Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Jesus Revealed In The Revelation #15

Rev. 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 for ever and ever.

Jesus is revealed in two ways in this verse. First he is revealed as "our Lord," and in the same verse he is revealed as "his Christ." These are paramount descriptions of Jesus.

The phrase "our Lord" is indicative of God the Father, who owns all of the kingdoms of the earth. He is the Great Creator of all things, and he will eventually own everything in perfection, for it is his purpose and duty to bring everything into perfection, as he has predicted early in scripture. It is the duty of every creature of God to love him, obey him, and give honor to him. But if this Lord, the Father, is not believed in and trusted through his Son, Jesus, then he is not our "our Lord," but "their Lord." The world today seems to be turning away from any trust in God; they seem to want to destroy the very mention of God in any way, but God will have his deserts: Psalms 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

God is "our Lord," because he so loved us (John 3:16) that he gave his only begotten Son that we who believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God is faithful to that, and we who believe upon his Son, Jesus, do have eternal life without any worry of falling, for he "upholdeth him with his hand" (Psalm 37:23-24).

God is "our Lord," because he belongs to us by grace. Notice Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: Here we see that "the Lord is our God." He belongs to us personally through faith in his Son, because Jesus died that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). It is wonderful to know that God is our God, our Lord. If he had not revealed himself to us, we would never had known him; we would never have him as our own.

But then, Jesus is revealed as "his Christ." Christ belongs to God. Notice 1 Cor. 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. God the Father is Christ's head. Jesus Christ is completely surrendered to the perfect will of his Father, and he performs that will to perfection. Jesus is the Lord's anointed against whom the kings of the earth set themselves (Psalms 2:2).

Being God's Christ, the transaction of redemption was God's altogether. The blood which Jesus shed was God's blood (Acts 20:28). The fulfillment of God's purpose in redemption was God's, and it was done through his anointed, Jesus Christ. There is, therefore, no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

One day these earthly kingdoms will become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. It will not be our kingdom but his kingdom. We are only permitted to be a part of that kingdom by his free grace. Every believer should be in wonder and amazement at the fact that God is our Lord, and Jesus is his Christ. This is the only plan that will bring eternal life.

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