Vision of “Someday”
The book of Revelation is an apocalypse, literature which deals with end times; things which lie beyond the ordinary range of human knowledge, things altogether foreign to human experience, or events in human history which has not yet come to pass.
Basically, all apocalyptic literature has the same plot: an evil force controls the earth; the faithful are in trouble, God goes to war against the evil force, everything is up for grabs. In one gigantic battle between good and evil - good prevails. God’s rule is complete. The earth becomes paradise.
In the final chapter of the book, John the Revelator describes how things will be at the end of history. He is depicting the final battle between God and Satan. Satan has been bound (1,000 years) released and bound again. And now God creates a new heaven and a new earth and the new city is called New Jerusalem. When evil has done its worst, when the most horrible of evil has been exhausted, when the terrible beast described vividly in Revelation 13 has brought destruction over the earth as we now know it, when the righteous have been obliterated, when God has engaged Satan in the final war and emerged victorious, from the clouds comes the New Jerusalem.
John gives us a vision of “someday” - not an image of today, not a picture of now. But its message is clear: hold on, hang in, keep going, carry on, do not give up, do not give in, keep the faith, and believe in God’s promises because in the fullness of time; in the time God has established there will be a new heaven and a new earth - New Jerusalem.
God’s living and eternal word gives enormous hope to all of us whose lives are in the grasp of powers and principalities which seem to rule the times in which we live. We feel the searing winds of adversity pressuring violently against us. But God through the Revelator reminds us this is a time for faithfulness, persistence and courage; and all those who endure to the end will be saved.
John himself was well acquainted with hard trials and tribulations. When he wrote Revelation he was aged and living in the isolation of exile on the desolate Island of Patmos as punishment for preaching the gospel. There, we are told, he worked as a chained slave in the marble mines. Now old and frail with no one to provide care and watch over him, yet writes in essence, hang on, hang on. Things will get worse - much worse, but be faithful - fear not for a New Jerusalem will come.
I praise God everyday for the truth and power of His word. I do not know what sustains you but I have experienced dark times in my life; times when the world seemed to cave in directly on me with no escape route; times when I cried out in utter pain and deep spiritual confusion, “Lord what do you want from me? Lord how long must I suffer?”
What kept me going (and keeps me going) was my faith; the faith that no matter how dark the night or how deep the valley I knew that God was in charge. It did not matter how bad life seemed to be beating up on me, I rested in the knowledge that God was working everything out according to His purpose and my good. I may have been knocked down, but glory to God, I was not destroyed. In the fullness of time, God intervened and my life was all the better for it. God gave me relief from my troubles and a touch of the “someday” experience.
I know in whose hands the ultimate victory lay. I know that when the forces of evil and destruction has done its worst; when I have been battered and abused and left for dead by circumstances; whatever triumph Satan seem to have achieved is only temporary. God will have the last word.
For the faithful, when the storms hit our lives, we are kept standing by the power and renewal of God’s love, mercy, spiritual power and the vision of “someday.”
Oh, to Be Kept by Jesus
Words by Thurston Frazier
Oh, to be kept for by Jesus,
kept by the power of God.
Kept from the world unspotted,
treading where Jesus trod.
Oh, to be kept by Jesus,
kept by His power divine.
Kept thro’ toil and trials,
kept by His hand in mine.
Kept by His holy Spirit,
to me this is best of all.
I’m safe in His holy keeping,
He’ll ever hear my call.
Oh, to be kept by Jesus;
Lord, at Thy feet I fall;
I would be nothing, nothing, nothing,
Thou shalt be all in all.
To all fellow believers: As long as we remain in the body, we will patiently wait for the ushering in of the New Jerusalem. Kept by His power, we will endure what we must until the “vision of someday” is realized and the kingdoms of this world becomes the Kingdom of God. It is our hope and our strength.
Come, Lord Jesus, Come.
You have an open invitation to visit us at AMEN Ministries: Your Soul’s Service Station for reviewing spiritual services being offered, obtain spiritual refreshing and soul edification, get your daily dose of humor, browse our newly expanded Stop & Shop WebStore and to visit our prayer sanctum for quiet time with God.
Blessings to all!
Saundra
