Revelation 16, 17 July 19, 2009
Summer Sermon Series on
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 8
“Tough Love”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
I want to begin this morning by warning you that the 16th and 17th chapters of Revelation are, to me, the most tragic parts of the whole vision John has been given. We’re about to read now of the final judgment and conflict between God’s just and holy wrath and those who have been marked with the sign of the beast – the 666. But I want to alert you to several things to listen for as we read these chapters: Up until now, there has been restraint on the punishment God has inflicted. Let’s think about being restrained. If someone puts my hands behind me with a pole between my back and my hands, and then puts handcuffs on my hands, I am restrained. I can’t go anywhere, and my hands are not free. Up until now, God has restrained his own wrath. Only a portion of the earth & its people have been destroyed, or a portion of the waters, or stars (6:8; 8:7; 8:10,11,1; 9:15; 11:13; 12:4). Now however as we move into chapter 16 there is no apparent restraint on the punishment – except in one very important way: the people who are experiencing the punishment are not totally overwhelmed by God. God is still exhibiting restraint on his power: The people still have freedom – freedom to repent and stop cursing God, or freedom to curse God and die apart from the gift of his grace.
Revelation 16
1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” 2So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
3The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died. 4The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel of the waters say,
“You are just, O Holy One, who are and were, (remember in the beginning the worship phrase was: who was, who is, and who is to come? The phrase has changed, because he has already come now to judge the earth.) for you have judged these things;
because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar respond, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just!”
8The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire; 9they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
10The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.
12The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. 14These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15(“See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.”) 16And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.
17The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake. 19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine-cup of the fury of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21and huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, dropped from heaven on people, until they cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
(Now remember from last week – sexual talk in Revelation is spiritual talk (the words whore, fornication, adultery all have to do with spiritual unfaithfulness). Someone who is a spiritual harlot is someone who is giving him or herself away to other gods, instead of remaining faithful to the One True God.)
Revelation 17
1Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.” 3So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations.” 6And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly amazed. 7But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9“This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings, 10of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while. 11As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; 14they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. 17For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
The final scene in John’s judgment vision happens at a place called in Hebrew Armageddon – it was the site of a great battle in the history of Israel on the Hill of Megiddo. Megiddo is some 60 miles north of Jerusalem near Mount Carmel. Do you remember something that happened on Mt. Carmel? Let me refresh your memory: In 1 Kings 18 we have the amazing story about the prophet Elijah and Israel’s King Ahab. King Ahab was not a faithful king, in fact, Elijah said to him (v. 17, “You have troubled Israel because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals (false gods).” And so Elijah had a contest with 450 prophets of Baal. Both he and the prophets prepared a sacrificial bull-offering, but the deal was they were not supposed to set fire to it on their own. The winner of the contest would be the one whose god actually sent fire as an answer to those who call on his name. (It’s a great story worth reading and re-reading.) The outcome of the contest was that Baal and his power did not show up (of course not – he was not real), and Elijah made a mockery of the prophets of Baal by pouring water over his wood and prepared bull not just once, but three times. And when Elijah called on the Lord, fire fell and consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even licked up the water. The result was that when the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said two times: “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.” (v. 39)
This was not the case at Armageddon. In John’s vision of the final battle, those in love with the gods of this world, including the beast, just hardened their hearts even more in the midst of the battle, turning from God and mocking him as they rejected God’s final offer of salvation.
Let’s remember that John is writing to the 7 churches in Asia – churches who are under the rule of the Roman empire. It is thought that every time John mentions Babylon in the Revelation, he is really talking about Rome – but because he wanted the book to get to the 7 congregations and not be destroyed along the way, he wrote symbolically, not literally. It is exactly what many missionaries in countries hostile to Christianity today have to do in their communications. One of our missionaries gave us a substitute word list for when we email her or write her a letter. If we’re not careful, she might be targeted for persecution. Just this week I had lunch with this person before she travels next month, and afterwards she sent me an email that said, I thought of this random security info for you...Not sure if your sermons are posted online or not...but if you ever happen to mention me or the work in _________ during a sermon, please avoid putting that message online.
