Month: May 2022

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.

When the Last Day comes this world and everything in it, every nation, kingdom, authority, power, and rule will be gone. Everything of this world will be transformed, purged, and absorbed into the eternal Kingdom of God. The Kingdom will be the only thing left. That promise is good news for those who ”seek first the kingdom of God,” since that is the only thing left remaining. Over that kingdom Jesus Christ reigns forever. And that’s a good thing.

This promise encourages us not to seek after the things of this world, for nothing this world offers (money, power, pleasure) lasts or satisfies. Finally, ”God will be all in all [1 Corinthians 15:28].” The wise thing to do, then, is get into the kingdom of God now by baptism and faith in the gospel. And then the believer continues to ”set his mind on the things above” by hearing and receiving the Gospel weekly and daily. Believe the Good News and live in the eternal kingdom today and forever. Jesus comes. Heaven comes down. Eternity is in the heart. Life rules forever.

Revelation 7:16-17 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

The promise of Real Life in heaven is almost unimaginable, for we don’t know what life without pain and suffering could be like. Therefore, the Lord unveils a picture of heavenly life using earthly images. In place of hunger and thirst and scorching sun, the Lamb, like a shepherd, feeds us and leads us to refreshing, cool, living waters in green pastures. Then God Himself, like a tender mother, personally and gently wipes away all tears from our eyes.

Extrapolate and expand this image a hundred-fold to come close to imagining what eternal life with God will be like in the Eternal Kingdom. The Lamb of God is the Good Shepherd. The shepherd becomes one of the sheep, living as one of them and dying for each of them. This Lamb is with us now ruling the heart, and He will be with us forever ruling from the Throne. He feeds our hunger and fills the emptiness with the Gospel. He is with us now to lead us to the living waters of the Holy Spirit that flows within and flows out of our belly. He brings us to cooling shade from the uncomfortable heat of the world. And He comes to us in our sorrows and tears to comfort and caress with words of comfort and love.

The promise is that in eternity all the negatives of life in a sinful world will be gone; and all the positive blessings of life in God’s world are felt and enjoyed.

Revelation 4:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

It is a promise that we shall in eternity continually serve God in His Presence. Service is a blessing to us, and serving makes us ”feel good” for it fulfills the loving purpose of our being. Serving God is not a burdensome command but a joyful response to His total love and eternal salvation. It is so wonderful that we shall never tire of it, or get bored of it, for all eternity. Just being the ”temple,” the presence of God’ glory and love, creates in us the unquenchable desire to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him without end. And we will, joyfully, forever.

When the Almighty God, the Creator, dwells among us, we will be so overwhelmed with love that all we want to do is love Him in return. We love Him because He first loved us. This will finally happen when we are shed of the sinful flesh and the corrupt world. We can’t wait for that glorious day.

But we do wait for That Day, in confident faith and excited hope, while we are still living on earth. While we wait, we serve. We live in His indwelling presence and we respond with service. But Luther says, ”God doesn’t need our service, but other people do.” Thus we serve God by serving others. Service is the practical, mundane, day-to-day outworking of love. Again, this is a blessing and a promise: we don’t have to (to be saved and blessed), but we get to love and serve one another. Serving blesses us. The promise is: we will serve forever. And the Lord provides plenty of opportunity to practice serving now, while we wait.

Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The promise of our becoming kings and priests unto God is repeated in this verse, with the specific addition that we shall reign on the earth. When? How? In the future Judgment Day and Eternal Kingdom we will sit on thrones and judge. Exactly what that means, how that works, and who we will rule over remains somewhat of a mystery, but the promise is clear: in the new heaven and new earth Christians will be kings and rule. We will make authoritative decisions and carry them out. At least it means we will have positions of honor and responsibility. We will have been trained for our role by a lifetime of living in Christ.

This promise restores what mankind had in the past Paradise of Eden, but lost: “Subdue the earth and have dominion.” And Adam named the animals. Man was created to have dominion and rule over all of Creation in the place of God as a kind of vice-regent. But Satan legally usurped that authority and became the ”prince of this world.” Then the ”Second Adam” (Jesus) had to come and regain what the “First Adam” (we humans) had lost.

That leaves us believers as rulers with Christ in the present. By faith we rule with Christ over sin and death and all evil. Though it may appear to us that Sin, Death, and Evil are ruling the world and having their way, spiritually and inwardly in the hearts of Christians the ”kings and priests” are reigning. That’s the promise.

Revelation 4:11 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.

We make God happy! That’s quite a statement to make; and quite a truth to believe. When we believe this promise and live accordingly, it changes our lives and how we think of ourselves. This promise reveals the very purpose of our existence: to give God pleasure! This is the surprising answer to the fundamental question of human life: Why was I born? Why do I exist? Why am I alive? What am I here for? What’s the purpose of it all? The simple and correct answer: to give God pleasure.

Not only me and all human beings, but all things, were created to give glory and pleasure to the Creator God. The universe was created for one purpose: to place a habitable earth in it; the earth was created for one purpose: to place one of you and me on it; and people were created for God, more specifically, to please God and bring Him joy.

But we failed God’s purpose: instead of pleasure, we displeased God and brought on His wrath and judgment. But God’s purpose would not be thwarted: He Himself entered the created world as one of us to take His wrath and displeasure over our sin upon Himself. Through His Son, the promised Christ, He restored us to His good graces and by faith He is pleased with us again.

The interesting aspect of this promise is that the Lord takes such an interest in each one of us. God is interested in our lives, what we do, what we decide, where we go, how we live, how we react, and all the good works we do (actually, the good he does in us). Nothing we do, say, or think escapes His notice. Although God knows in advance, it still gives Him pleasure to see it all unfold in our our life in time and space. And we are pleased to make God well pleased with us.

Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever.

God promises us that we will be kings and priests unto Christ and the Father. This word echoes the Word spoken by the Lord to Moses and Israel at Sinai, in Exodus 19:6: ”You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The Lord made the OT people kings and priests by covenant The Nation becomes the NT Church made up of all believers in Christ by faith.

Believers are promised to be kings, ruling with Christ over all the evil enemies of God and His people. Like Christ, we rule as kings by being servants of all. We live to serve others; in this way we rule over Sin and Evil. Luther aptly phrased it this way: “we are lords of all and dutiful servants of all.” We have been freed from the mastery of Sin that we may willingly give our lives in loving service to people. As Christ did, we do not use our position and status to gain something for ourselves, but for the good of others. The original Satanic Lie, ”You will be like God,” comes true in Christ. Instead of being ”like God” in power, we become like Christ in humble service and love. “Have this mind in you.”

Believers are also promised to be priests, bringing people to God in prayer, with sacrificial acts of service, and with kind words. Priests connect people to God. That’s what our great High Priest did. That’s what we do. The Lord promises that we will.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein, for the time is at hand.

John pronounces seven benedictions, or ”blesseds,” in the Book of Revelation for the readers and hearers of the words of this prophecy. Actually, Jesus promises blessing for those who hear and keep all the Word of God. Luke 11:28. Countless spiritual blessings come to the one who spends time in God’s Word, and believes it. All the vast riches of God come our way when we read, hear, and believe the Word.

We hear the Law and are convicted of sin leading to repentance and faith in the Gospel. Then, by the indwelling Spirit’s influence and leading our lives are brought more and more into conformity with the Law, which brings blessing when we do it. We hear the Gospel which is the power of God that brings the activity of God into the present moments of our lives. God touches us and we are blessed beyond belief. Blessing is the fruit, or result, of being in the Word daily and in church weekly. We can’t easily see the cause and effect connection between the receiving of the Word and the enjoying of the blessing. But it is there. We believe it. For God says so.

In this context, one person reads the book aloud, many hear it read, both keep it, take it to heart, and believe it, and all are blessed. In Revelation Jesus unveils the spiritual world that we can’t otherwise see, and shows us all about the future that we need to know. That other invisible world and that revealed future impact our present, here-and-now, moments with hope and faith and much blessedness. Promise!

Jude 1;24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

We pray, ”Deliver is from Evil,” on the basis of this kind of promise. The worst evil that can happen to us is an eternal fall from grace. From this The Lord promises to keep us. We may, we can, and we do stumble daily, but forgiveness is always there reaching out to lift us up again. He promises to keep us in His grace and in the blessing of eternal life. We will not fall out of His hand. And He promises to keep us in Him until He can present us faultless before his presence in glory.

That’s the amazing Good News: though we are wracked with sins, faults, and failures, yet by the Grace of God Jesus presents us faultless before God’s Presence in glory. The glory of God is waiting for us at the judgment throne, at which time the Lord will say, ”Enter into the joy of the Lord.” Jesus will present us ”with exceeding joy.” Who will be joyful? Jesus or me? Answer: Both. We share in His joy at our salvation. The promise of ”faultless in His Presence” also includes right now, today when we may come before the Throne of Grace in prayer and faith.

Jude lists the sin and judgment of Israel, Fallen Angels, Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain, Balaam, Korah, and all people, warning us of what could happen. But God gives a promise: He will keep you from falling, and by faith you will stand in glory.

Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

We are anticipating the expected Mercy of Christ to come to us, and mercy grants eternal life. This is a promise that keeps us going joyfully and optimistically through all the ups and downs of life on earth. We could not live well, or even live at all, if it were not for the promise of mercy. Sin and misery, frustration and disappointment, depression and disgust, and the ever present, looming threat of death is always a part of our human experience, but into our midst comes the Mercy of Christ.

Mercy came to earth once in the person of the long-expected Messiah. The Son of God became a human to die for Sin, show mercy, and grant life. Because of that Coming we eagerly long for the Second Coming of Mercy when we will experience never-ending life. This expected Mercy Coming also includes the Final Judgment on sin, death, and the devil. For without judgment there is no mercy. Although we don’t want life to end, we still look for the day.

Meanwhile, while we wait in eager expectation we look for the Mercy and Life of Christ to come into our daily affairs, to ”show up.” and to hear our prayers. we spend our days looking for mercy. The promise comes to those who ”keep themselves in the love of God.” This means always being aware that God loves me. This attitude comes from hearing the Gospel regularly.

Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.

The greeting of Jude in his letter contains contains a promise of what God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have done in us, and continue to do. Luther echoes these words in the Catechism: The Holy Spirit ”calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” This is also the work if the Father and the Son. It takes the work of all three persons of the Trinity to save us and keep us in the faith.

The Father promises to sanctify us, that is, make us holy. We are sanctified in two ways: first, we are declared to be holy and righteous (justified by faith), and second, we gradually live our lives better as we walk closer to the holiness we have been given. Being sanctified is becoming what we are.

Jesus preserves us in Him. He promises to keep us in the one true faith until we enter the Eternal Kingdom. I may be confidant that if I die today I will go to heaven, but what about years from now? We have a promise: He preserves.

The Lord calls us by the Gospel to believe the Gospel, and so be saved and have life. The call of God upon our life is a strong prompting and urging of the Spirit upon our spirit to accept the Gospel as true and personal. This ”calling” does not come to us just once, but God’s mercy calls us every day when we get into the Word and respond in prayer.

Thank God for His sanctification, preservation, and prayer.