.  But change occurred because He commanded it.  Your sinful nature is not going to just go away on its own.  Your love of sin, is not just going to be erased by the power of your will, or ability to deny yourself that which you love.  But a single command of Christ, can knock that desire out of your life for good.  A transformed heart, can lead you to focus on new priorities, until acts for others become “normal” and acts for self are never needed again.

The identity of Jesus Christ should be most affirmed in your mind and in mine.  The revelation of this gospel is a revelation of Jesus Christ to you and I.  It is an unveiling of the truth to us.  The stories are not mere history, they are predictive for our lives.  They are applicable in our here and now.  Disease is not our master, nor are the rules of nature and physics, we serve the Lord who is over all of them.  Not even death is a barrier to our God of Love who sees infinitely beyond the night’s sleep of death we may take, or the brief nap we enjoy between our last day, and His first day at His second coming.  What matters, is how we love.  What matters is who we love, in that it is others, and not ourselves.  We waste time when we love ourselves, and we enjoy life when we spend it loving others.  The identity of our God is a deep association with a love for others.  He won His world series.  We should enjoy that victory, and let Him win one in our lives, for us, that we too can benefit from …

 

God of Life Revealed (24 Elders & 4 Beasts) ...

Whereas the messages of revelation regarding Christ were mixed with symbolism in their delivery to the seven churches; the coming revelations seem to favor symbolism and representation far more than a strictly literal interpretation alone might allow.  There do appear to be literal things and messages described in what would come next, but often a strictly literal interpretation would seem to be lacking to find the deeper meanings Christ was trying to convey to us, regarding the great conflict between good and evil, between love and hate, between free-will and the compulsion of the conscience.  Perhaps these revelations were conveyed in this manner in order that people might gain value from their study in any time period of church history or world events.  Perhaps they were intended to remind us that we need to be led by Christ to fully understand any scripture, particularly those steeped in symbolism and imagery we just do not understand.  But to better understand what would follow, it is important to remember that our salvation is founded within Jesus Christ alone, and that the point of any of these revelations was to help us better understand who we serve, and who loved us enough to save us from ourselves even to the point of giving up His own life that we might have life.  In that context we move forward as John sets the stage for what is to come.

There does appear to be a clean break or distinction between chapter 3 and 4 of the book of Revelations.  The messages to the church appear to end at the end of chapter 3, and chapter 4 seems to open a new dialog, setting the stage for what is to come.  John begins in chapter 4 and verse 1 saying … “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”  John begins by setting the destination of where the coming scene was to take place, in heaven as he would enter through an open door.  The messenger sent to guide John through the scene was noted as having a voice like that of a trumpet speaking.  And what was to be revealed seems to have more of a future context perhaps not as directly relevant to the people and readers of John’s day.  He continues in verse 2 … “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. [verse 3] And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”  John begins by noting that he did not actually travel to heaven through the open door, but was taken there “in the spirit” or in vision.

He then begins to describe where he is and what he sees.  He begins by seeing a throne and someone sitting on it.  The person sitting on the throne has an appearance of a jasper and a sardine stone.  Jasper is noted in scripture as being used in the breastplate of Aaron the high priest as well as in the foundation of the city of New Jerusalem.  It was generally thought to be green in color, though it also may come in yellow or brown.  It is opaque and able to be brightly polished for a shine.  Sardonyx stone is also mentioned as a part of the foundations of the New Jerusalem city and is generally thought to be a mix of red, brown, and white striped colors, opaque and able to be highly polished as well.  John was not describing a stone statue of course but he may have wished to convey that the person on the throne was a mix of color and had a shiny appearance to look at.  The throne itself was surrounded by a rainbow with a heavy favor of green similar to that of an emerald in appearance.  At first glance, we might believe we are gazing upon a view of Christ in heaven, but subsequent texts describe a book that is sealed and must be opened that only the Lamb of God could do, and that Lamb enters this same scene to accomplish this task.  This may indicate that instead of another revelation of Christ described here, we are actually getting a revelation of God the Father in His throne room, since Christ will enter later.

John continues to describe the scene as he writes in verse 4 … “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”  God is not alone in His throne room.  Around the room are 24 seats, and upon them are seated 24 elders.  The elders are wearing white raiment, and upon their heads are crowns of gold.  John does not describe them as being winged, nor as having a bright or shiny appearance.  So it seems less likely they are angels.  He does mention how they are dressed, in white raiment.  This has special significance in that each of the saved or redeemed are given clothing of white raiment by Christ (in effect taking on His righteousness for our own).  He also mentions that they wear crowns of gold, another gift promised to those who are saved and redeemed by Christ.  John seems comfortable in their presence and does not feel the need to associate any non-human descriptors with these 24 elders, such as an appearance like a particular stone, or voices as trumpets, etc..  So given these descriptors it is possible to surmise they are 24 elders of human origin. 

