InChristAlone
Monday, November 28, 2005
Deferred Hope?
Revelation 5:1-5
"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals."
"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?"
"And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon."
"And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon."
"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Hope:"to look for something with eager expectation; to rely on something reliable; trust"
The message of the book of Revelation is permeated with the reality of hope.
After reading this passage, I thought about the hope of a life that is hidden with Christ. What would I be living for if I disregarded the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Paul says in I Corinthians 15:19,
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
Life is miserable and hopeless if I am not eagerly expecting the return of the Light of the World. There is nothing to live for without Him.
In this particular passage, we find John weeping at the inability of anyone to open the book of Life. In discussion with a group of friends recently, the question came up, "Why do you think that John wept?"
Here is the conclusion I came to:
I believe that John was weeping at a hope deferred. Everything he had ever believed to be true about "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world", he thought was in vain. Every earnest expectation John had of God's promises being fulfilled seemed to be a hopeless expectation now. What hope was there if this Lamb of God was not all that He said He was?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ constituted John's ministry.
John 1:1-5
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
"The same was in the beginning with God."
"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made."
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
"In him was life"--Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John probably wondered at his existence at this point. All truth seemed to be at stake.
Proverbs 13:12 says,
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."
John seemed to experience a hope deferred. However, the desire did come. All human wisdom or power could not attempt to open the book. No one possessed the worth.
But, "Weep not", the angel told him. There is One Who by His incarnation, passion, and death is worthy to open it. The Perfect Lamb of God is worthy to loose the seven seals (seven being a number of perfection). He has not forsaken the word of His testimony. He is true and right and just and pure. He will display His power and His truth will endure forever.
Romans 14:15
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
The Scriptures point to our hope. The Word is a written testimony of God's promises fulfilled.
I Peter 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
How common is it for us, even as Christians, to live like we have a deferred hope? Why isn't our ultimate pursuit always Jesus Christ and His kingdom? Why do we make ourselves so comfortable down here on this earth when we are but strangers? Is it because we have lost our hope?
Without the hope of eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord, what is there to live for? The world's definition of hope involves "a feeling that what is wanted will happen." That is only a hope contained within this life. What happens after the fulfillment of all these earthly desires?
We need genuine hope. A hope that is founded on something which affords great confidence in fulfillment. Jesus Christ is that only hope! I pray that He would be as real to us as He was to John. Where is my confidence? It must lie in Christ alone. He is All in All!
"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals."
"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?"
"And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon."
"And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon."
"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Hope:"to look for something with eager expectation; to rely on something reliable; trust"
The message of the book of Revelation is permeated with the reality of hope.
After reading this passage, I thought about the hope of a life that is hidden with Christ. What would I be living for if I disregarded the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Paul says in I Corinthians 15:19,
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
Life is miserable and hopeless if I am not eagerly expecting the return of the Light of the World. There is nothing to live for without Him.
In this particular passage, we find John weeping at the inability of anyone to open the book of Life. In discussion with a group of friends recently, the question came up, "Why do you think that John wept?"
Here is the conclusion I came to:
I believe that John was weeping at a hope deferred. Everything he had ever believed to be true about "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world", he thought was in vain. Every earnest expectation John had of God's promises being fulfilled seemed to be a hopeless expectation now. What hope was there if this Lamb of God was not all that He said He was?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ constituted John's ministry.
John 1:1-5
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
"The same was in the beginning with God."
"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made."
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
"In him was life"--Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John probably wondered at his existence at this point. All truth seemed to be at stake.
Proverbs 13:12 says,
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."
John seemed to experience a hope deferred. However, the desire did come. All human wisdom or power could not attempt to open the book. No one possessed the worth.
But, "Weep not", the angel told him. There is One Who by His incarnation, passion, and death is worthy to open it. The Perfect Lamb of God is worthy to loose the seven seals (seven being a number of perfection). He has not forsaken the word of His testimony. He is true and right and just and pure. He will display His power and His truth will endure forever.
Romans 14:15
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
The Scriptures point to our hope. The Word is a written testimony of God's promises fulfilled.
I Peter 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
How common is it for us, even as Christians, to live like we have a deferred hope? Why isn't our ultimate pursuit always Jesus Christ and His kingdom? Why do we make ourselves so comfortable down here on this earth when we are but strangers? Is it because we have lost our hope?
Without the hope of eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord, what is there to live for? The world's definition of hope involves "a feeling that what is wanted will happen." That is only a hope contained within this life. What happens after the fulfillment of all these earthly desires?
We need genuine hope. A hope that is founded on something which affords great confidence in fulfillment. Jesus Christ is that only hope! I pray that He would be as real to us as He was to John. Where is my confidence? It must lie in Christ alone. He is All in All!
posted by Heather Livingston at 9:10 AM
4 Comments:
Awesome Post~ It is so wonderful to know that even when all other hope is gone, There is still the hope of Jesus Christ! Praise God!
Rev 5 is one of my favorite chapters. I have a good message I will let you hear on it if I can hunt it down. Good Journal! Thank you for posting it.
I have been greatly encouraged by your post this morning Heather.
I thank God for the insight that He has given you. Truly the Lord Jesus Christ is our only hope! He will never fail, and one day we will see that our hope in Him was not wasted.
Blessings,
Bro. Aaron
Heather,
I'm glad to read your thoughts on this. I frequently find Revelations to be a hard book to study. I sometimes feel that I'm not grounded enough in the rest of the Bible to tackle issues/subjects that are brought up in Revelations.
Good journal!
Thanks,
-J
Post a Comment
<< Home