Have you ever seen the film Taken starring Liam Neeson (disclaimer: it is rated 18, contains excessive violence and bad language throughout and so I am not suggesting all you 12 year olds out there go out and buy it cos the bible blog guy said so!). Despite the disclaimers it depicts the relentless, ruthless, wrathful, love-filled pursuit of a father for his daughter who has been kidnapped and is being trafficked for prostitution. With the father’s heart Neeson unleashes his fury on those who would harm his child, and evil takes an absolute beating. As I watched this I could not help but wonder if we see God in this way. A righteous, relentless, and ruthless father who will pursue to the ends of the earth all those who would seek to perpetuate evil and injustice and bring them all to rights. It is not an image we often come across as we sing love songs to boyfriend Jesus, celebrate the birth of baby Jesus, speak intimately of our best buddy Jesus, who resides in our hearts as we stand under the colour-tinted light that beams through stained-glass windows depicting gentle Jesus meek and mild. Yet there He is, standing at the end of human history waging just war with eyes of blazing fire and a head adorned with crowns. With robes dripping in blood, a sword emanating from His mouth and the armies of heaven by His side. The kingdom is coming, the war will soon be over, evil is shown to be not an equal to God but a false pretender, a pale imitator. In the end, God wins.
It is so important that we do not miss this. Read Revelation 19 and 20 and see, over and over again, how all the forces of evil and powers of darkness, are under the authority of God. The beast, representing those human institutions that set themselves up against God, summarily dismissed. The false prophet, the ideology of an age that supports the human delusion that we do not need God, headed in the same direction. The devil, bound by an Angel who holds the key to the abyss. Never make the mistake of thinking of the devil as being a direct adversary of God, a kind of equal and opposite power in the universe to be defeated in some sort of super-fight between the devil and God. God sends an angel to do the job because that’s all it takes. Satan attempts one last attempt to defeat God but only because he is, for a time, released. He cannot break free on his own. His capture, containment and freedom are all under the rule of God. He too though is headed for the fire. He is not even the last enemy. The last enemy to be destroyed, remember, is death. Death itself, and hades the place of the dead, are finished. Human powers, false ideologies, the deceit of the devil, the fear of death, all destroyed by the relentless, ruthless, wrathful, love-filled God whose Son, Jesus the warrior, reigns victorious!
The temptation is to get stuck in endless discussions about when and how all this might happen, losing time and perspective in this life over things that we cannot be sure about in terms of the next. That would be to miss the point. The Revelation of Jesus about the future that is secure is to help us live our lives now. Ever feel as if the powers and influences of this world seem to be taking control of you and are given to despair? Find yourself troubled by the traps and temptations of the devil and believe him to be stronger than you are? Worried about the vulnerability of life or even, dare I mention it, feel that sometimes death would be a better option. Don’t. Stop. Our God is in control. Death is not the answer because God will destroy death itself. The world may seem too powerful but our God is more powerful still. The devil may be stronger than us, but he cannot hold a candle to our God. Our God is good, He is faithful, He is just, He is true, He is higher than the highest powers, He is able to do far more than all we can imagine, He is constant, He is relentlessly pursuing those He loves and will, repeat will, wage war and claim victory over everything and anything that seeks to tear us apart. This is the promise we have. This is why we need to see Jesus in all His glory, in all His splendour, in all His divine fury. For here, for now. For lives that feel weak. As a corrective for a contemporary slush-puppy, love-sick Christianity that has become so dependent on feeling something, or experiencing something, that we fall far too easily when life takes us hostage and the going gets tough. Jesus is tougher still. The world has no bind over us. Hallelujah, our Lord God Almighty reigns!
“…there in Heaven a door stood open.”
Revelation is arguably the richest, most captivating, least well understood book in the Bible. It invites us to look behind and through reality to see what is really going on. There is more, so much more going on right under our noses if we could only see. It might look like our world is crashing wildly from one disaster to the next, that chaos has the upper-hand, that it has careered totally out of all control. The powerful continue to oppress the powerless, the rich continue to exploit the poor, bad people do well, good people suffer.