When the apostle John spoke of Babylon or the whore (harlot), it is probable he meant Rome, which translates then to mean any super power that bows to itself and its own rules rather than bowing to the Creator of nations, people, languages, and tribes and following the commandments God has set. This harlot was drunk on the blood of the saints and witnesses to Jesus – referring to all the Christians who were martyred at the hands of evil Roman rulers (most particularly, Nero). The chapter ends with the revelation that the harlot (the evil empire) will be devoured from within – which brings forth a basic theological and historical principle for us to remember: any human system that depends upon injustice for its survival shall not endure – it will eventually succumb to its own evil infection: a greed for power over everything else. Think about Bernie Madoff or Enron. What you sow, you reap. Listen to this wisdom from Proverbs 1, starting in verse 10:
10My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them! 11They may say, “Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Let’s ambush the innocent! 12Let’s swallow them alive as the grave swallows its victims. Though they are in the prime of life, they will go down into the pit of death. 13And the loot we’ll get! We’ll fill our houses with all kinds of things! 14Come on, throw in your lot with us; we’ll split our loot with you.”
15Don’t go along with them, my child! Stay far away from their paths. 16They rush to commit crimes. They hurry to commit murder. 17When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away. 18But not these people! They set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives! 19Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life.
I want to finish this morning by challenging us to think about something very important. The sermon this morning is called “Tough Love.” When I first heard the term as a young person, I heard it in the context of a parent having to make the tough choice to take a drug-addicted child to rehab, or a family confronting a parent with the truth of alcoholism, or workaholism, or misplaced priorities. The love the family has for the child or parent has to be tough enough to do whatever it takes to help the person come to their right self – their God-given senses. In many ways, I can compare the judgments that have been shown to us in Revelation thus far with tough love: God has acted. He has confronted. He has revealed his power to his children out of love – though he has restrained the fullness of it. Why? To help convince people to come to their right selves – people created in the image of God – to persuade people to see what’s real and what must be done to receive the gift of eternal salvation. Tough love.
But at the same time, what I see in this book is not just tough love. What I see is evidence of God’s perfect love, which is very, very difficult (in fact impossible) for us to comprehend.
Way back in Genesis 1, we read that God created man and woman in his image. Many have concluded that part of what it means to be created in God’s image means to be created with free will – with the ability to make choices – even the choice to reject God’s love. If God had not created us with free will, we would be nothing more than his robots – moving only at God’s command; speaking only what he wants us to speak; thinking only what he chooses we should think. God’s perfect love must give us the perfect freedom to choose to love him. Think about arranged marriages. The man and woman have no opportunity to make a choice for each other. The relationship is not based on love, and becomes nothing more than an exercise in modern slavery to cultural traditions. Think about our missionary’s parents who, out of love for their daughter, have to let her follow God’s call on her life. To keep her home, though it might keep her safe and sound, would not ultimately be loving, for it would take away her freedom to choose how she will follow her Lord. Perfect love gives us the freedom to choose to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, or strength – or not.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” before he breathed his final breath, he put an end to our slavery to the power of sin. Sin still has power, but with the Spirit of Christ living and working within us once we confess him as Savior and Lord, we have the power to choose against sinful ways, sinful words, sinful thoughts, and sinful paths. Anyone who is a Christian and who says, “I just couldn’t stop; I just couldn’t help myself; I’m just not strong enough to resist,” is looking for approval in their own poor choices. We have the power if we just choose to draw on it. Jesus said, “It is finished,” and with that, he broke the power of sin over us!
In chapter 16 in Revelation, John writes (v. 17), “a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne saying, “It is done.” Don’t tell me those two events do not provide the alpha and the omega of God’s ultimate plan! The work of defeating the power of the devil on the cross, and the work of destroying the devil and all evil with him at Armageddon are tightly woven together. God’s will was done on the cross. God’s will, will be done at Armageddon. God will not destroy the freedom of the boys and girls, men and women, he has created in his image. It is hard for us to accept, but God’s human creation is honored even in the tragic picture of total judgment.
How will we use the freedom we have been given to choose God’s will over our will today and tomorrow? Listen to these words of the apostle Paul to challenge and encourage us to choose life – to choose love – no matter how tough it gets. (1 Cor. 4:8ff)
8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. 9We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, and so I speak.” 14We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. 15All of these things are for your benefit. And as God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 18So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. Amen.
