Stepping in the Light

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15

God created life, and He gives life to every person who comes into this world. Obviously then, life is very important to Him. God is so interested in our lives that He records our names in a special book called the Book of Life. In comparing the scriptures that refer to this book, it seems that God records our names in the Book of Life when we are born. Apparently, if a person dies rejecting Christ, that person’s name is blotted out of the book (Revelation 3:5). God is patiently waiting for every person to be saved. God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). Those of us who are saved are His witnesses, and He is waiting for us to tell the lost about what Jesus did for them on the cross. Have you shared the good news of salvation with someone lately?

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-13, 15-16

When Jesus came to this earth the first time, He came as a simple man from an average family in a small town. There was no palace, no scepter, and no royal diadem. He came seeking sinners and set Himself to die upon a cross. In spite of His humble entrance, many people understood that there was something very different about him. Some came to Him for healing and some to hear Him teach. His disciples spent much time with Him, but they never truly understood why He came. One day Christ will return with the armies of heaven to mete out judgment upon His enemies. The description in the passage above portrays a powerful leader who cannot be turned away or refused. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He will one day rule the earth. If we own Him as Lord now, we may return with Him in power then. Is Jesus your King today?

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” Zechariah 2:8

The phrase, the apple of his eye, refers in general to something cherished that must be protected, and it specifically referred to the pupil of the eye. Though God had punished His people, He was making it clear through the prophet Zechariah that He still loved them. God had promised Abraham that He would bless all the nations of the world through his descendants. God’s purpose was to use Abraham’s family to bring the Messiah into the world and to create a series of fulfilled prophesies that would effectively prove that Christ was truly the Son of God. Down through the centuries, there were a number of times that the people of God were nearly annihilated. Abraham and Sarah nearly gave up hope that the son God had promised to them would ever be born. Many years later down in Egypt, Pharaoh ordered that all of the boy babies be killed in an effort to weaken the nation of Israel. At the close of the monarchy, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, killed many of the people and took many others into captivity. Wicked Haman persuaded Ahasuerus to sign a law allowing all of the Jews in his kingdom to be killed and their property confiscated. Each time, God preserved His people. His plan had not been completed, and He was watching them and guarding them closely. God loved the whole world enough to send His Son to die for us, and thus He cherishes those who trust Christ as the apple of His eye.

“And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.” Zephaniah 1:12

The lees are the dregs or sediments that settle out of a liquid when it has not been disturbed. Thus, the phrase settled on their lees is an idiom that refers to something or someone who is undisturbed or at ease. God told Zephaniah that He was going to conduct a thorough search (with candles) of Jerusalem, and punish those who were at ease with the spiritual condition of the city. The Lord told Zephaniah what these people were thinking. They thought that God was not going to do anything about the sin of His people. They thought that the Lord would neither do good nor evil. This deistic attitude developed as a result of their carnal thinking and their enchantment with materialism and idolatry. They became complacent in their approach to Jehovah. They assumed that their attitudes did not matter because God was uninvolved in their lives. They believed that nothing they could say or do would cause Him to intervene. Modern day Christians are prone to fall into this kind of thinking, particularly in the areas of prayer and godly living. We may say that we believe that God answers prayer, but do we pray as though we really believe that He will? We understand that God punishes sin, but do we live like we believe that He will? The Lord is pleased when we take Him at His Word and expect Him to be involved in our lives each day.

“O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2

The prophet Habakkuk had prophesied to the people about the coming judgment. God was angry with His people, and He was going to allow their enemies to destroy them. Habakkuk was not alone in bringing this message of destruction. The Lord had sent many prophets to try to turn the hearts of His people back to him. Even though the theme of his message was not new, Habakkuk’s heart trembled when he considered what God’s words meant for his people and his homeland. Habakkuk understood that God’s wrath was to be poured out, but the prayer of his heart was that God would be merciful in His anger. Habakkuk was asking that the Lord would stop short of what the people deserved. God is merciful, and His people have always needed His mercy. Jeremiah said, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not” (Lamentations 3:22). When we pray, we encourage God’s mercy. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Jesus said that showing mercy helps us to receive the mercy. “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). The most important time to think about showing mercy is when we are angry. Habakkuk’s prayer gives us a guiding principle to remember when we get upset with someone. “In wrath remember mercy.”

