Coming Soon
(Rev 22:6ampsim12)
My father, the 7th son of his family was hospitalized in the ICU because of aggravation of his lung cancer. There he met Jesus and accepted him as the Lord. Later when he got better, he proclaimed that he would abolish the ancestral rites of his family in front of many relatives. He passed away last April. It was an incident where the Most High himself established Zion, as in Palm 87:5, in an 8 generation Confucian family. It was an incident that had to happen even though no one knew the time because it belonged to Gods Cairos. Coming soon is the theme of Revelation. Lets see what it means.
1. We need to stand firm on his faithful and truthful word. The phrase coming soon, refers to our spiritual tension and consciousness of Jesus already on his way but not yet arrived. Its a blessing to understand that Gods apparently slow arrival, despite his promise of coming soon actually implies his patience. The things that must soon take place refers to faithful, truthful, and reliable Word of God. Just as the prophecy of the Old Testament was fulfilled, so it is with that of the New Testament. The Book of Revelation confirms Gods love through indescribable fantasies for those suffering from their extreme trials. Because of Gods special grace for the persecuted, the Israelites understood that God sent his warning to them through the seven seals, seven trumpets, and the seven bowls of plagues. By showing us the things that must happen soon, God gave us his glorious revelation, urging us to focus on our mission of spreading the gospel.
2. We need to observe the Word. In order to be blessed by God, we need to receive Gods revelation first, understand the Word, and abide by it. Observing the Word is not about studying the Bible, but about giving thanks to God for everything. This is how to take the cross as our road. Perez and Zerah whom Judah sired through Tamar, his daughter in law were enrolled in the genealogy of faith, Men of faith like them are blessed to be the role models who took the cross as their road, observed the Word, and urged others to do the same thing. When choirmaster Heman, Zerahs offspring stopped praising God because of suffering, Korahs descendant composed a song, titled a psalm of the Sons of Korah. Even in his great trials, he thanked God for being a doorkeeper and inspired others to observe the Word. The best way of showing the heavenly kingdom is carrying our cross instead of explaining it with our knowledge. We receive salvation by our faith and obedience, not by our experience. Salvation is not about Jezebels doctrine that love talks nor about the practices of the Nicolaitans that just repentance works. Even John bowed down before the angel, who showed him great revelation, tempted by visible things. God is the only being that we should worship. Man is not to worship, but to love.
3. We need to spread the Word. God wants us to meditate on the Word day and night. The time for the Lord to come is near. We need to rejoice in God always and forgive others because the days are evil. This should be the mindset of a Christian who spreads the gospel. The gospel seems sealed to us because its not for us to know the times or dates. We cannot understand it everything because it is written in metaphor and symbols in order to reveal what is hidden. The best mind set for reading Revelation is to accept what is hidden as it is or see what is revealed by God according to His will. The Bible is both to be revealed and hidden. So it is with our sharing the gospel with others. As our life is time-limited, we need to share the gospel with others whether they are hurt or not. Thats how we break the seal of the Word.
4. God gives us his reward according to what we have done. Notice Gods dreadful proclamation 'I will give to everyone according to what he has done.' There are some people who wont be changed at all despite Gods warning about the last day. God tells us to leave them as they are. Its a blessing to recognize that God is still waiting. The last time is so imminent that theres no time for them to be changed. During the Exodus, the Israelites had to come out of Egypt in a night. We should be ready to leave in no time. Shouldnt our destination be the heavenly kingdom? How will God reward us according to what weve done? Our thanks offered to God even in our hardships and our love given to others will be recorded as his reward, which will lead us to holiness. Just as love is to be patient, kind, and not to envy, our heavenly quotient is neither to boast nor to be proud. Christians privilege is to be rewarded by God according to what they have done, which is actually the best pride and love we can receive from God. The feature of heresy is being biased, rather than wrong. Christians should not be biased in any way whether in their prayer, praise, meditation, relief, salvation, sanctification, glorification or what not. The ultimate fruit of these virtues is the love that comes from our loving heart for God. The secret to be righteous and holy is to keep the Sabbath, do our QT, and join our Mokjang as usual. The key words in todays theme Coming soon is the Word and our spiritual communities.
'Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.' (Rev 22:12)