Summer Sermon Series on
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 8
“Tough Love”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
I want to begin this morning by warning you that the 16th and 17th chapters of Revelation are, to me, the most tragic parts of the whole vision John has been given. We’re about to read now of the final judgment and conflict between God’s just and holy wrath and those who have been marked with the sign of the beast – the 666. But I want to alert you to several things to listen for as we read these chapters: Up until now, there has been restraint on the punishment God has inflicted. Let’s think about being restrained. If someone puts my hands behind me with a pole between my back and my hands, and then puts handcuffs on my hands, I am restrained. I can’t go anywhere, and my hands are not free. Up until now, God has restrained his own wrath. Only a portion of the earth & its people have been destroyed, or a portion of the waters, or stars (6:8; 8:7; 8:10,11,1; 9:15; 11:13; 12:4). Now however as we move into chapter 16 there is no apparent restraint on the punishment – except in one very important way: the people who are experiencing the punishment are not totally overwhelmed by God. God is still exhibiting restraint on his power: The people still have freedom – freedom to repent and stop cursing God, or freedom to curse God and die apart from the gift of his grace.
Revelation 16
1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” 2So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
3The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died. 4The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel of the waters say,
“You are just, O Holy One, who are and were, (remember in the beginning the worship phrase was: who was, who is, and who is to come? The phrase has changed, because he has already come now to judge the earth.) for you have judged these things;
because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar respond, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just!”
8The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire; 9they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
10The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.
12The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. 14These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15(“See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.”) 16And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.
17The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake. 19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine-cup of the fury of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21and huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, dropped from heaven on people, until they cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
(Now remember from last week – sexual talk in Revelation is spiritual talk (the words whore, fornication, adultery all have to do with spiritual unfaithfulness). Someone who is a spiritual harlot is someone who is giving him or herself away to other gods, instead of remaining faithful to the One True God.)
Revelation 17
1Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.” 3So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations.” 6And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly amazed. 7But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9“This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings, 10of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while. 11As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; 14they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. 17For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
The final scene in John’s judgment vision happens at a place called in Hebrew Armageddon – it was the site of a great battle in the history of Israel on the Hill of Megiddo. Megiddo is some 60 miles north of Jerusalem near Mount Carmel. Do you remember something that happened on Mt. Carmel? Let me refresh your memory: In 1 Kings 18 we have the amazing story about the prophet Elijah and Israel’s King Ahab. King Ahab was not a faithful king, in fact, Elijah said to him (v. 17, “You have troubled Israel because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals (false gods).” And so Elijah had a contest with 450 prophets of Baal. Both he and the prophets prepared a sacrificial bull-offering, but the deal was they were not supposed to set fire to it on their own. The winner of the contest would be the one whose god actually sent fire as an answer to those who call on his name. (It’s a great story worth reading and re-reading.) The outcome of the contest was that Baal and his power did not show up (of course not – he was not real), and Elijah made a mockery of the prophets of Baal by pouring water over his wood and prepared bull not just once, but three times. And when Elijah called on the Lord, fire fell and consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even licked up the water. The result was that when the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said two times: “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.” (v. 39)
This was not the case at Armageddon. In John’s vision of the final battle, those in love with the gods of this world, including the beast, just hardened their hearts even more in the midst of the battle, turning from God and mocking him as they rejected God’s final offer of salvation.
Let’s remember that John is writing to the 7 churches in Asia – churches who are under the rule of the Roman empire. It is thought that every time John mentions Babylon in the Revelation, he is really talking about Rome – but because he wanted the book to get to the 7 congregations and not be destroyed along the way, he wrote symbolically, not literally. It is exactly what many missionaries in countries hostile to Christianity today have to do in their communications. One of our missionaries gave us a substitute word list for when we email her or write her a letter. If we’re not careful, she might be targeted for persecution. Just this week I had lunch with this person before she travels next month, and afterwards she sent me an email that said, I thought of this random security info for you...Not sure if your sermons are posted online or not...but if you ever happen to mention me or the work in _________ during a sermon, please avoid putting that message online.
