Hey, Cobblestone,
Last week we considered some alternatives to the real history
described in Scripture. I turned familiar passages inside out to demonstrate
what reality might have been if certain events had gone differently. I asked
the Lord’s permission, and gave a crystal clear disclaimer up front – every
change I made was pure fiction – all for the purpose of highlighting the glory
of what actually happened. Today we move past the alternate beginning and
middle of last week to imagine an alternate ending.
What if the Lord God hadn’t blocked the way to the tree of
life in the garden of Eden? Mankind would have been locked eternally into a
state of separation from our Maker. What if Jesus had arrived in Bethlehem, had
grown strong and become filled with wisdom, only to find mankind in such a
state – in need of a Savior but unable to benefit from salvation? An alternate
beginning and middle would produce an alternate ending, wouldn’t they? What
might the other ending be?
Then I heard a loud
voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on
the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
So the first angel went
and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came
upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
The second angel poured
out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse,
and every living thing died that was in the sea.
The third angel poured
out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they
became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say,
“Just are you, O
Holy One, who is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
And I heard the
altar saying,
“Yes, Lord God the
Almighty,
true and just are your judgments!”
The fourth angel poured
out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with
fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the
name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and
give him glory.
The fifth angel poured
out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged
into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the
God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their
deeds.
The sixth angel poured
out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried
up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw,
coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the
beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean
spirits like frogs. For they are demonic
spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to
assemble them for battle on the great day of God the
Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one
who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked
and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in
Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The seventh angel
poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple,
from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of
lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such
as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that
earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities
of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to
make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his
wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be
found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell
from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the
hail, because the plague was so severe (Revelation 16).
Did you notice? I didn’t change a thing. What you just read
was, straight up, the sixteenth chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The
only thing “alternative” about what is described therein is, without a Savior
and a way to benefit from his atoning sacrifice, Revelation 16 is the necessary
outcome for all mankind. God’s wrath will have to be poured out completely.
Without a plan of salvation, which must include something for mankind to be
saved from, there could be no other ending. In the fullness of time, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would have stepped back from the windowsill of
heaven, said, “Gee, that didn’t work
out well for them,” and continued enjoying one another’s company – without
redeemed humanity.
Enough of the alternates; here are the actuals:
Blessed is the one who
reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who
keep what is written in it, for the time is near (Revelation 1:3).
And I heard a voice
from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest
from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (14:13).
“Behold, I am
coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his
garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” (16:15).
And the angel
said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the
marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words
of God” (19:9).
Blessed and holy is the
one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has
no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and
they will reign with him for a thousand years (20:6).
“And behold, I am
coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of
this book” (22:7).
Blessed are those
who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the
tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates (22:14).
While the sting of the very first sin was still being felt,
the Lord God promised a Savior. Then he blocked the way to the tree of life,
ensuring that Jesus would be the only Way back. Finally, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God (2Corinthians 5:21). We would never, given
all eternity, have thought of this on our own. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, Proverbs 19:21 says, but it is the Lord’s purpose that will
stand. Never would mankind have chosen such an unlikely path to blessing.
How many will be redeemed? At this point in history, we can
only be sure the full number has not yet been reached, and even when it is,
according to Revelation 7:9, no one will be able to number the great multitude.
Among the redeemed so far, our job is to invite the not-yet-redeemed into
redemption, and trust God with the numbers.
Over the course of my lifetime so far, I’ve come to see that
the hardest people to reach with the gospel of Jesus are the ones who are
convinced they are least in need of salvation. The illusion of self-sufficiency
– a self-saving, self-redeeming mirage – makes a stubborn resistance to
receiving the atoning work of Christ. Alternates abound, all in futility.
Maybe the Spirit of the Lord is compelling you these days to
erase the alternates in the lives of the unsaved souls you know and love. He’s
certainly compelling me. Jesus is the Way to blessing – plague and destruction
await all travelers of all other paths. For
consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to
worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble
birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the
wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God
chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not,
to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human
being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you
are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is
written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1Corinthians
1:26-31).
The Lord’s purpose stands… then, now, and forever more.
Grace and Peace (on purpose),
John
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