June 4, 2020 (Thursday)
Despite
the fact there is much God does not reveal to us, there is much that He does.
This information is vital to us. What is God revealing to us in Revelation 10?
In verse six we see that God “lives forever.” God has no beginning or end. The
implication is that of absolute power. No one can seriously challenge God.
Verse six also claims that God is the creator.
In other words, God designed, made, and sustains creation (heavens, earth,
sea, “and that is in it/them”). The implication is that of ownership.
Throughout the Bible there is an interesting theme of
“mystery.”
- “May the glory be to God who can strengthen you with my good news
and the message that I preach about Jesus Christ. He can strengthen you
with the announcement of the secret [mystery] that was kept quiet for a long time. Now that
secret is revealed through what the prophets wrote. It is made known
to the Gentiles in order to lead to their faithful obedience based on the
command of the eternal God” [Romans 16:25 – 26 NIV].
- “You’ve heard and seen all this—won’t you admit it? From now on I’ll tell you new things, guarded
secrets that you don’t know. They are created now, not long ago;
before today you hadn’t heard of them, so you won’t say, “’I already knew
them’” [Isaiah 48:6 – 7 NIV].
- “God showed me his secret
plan in a
revelation, as I mentioned briefly before (when you read this, you’ll
understand my insight into the
secret plan about Christ). Earlier generations didn’t
know this hidden plan that God has now
revealed to his holy apostles and prophets through the Spirit. This
plan is that the Gentiles would be coheirs and parts of the same body, and
that they would share with the Jews in the promises of God in Christ Jesus
through the gospel. I became a servant of the gospel
because of the grace that God showed me through the exercise of his power.
God gave his grace to me, the least of all God’s people, to preach the
good news about the immeasurable riches of Christ to the Gentiles. God sent me to reveal the secret plan
that had been hidden since the beginning of time by God, who created
everything” [Ephesians 3:3 – 9 NIV].
- “I’m completing it with a secret plan that has been hidden for
ages and generations but which has now been revealed to his holy people.
God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan known
among the Gentiles, which is Christ
living in you, the hope of glory” [Colossians 1:26 – 27 NIV].
- About Jesus: “Without question, the mystery of
godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the
Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in
around the world, and taken up in glory” [1 Timothy 3:16 NIV].
God has
always an only had one plan: Jesus. That plan had one purpose: holy people. God
asks us to do something with what we know (has been revealed to us).
John’s
example is twofold. In Revelation 5 the sealed scroll is opened. In Revelation
10 he is told to eat the little scroll, like Ezekiel. (Revelation 10:9). The image of eating is an act of taking into
the body. The Bible is not just philosophy. It governs what we do with our
bodies, or attitudes, and our behaviors. Eating is also an image of fueling,
nourishing, and sustaining the body.
After
consuming God’s word, John is told to “prophecy.” He is commanded to tell
others what he knows. Notice this message is what has been revealed to him, NOT
what he wants to say. This message must come from God and be fully processed by
the messenger. It has personally affected him.
It is sweet to receive but turns the stomach sour. While the Bible is
sweet to enjoy, processing it is difficult. Naturally there is a reaction to
it. Sometimes our sensitivities war against the Bible’s truth and it make us
sick.
What is
God offering? God offers mercy and grace to those who accept and eternal hell for
those who reject. God offers the cross, a place of death, to those who would
follow Jesus or a place of judgment for those who do not die to themselves and
their sins. This speaking of God’s word is both of promise of salvation and
judgment to come. We have no choice. This is the will of God.
When
Jesus informed His disciples they would be “fishers of men” this turns sour in the
stomach. We tend to emphasize the “evangelism” part, but that is not what Jesus
is saying. If you check the image of fishing throughout Scripture, it is one of
judgment. In life, fishing is never good for the fish. John is understanding
the role of offering salvation on one hand and warning of judgement on the
other hand.
God
does not send anyone to eternal hell. We chose eternal hell over the love of
God. Why?
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