When the apostle John spoke of Babylon or the whore (harlot), it is probable he meant Rome, which translates then to mean any super power that bows to itself and its own rules rather than bowing to the Creator of nations, people, languages, and tribes and following the commandments God has set. This harlot was drunk on the blood of the saints and witnesses to Jesus – referring to all the Christians who were martyred at the hands of evil Roman rulers (most particularly, Nero). The chapter ends with the revelation that the harlot (the evil empire) will be devoured from within – which brings forth a basic theological and historical principle for us to remember: any human system that depends upon injustice for its survival shall not endure – it will eventually succumb to its own evil infection: a greed for power over everything else. Think about Bernie Madoff or Enron. What you sow, you reap. Listen to this wisdom from Proverbs 1, starting in verse 10:
10My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them! 11They may say, “Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Let’s ambush the innocent! 12Let’s swallow them alive as the grave swallows its victims. Though they are in the prime of life, they will go down into the pit of death. 13And the loot we’ll get! We’ll fill our houses with all kinds of things! 14Come on, throw in your lot with us; we’ll split our loot with you.”
15Don’t go along with them, my child! Stay far away from their paths. 16They rush to commit crimes. They hurry to commit murder. 17When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away. 18But not these people! They set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives! 19Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life.
I want to finish this morning by challenging us to think about something very important. The sermon this morning is called “Tough Love.” When I first heard the term as a young person, I heard it in the context of a parent having to make the tough choice to take a drug-addicted child to rehab, or a family confronting a parent with the truth of alcoholism, or workaholism, or misplaced priorities. The love the family has for the child or parent has to be tough enough to do whatever it takes to help the person come to their right self – their God-given senses. In many ways, I can compare the judgments that have been shown to us in Revelation thus far with tough love: God has acted. He has confronted. He has revealed his power to his children out of love – though he has restrained the fullness of it. Why? To help convince people to come to their right selves – people created in the image of God – to persuade people to see what’s real and what must be done to receive the gift of eternal salvation. Tough love.
But at the same time, what I see in this book is not just tough love. What I see is evidence of God’s perfect love, which is very, very difficult (in fact impossible) for us to comprehend.
Way back in Genesis 1, we read that God created man and woman in his image. Many have concluded that part of what it means to be created in God’s image means to be created with free will – with the ability to make choices – even the choice to reject God’s love. If God had not created us with free will, we would be nothing more than his robots – moving only at God’s command; speaking only what he wants us to speak; thinking only what he chooses we should think. God’s perfect love must give us the perfect freedom to choose to love him. Think about arranged marriages. The man and woman have no opportunity to make a choice for each other. The relationship is not based on love, and becomes nothing more than an exercise in modern slavery to cultural traditions. Think about our missionary’s parents who, out of love for their daughter, have to let her follow God’s call on her life. To keep her home, though it might keep her safe and sound, would not ultimately be loving, for it would take away her freedom to choose how she will follow her Lord. Perfect love gives us the freedom to choose to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, or strength – or not.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” before he breathed his final breath, he put an end to our slavery to the power of sin. Sin still has power, but with the Spirit of Christ living and working within us once we confess him as Savior and Lord, we have the power to choose against sinful ways, sinful words, sinful thoughts, and sinful paths. Anyone who is a Christian and who says, “I just couldn’t stop; I just couldn’t help myself; I’m just not strong enough to resist,” is looking for approval in their own poor choices. We have the power if we just choose to draw on it. Jesus said, “It is finished,” and with that, he broke the power of sin over us!
In chapter 16 in Revelation, John writes (v. 17), “a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne saying, “It is done.” Don’t tell me those two events do not provide the alpha and the omega of God’s ultimate plan! The work of defeating the power of the devil on the cross, and the work of destroying the devil and all evil with him at Armageddon are tightly woven together. God’s will was done on the cross. God’s will, will be done at Armageddon. God will not destroy the freedom of the boys and girls, men and women, he has created in his image. It is hard for us to accept, but God’s human creation is honored even in the tragic picture of total judgment.
How will we use the freedom we have been given to choose God’s will over our will today and tomorrow? Listen to these words of the apostle Paul to challenge and encourage us to choose life – to choose love – no matter how tough it gets. (1 Cor. 4:8ff)
8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. 9We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, and so I speak.” 14We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. 15All of these things are for your benefit. And as God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 18So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. Amen.