Jesus pulls back the veil that separates what we see from what He sees and reveals a truth that puts all that we see on its head: Heaven is open! All that is there is available here, and that changes everything. John goes on to describe in words what goes beyond all the words ever known. He uses precious gems and natural phenomena to convey the cosmic scale, the vast richness, and the incomparable awesomeness of how it is from Jesus’ vantage point. I am writing today in my local Starbucks and as I look around I am stuck that the people walking past the window are living lives as big as what they see. From the look on many of their faces the notion of an open Heaven has never entered their mind – I am guessing if I told them many would dismiss such a notion as fantasy, some might even be offended that their present reality wasn’t being taken seriously.
Present pain is taken deadly seriously in Revelation. The One who was slain has endured, triumphed over and defeated the source of all pain. John looks to see this mighty, victorious Lion, the author and subject of a new song of hope. But instead of a ferocious Lion, John sees a reigning Lamb, a Lamb looking as if it had been slain. Heaven cannot contain its worship of this Lamb, this symbol of weakness, weakness that ransacked the strongholds of the powerful, disestablished false Kingdoms, lifted up the least to positions of honour. No wonder the angels and the elders alike fall on their faces. There is a plan to put this world right-side-up. And the plan cannot be thwarted because it is being directed by the Lamb who is on the throne. The fact that this plan is resisted is not a sign that the plan has failed but that the defeated are desperate to shipwreck as much as possible of that which is dear to the Lamb.
Resistance comes in many forms. Chapter 6 describes the downward spiral of history, the inevitable consequences of rejection of the way of the Lamb. False worship leading to war, greed, injustice, hunger, famine and eventually death. The entire cosmos suffers the consequences of so much violence. How long Oh Lord? Who can withstand such an onslaught of terror?
Revelation 7 offers comfort to those who will see. All who are in Christ will be hidden in Him. No matter what the dying thrusts of the enemy are if we have the Spirit of God in us we can and will withstand anything. Even death cannot defeat us now. This is not a promise of safety but the assurance that Heaven is open to and for us now, that the One seated in the place of Authority has already won, and we will share in His final victory dance.
Revelation 3:22 – What is the angel of the church?
The beginning of the book of Revelation starts with this slightly strange set of mini letters addressed to the “angel” of the church. One particular understanding is that the word “angel” in the letters to the churches represents the corporate identity and the corporate calling of the individual churches. What does this look like?
Most schools, church congregations, or even rugby teams have a unique “vibe” about them, a kind of corporate psyche. It is amazing how you can go into Starbucks and then Clements on Botanic Avenue and even though they are essentially identical businesses selling various versions of coffee…yet they can feel so different. This difference is a result of different management, possibly some different mission statements, different staff, and different clientele. Have you ever thought that churches can be the same. You can walk into one Presbyterian church and it has a very different feel to the one down the road.
It is the same in these letters to seven churches at the start of Revelation. It is as if each church had an identifiable personality, with strengths and weaknesses, and a unique calling. God in these letters is speaking to the corporate identity of the churches and is calling them on to address the things which are beginning to corrupt the dna of the churches.
One of the most profound messages in these verses that has always struck me, is the letter to the church at Ephesus. In it we hear these words: “I know your good deeds, your hard work and perseverance…yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” In many ways I think that these words could describe many churches in Northern Ireland. The corporate personality of our churches has become industriousness, busyness, and a strong work ethic. Yet have we forsaken a love relationship with God.
Can we sing the words “My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose went forth and followed thee.” Or has this become a distant memory? If we have become obsessed with the work of the Kingdom, we can inadvertently find that we have forsaken the King of the Kingdom. Mike Breen wrote that many Christian leaders have sacrificed the “transcendent vitality of a life with God, for the ego satisfaction of a life for God.” If we are not careful this unbalanced approach to the Christian life can overtake not only our own lives but also it can be manifested in our church communities as a whole. I wonder whether the Spirit of God is calling us afresh to remember what it was like when our “chains fell off”, and to do the work of the Kingdom, motivated by our love and relationship with the King!!