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6-7

The word gospel means “good news.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to pay for our sins. He was buried, and three days later He rose again. God offers to us the gift of eternal life if we will believe on Jesus and trust Him to save us. This is the gospel in a nutshell. It the text above, an angel appears to proclaim “the everlasting gospel” to the people in every nation on earth during the tribulation period. The angel says, “Fear God, and give glory to him.” This may sound like a “different gospel,” but it is not. This “everlasting gospel” focuses on the big picture. This message applies to all people, whether they lived before Christ was born, after He rose from the dead, or will live after His second coming. It is the basis for the gospel that we preach now. It is good news that God is our Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth. It is good news that He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). It is good news that He exists as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is good news that He loves us and wants us to worship Him, honor His name, and obey His Word. 

“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19

God is holy, and He judges sin. But He is also a God of love, and He wants to forgive. God hates sin, but He does not want to retain His anger against the sinner because He delights in mercy. This means that God loves to give us grace that we do not deserve. The passage above says that God will do four things for His people. First, it says that He will turn again. Our sin separates us from God and causes Him to turn His face from us (Isaiah 59:2), but God loves us so much that He will turn toward us in spite of our sin. When Jesus came into this world seeking sinners (Luke 19:10), God was turning toward us. Second, He will have compassion on us. When God sees our sinful condition, His heart is moved with compassion to help us. Third, God will subdue our iniquity. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, to conquer sin for us by dying on the cross. Fourth, He will forget our sins. The metaphor here is that He casts our sins into the depths of the sea. We cannot see the deepest part of the ocean. We may travel across the surface in a ship, but we have no way of seeing or even knowing what is on the ocean floor. God puts our sins out of His sight. What a blessing for Christians to know that our sins are forgiven!

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2

Micah’s prophecy was written roughly seven hundred years before Christ was born. The prophecy acknowledges that Bethlehem is a small town. Historians tell us that the population of Bethlehem when Jesus was born was under a thousand, perhaps as low as three hundred people. Micah prophesied that a ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem, “whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting.” Only one person could fulfill that prophecy, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah, who prophesied at about the same time as Micah, prophesied that a child would be born whose name would be “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). This child would be God incarnate. He would be the everlasting Father. In John chapter 1, the “Word” is introduced as the one who made everything in the beginning and yet became flesh and dwelt among us. Christ was not only an infant Who was born in Bethlehem; He was the Creator Who spoke the world into existence. Micah’s prophecy encapsulates this truth and underscores the importance of the incarnation. Jesus was not just a good man with a few interesting stories and some moral principles. He was the Son of God Who came to die for the sins of the world!

“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.” Revelation 10:5-6

When God set the planets in motion, He sent them into a very predictable pattern. “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis1:14). These predictable patterns provide a means for us to measure time. Day follows night. The steady path of the sun across the sky and the shadows that move along the ground enable us to see that the day is gradually passing by, and we know that night soon will follow. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into seasons, and seasons turn into years. God created the mechanisms that enable us to measure time, but it was the result of man’s sin that time became significant. Time only seems important when it is in short supply. Man’s sin introduced death into this world; and because we know that our lives will end, time becomes precious. When death is banished, time will no longer be relevant. In heaven, there is no night. That means we will experience a never-ending day. In an eternal day, there will be no need of time, and we will never have to be in a hurry. But for now, time is precious, and God wants us to treasure it.

“Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.” Jonah 1:11-12

Why was Jonah thrown overboard? The shipmen determined that Jonah was the cause of the great storm that was about to sink their ship. Their superstition led them to cast lots to find out whose fault it was. Normally, we would say that this kind of decision making is mere chance and would leave us open to making serious mistakes. But in this case, we know that it really was Jonah’s fault that the storm came upon them. Once they were convinced that the storm was Jonah’s fault, they asked him what they should do to cause the storm to stop. Why did Jonah tell them to throw him overboard? Did God tell him to give this answer? Was he having compassion on the sailors? What did Jonah think was going to happen to him if they threw him overboard? Did Jonah know about the great fish that was swimming around just waiting to swallow him whole? Jonah was continuing to refuse to go to Nineveh. If Jonah had been willing to repent and obey the Lord, he would have told them to turn the ship around and take him to the nearest port to Nineveh; but he remained defiant. Jonah’s life is an object lesson on obedience. Doing God’s will is really the only option that makes sense, so we may as well do it with a smile.