Revelation 22:12
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
Truth time....
I have to reset my understanding of who Jesus really is.
I don't mean for it to happen, but as time goes by, it is really easy to let Jesus become a religious figure, rather than the person that He is. This morning as I was trying to figure out which direction to take with the Greene Street Letters, I felt led to turn to the last chapter of Revelation.
After all, the entire book of Revelation is about the unfolding and understanding of who Jesus is today. When John was taken by the Spirit and shown the wonders of heaven,and commanded by God to write what he had seen, John saw Jesus as the Risen, Glorified Lord. Jesus was no longer the bruised and battered carpenter of Nazareth that had hung on a cross. John saw the Lamb, who had taken away the sin of the world, as well as the Lion who would return to judge the earth.
IT is the last picture of Jesus as the Lion that I have to remind myself of. Oh, we all like the sweet Lamb Jesus. Cuddly, soft, fluffy white wool....who doesn't like little lambs. But the Warrior King coming back to once again invade our time and space...well that's a different story. I guess where you are spiritually defines how you see this Jesus. You are either excited about His return, or you are fearful.
Funny part about the verse from Revelation 12, Jesus says that He is coming back and He is bringing His Reward to hand out. The reward Jesus speaks of is evidently based on what we have "worked" at. Work denotes purpose and effort. Now let's hook this with a verse from Romans 3. "For the Wages of sin is death." What are wages? Payment for what a person has done. I think maybe there are good wages AND bad wages. Jesus says He's coming back to give to each person that which is due them. This is where the rub comes in. I talk with people who just don't seem to be able to grasp this. Their whole philosophy is centered on a "LAMB" Jesus."Oh, Jesus would never do that whole "Wages for sin/death" thing. After all "Jesus loves the little children." Well, from my perspective Jesus does love us. But to me it all goes back to the simple fact of what wages are. Something YOU and I earn. We are due wages when we either live our life for Christ...or we live our life for ourselves.
That is why I want to always keep the right perspective of who Jesus really is. I want to "BE" the man He created me to be. As I have stated in the past, if we were to focus ourselves on being who Jesus wants us to be (allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us to change our character) then the doing would come natural. It would be our second nature. We'd "Do" for Jesus simply because that's who we are. We don't "DO" so we can "BE" who Christ has called us to be. Is that clear, or did I muddy the water. I hope it's clear to you....
Hey, if you don't have anything to do tomorrow night, come out and join us at Vineyard ReCovery. Todd Bagley will be leading the worship, and we will continue in our teaching about "Using the right materials to build a Matthew 24:7 House." And.....(Drum roll please)...we'll be having one of our world famous Sandwich Suppers after the service. Meeting starts at 7 p.m and we do stamp court cards if you need one.
God on you....
mbb
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