The number 24 could have symbolism in that there are 12 tribes descending from Abraham, and 12 apostles who worked in the early church of our God.  Perhaps these elders represent both the belonging to God by virtue of birth, and by re-birth in the believing in Jesus Christ.  Elders, in the historical context of the time in which John wrote, would have had a chief role as providing counsel and insight though the experience of age.  Though our God is all wise, and needs no instruction, He may have brought these 24 representatives into His throne room as a gesture of love, and to allow them to join with Him as ambassadors of humanity in His ultimate mission of redemption of all mankind.  Regardless of His reasoning, throughout the remainder of the book of Revelations these same 24 elders are referred to periodically, so at the least, this is not a one-time occurrence.  These 24 elders appear to have a permanent place in the throne room of God the Father, and a role He has them fulfilling.

As John was the apostle writing this book, obviously he was not one of the 24 elders.  Many have speculated as to “who”, by name, they might be?  There have been those humans who have found an early place in God’s heaven ahead of the rest of us.  Enoch, for example, was translated to heaven without ever tasting death.  His journey of dependence upon Christ grew so close, that he was ready for heaven without the need of further reformation or reform.  The work of Christ’s perfection in Enoch was completed in his lifetime.  Thus even in a world so wicked it almost caused God to be sorry he had made us; Enoch had managed to rely upon Christ and find perfection regardless of his surroundings.  Perhaps he served in this group of 24.  Elijah, Moses, and perhaps others had either been translated, or resurrected and brought home with Christ at His own death and resurrection to God.  These first fruits may have contained those who now occupied the seats John saw.  John did not reveal the names they carried, perhaps he never knew them, nor was he personally introduced to them.  But their number, proximity to God, and position of elder seemed very clear to him.

John once again turns his attention back to the throne itself as he continues in verse 5 … “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”  The throne of God is active.  There are visual and auditory events emanating from it.  And before it or in front of it, is the seven lamps of fire burning, that represent the Holy Spirit that exists before His throne.  Indeed, God is not alone in His throne room.  John then begins to describe the surroundings a bit more and something else he sees as he writes in verse 6 … “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.”  So first, John notes that before the throne was a sea of glass like unto crystal.  This same notation is made elsewhere to describe heaven itself.  Sometimes the redeemed are noted as standing upon the sea of glass.

Then John proceeds to identify some other life forms that surround the throne of God.  These beings are clearly not angels.  Had they been angels John would have noted them as such.  They are also not men, as with the elders, they could have easily been described as such.  This leaves them as being something else entirely.  John uses the term “beasts” to describe them, but this may not have been terribly flattering or with our imaginations entirely accurate; it might have been better understood in our day and vernacular as “other” life forms.  And these life forms are sentient.  They are capable of language and understanding and appear to have a role in the service of our God.  So whether they are species of highly evolved animals we have never seen, or whether they are representatives of sentient life created in other parts of the universe remains a matter of opinion.  But John sees them as relevant to the scene and what is to take place and tries to describe them as best he can.

He begins to note one feature that is common to the 4 beasts surrounding the throne of God.  They all have eyes before and behind, or perhaps they have multiple eyes that encompass their heads in front and behind, perhaps able to see what is coming and has transpired.  He continues his description in verse 7 … “And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”  Notice that each beast bears a resemblance to animals we are familiar with in our world, but none of them is exactly like what we know.  The first beast is compared to a lion.  The second to a calf (not an adult cow, but a young one).  The third has the face as a man (notice no body is described here per se).  And the fourth is like a flying eagle.  John continues to further ascribe common attributes in the first part of verse 8 as he writes … “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: …”  So all 4 of them had 6 wings a piece, and perhaps each of the wings were full of eyes as well.  At this point it is clear that the physical description of these four life forms is wholly dissimilar to the animals we see in our world.  The multiple wings, and multiple eyes alone take care of that. 

However, evidence that these beings are sentient is revealed in the last part of verse 8 going forward he writes “… and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. [verse 9] And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,”  The 4 beasts then have language and understanding to praise and worship God the Father.  They have gratitude for life and His blessings revealed in their thanks.  They understand who God is, and what He does, and they realize that God is eternal.  At the instigation of their worship of God, the 24 elders respond in verse 10 … “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, [verse 11] Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  The image of casting crowns before our God is noted elsewhere as a response of the redeemed to the love of God, a further indication the 24 are truly human.  In their praise and gratitude the 24 elders reveal again the importance of our God as being the God of creation.

Love ever desires an object to serve and share with.  Because of His love, He derives pleasure in bringing into existence new life that He can pour His love out upon.  It is this pleasure of sharing love that has caused God to create, and to bring into existence all forms of life.  He has made man, but He has also made angels, and here John gives us our first Biblical exposition on other kinds of sentient life that have been created.  Perhaps as the 24 elders represent mankind, these 4 beasts represent a host of other unfallen sentient creations that God has made.  The important point revealed here is that God is the God of all life, and of all creation.  What we have seen is only a small glimmer as to what is out there, and what He has made through the power of His love and will. 

At this point the stage has been set.  The scene is ready.  The players have been credited.  What follows seems to have more meaning as messages continue to be revealed to us …