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
In 95AD the Emperor in the Roman Empire was a man called Domitian. He was a really nasty piece of work. While most of the Emperors had a bit of an ego, Domitian took this to a whole new level and claimed that he was in fact not human, but divine, and was therefore to be worshipped by all the subjects of the Empire. The way to demonstrate your loyalty to Domitian was to declare him publicly as having the title of ‘My Lord and My God’.
It would be a bit like the Queen declaring that all citizens of the UK had to go to Buckingham Palace and worship her as God. She’s a nice lady, but she’s not God.
As you can imagine, for the Christians this was simply not acceptable. They only had one Lord and his name was Jesus. And so most Christians simply said: “No. We will honour and respect Domitian, but when it comes to worshipping him, that’s where we draw a big line in the sand.”
Domitian wasn’t impressed. And so Christians were punished. They were persecuted, both by the authorities and by the people living around them. They were sent to the lions, they were dropped into boiling tar, they were beaten, they were put out of their homes, they lost their jobs, their families, their lives. All because they believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and they worshipped Him as God.
That’s what has happened John, an elderly, faithful follower of Jesus now in his late 80’s. Look at Rev 1:9:
“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
The island of Patmos was a barren little island off the coast of Turkey where people were sent into exile and punished by the Empire. Often they were subject to hard labour and brutal beatings.
And here we find John exiled. Why? “….because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”
John couldn’t stop talking about Jesus. He wouldn’t stop preaching the word of God. He’d probably been warned, told what would happen if he didn’t stop. But he couldn’t help himself. He was so passionate about Jesus that not even the might and power of the Roman Empire could stop him from declaring that Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone, is his Lord and his King.
And so banished to the island of Patmos, away from family, friends and church, all alone, John has this vision. What is the vision all about? Back to verse 1:
“The revelation of Jesus Christ…” Stop there.
These first 5 words are so important in understanding this book. Revelation is not primarily a book about the end of the world and the future and predictions and prophecies. Revelation is first and foremost a book about Jesus Christ. It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. That means the revelation came from Jesus and the revelation is about Jesus. The book is all about Jesus.
‘Revelation’ simply means ‘to reveal’ or ‘to unveil’. Have you ever been at a play or a concert and before it starts the curtains across the stage are pulled. And then suddenly the music starts, the curtains are drawn back, and you see everything and your first reaction is: “WOW. That’s amazing!”
That’s what the Book of Revelation was written to do. It was written to reveal, to unveil, to the church, what Jesus Christ is like, and what is going on behind the curtain of heaven and behind the curtain of human history.
The Apostle John – if he was to endure persecution, if he was to make sense of his suffering and pain, if he was to stay faithful to the end – he needed a fresh vision of Jesus Christ, he needed to see Jesus as he really was.
Often our vision, our picture of Jesus is so weak, so anaemic, so inadequate, so bland, so pitiful, so unbiblical and so false.
And that’s why often our lives are so passionless, our obedience half-hearted, our worship dull, our motivation to witness to others lacking, our fear of what people think of us is greater than our fear of what God thinks of us, and in suffering and pain and problems we don’t know what to do or where to turn.
If we are to be a powerful, passionate, kingdom people, we need a right view of the KING.
And in the rest of chapter 1, John sees this vision of Jesus:
Verses 4 & 8: Jesus is Eternal
Verses 5 and 6: Jesus is our Saviour
Verse 7: Jesus is Coming Back
Verses 13-16: Jesus is All-Powerful
Pray today that God would help you to see Jesus afresh. That you would have a fresh, clearer vision of who He really is.
1 John 3:11 – 1 John 4:21 // Jasper Rutherford
Posted: February 24, 2012 by rebekah360 in UncategorizedStop! Stop! You had me at hello…
1 John 4:12. “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
This passage and especially the verse above reminds me of the movie Gerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger. It’s a rom-com love story between a sports agent and his assistant. Late in the movie Tom Cruize comes to express his love to Rene Zellwinger and says those now famous words – “You Complete Me.” He carries on his speech but Rene cuts him off midsentence saying “Stop! Stop! You had me at hello. You know the scene right?
In this passage, God is saying that if we love others, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. Is God saying to us that we complete Him by loving others?
