“They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers” (Rev. 17:14)(NIV).
“The Beginning and The End.”
I am struck by the humble intensity of this verse – a lamb overcoming the powers of evil. There is a meekness and a fire here that only God is capable of. He is sovereign. He will destroy every form of evil in His time. He will judge the living and the dead, and will make reparations for what has been lost. Revelation is full of fire and intensity. But the Lamb’s tender love for us motivates His actions throughout the Bible, and for all eternity. He is the same here, at the Bible’s end, as He was in the beginning, when He reached out from the cosmos to create us in His image.
I started this Biblical journey in Genesis: Christianity’s prologue, describing the downfall of mankind and his separation from God after the events in the Garden of Eden. I am ending it in Revelation: Christianity’s quixotic epilogue, in which God and man are reconciled through Christ. And so the beginning and the end reveal the Bible’s single, interminable thread: God loves us. He has pursued us for millennia, given us miracles and wonders, pillars of smoke and seas split open, His own Son, and the Holy Spirit as our counselor, because He loves us. Revelation is the marriage of the Church (us!) and it’s Creator. Ultimately, the Bible is a love story. And here, in Revelation, is our happily-ever-after.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your un-ending pursuit of me. Let me live my life worthy of Your love until that exalted day in which I meet you face to face.
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” (Rev. 22:20-21).
Sarah
From the archives. Originally posted December 29, 2009.
Sixty-six books in a year 