When The Grace Runs Out

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what, must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Revelations 1: 1-3

I enter into a series of blogs on the book of Revelations with an eye for adventure. I have a specific theology around end times that I will keep disclosed for now. I approach each blog as an individual unit, unless otherwise designated. They are designed to be a meal for sheep looking for food in contrast the theology written in stone. That will be my approach to this book that sets off so much theological debate. Where it is appropriate and I see the necessity to do so I will address doctrinal issues. Theology is a starch and is necessary for our nutrition. Doctrine is the human energy it creates. I will try to give each appropriate attention.

We begin with a distinction without a difference in verse 1. What God gives Jesus belongs to Jesus as God. The purpose of the giving is that Jesus as man can share it with men as a man. Such is the Revelation from Jesus Christ that John the Apostle shares with humanity. The revelation is not a private one but global and impacts the reader when it is shared publicly. “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy.” Much of the imagery of the book of revelations is mysterious and frightening. It is designed to move us to a sense of awe in its reading.

Ravi Zacharias describes one type of knowledge as “a wash” It is the type of knowledge that you hear and don’t know what to do with it. It washes over you and overwhelms the senses. The book of Revelations is like that in it first readings. In order to “hear it and take to heart what is written in it” you need to hear again and again. What it does is create a sense of urgency in you about the coming of the Lord. This urgency has held firm in believers who embrace this book from the first century to the present.

John did not just hear the words of Jesus Christ but saw the revelation as being there. He saw the future conflicts between good and evil that would transpire at the end of time. The comfort that comes from this book is from Jesus himself. He begins his comfort with John and extends it to us. When John saw him, him fell at his feet as though dead. Then Jesus placed his right hand on him and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelations 1:18. The Lord uses the book of Revelations to catapult us to a future of dread yet one filled with hope.

The book of Revelations could be titled “when the grace runs out” that should create dread, but for the believer it is a time when the evils are men are judged by one who is impartial, fair, and merciful. The book closes with evil forever quarantined and in the personages of those who hate God, both angelic and human cursing the God who created them in love. They are without repentance and if they continued in their labors evil the elect would be deceived.