The writer is not talking about romantic love in this book, he is talking about love on a far deeper level than that. The scripture is reiterating step by step that real love, true love, honest love, love that is not about ourselves – that kind of love comes from God.
By sharing this love of God with others, especially sharing this love with others who are less fortunate than ourselves, really seems to please God. God says it actually completes His love! In some circles, the church has seemed to shy away from close friendships, despite the example of Jesus, who travelled and lived with the disciples. They shared their lives together, and Jesus wanted his friends around him during his most anguished times.
Healthy relationships reveal the love of God in and through us.
How good a friend are you?
I have just returned from Romania where the Roma gypsy population are mistreated and rejected. A group of passionate Christians serve these communities. They give out wood, flour and practical items like clothes and shoes. They have set up schools and micro businesses to help the communities. They provide shelter and offer opportunities that these people would not get from the rest of society. I can’t speak the Roma language, I didn’t need to, it was easy to see that they got it. The Roma people knew these people were doing it out of love, and that love was a love that was Godly. It was beautiful to see and beautiful to be a part of.
So, if you are genuinely loving people, even people who are difficult to love, it should therefore click with people – they will see God in that love. They will connect with Him. They will see and experience love in a way that you won’t have to explain it all, describe it all, or justify your love or reasons why you love. It will be obvious. It will be like Stop! Stop! I get it… You had me at hello…
People can experience Gods love through the way you love them. That is an amazing Gospel truth. It is the way God has planned it.
Isn’t it just incredible that he chooses you and me to be carriers of His love?
But I am so weak at loving others and my efforts seem so feeble. Remember that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4).” We can only love like God because God’s Spirit shows us how. Ask for the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh with God’s love.
Thank you God for your love – Help me to show it to whoever I meet today. Enemy or friend. Amen.
The two metre long Great Whites swam majestically around the boat off the coast of South Africa. And as the sharks swarmed, a metal diving cage was revealed that looked a lot less sturdy than I had imagined.
‘Who wants to get in first?’ said the captain.
Now in my head I was pretty sure that the cage was safe. I was pretty sure that metal bars would stop the sharks eating the cage’s contents (i.e. me). I was pretty certain that the cage was fixed securely to the boat. I was pretty convinced that the captain knew what he was doing. But I wasn’t overly keen to get in the cage first. But when nobody stepped forward, I decided to climb in. I put my faith into action.
Welcome to James. His book isn’t just about loft theological concepts. His book is about putting faith into action. This theme runs throughout the letter as he draws on Old Testament heroes like Abraham and Rahab. He argues that faith without deeds is dead.
It is important to remember that we receive God’s grace freely but when we receive it, our lives need to reflect our thankfulness. It is not just about calling ourselves Christians or singing songs of thanks. It is about our very actions. It is about the words we speak, the generosity we demonstrate, the holiness that marks us out as different. In today’s segment of Scripture, James unpacks three really important areas that we need to understand in terms of active faith.
First of all, he speaks about trials. There is often a myth that being a Christian means life is easy. James is realistic. There will be trials. But rather than moaning when we find life tough, he challenges us to rejoice. These trials help us discern whether our faith is genuine and they help our faith become sturdy. How often do we fail to respond to difficult times with the right attitude and acknowledge that our faith is being deepened though the trials we face?
Secondly, James writes about the importance of listening. I love his advice to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” We are often slow to listen and quick to speak. Our words often cause hurt, pain and isolation. It is by listening to what God is saying and putting his ideals into practice that we can speak words of healing, grace and truth more effectively. What is God speaking to you about today?
Thirdly, James moves onto tackle favouritism. Throughout this letter, he refers to his readers as brothers, as family. The early church was a mix of the rich and the poor and it was easy for division and favouritism to creep in. Here James insists that they are to love each other as they love themselves. How are you practically showing mercy to those that you come into contact with?
Standing inside the metal cage watching as sharks swam around was an amazing experience – kind of like being at the zoo but the other way round. Faith needs action. I don’t want to just live under the tag ‘Christian’. I want my life to reflect the Christ that I follow. Let’s live out our faith today!
