Tag: Revelation 20

God Wins

OLD TESTAMENT: Ezekiel 6 & 7

POETRY: Psalm 121

*NEW TESTAMENT: Revelation 20

The title of this post is unassuming. Two words: a noun, the subject, and a verb in the future tense. 

I am in the business of speaking, teaching, training, sermonizing. And sometimes (less often than I’d like to admit) I may have a sermon that God uses in spite of all my failures and faults. But if I were to have all the power of the greatest speakers, the powerful conviction of Billy Graham, the clarity and precision of Andy Stanley, the dedication of pastors from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. and beyond, more than a thousand eloquent sermons could not compare to the truth of the future of the world summed up in these two words. 

God wins. 

I don’t want to take away from that truth, but I do want to flesh it out a bit. 

In the earlier parts of Revelation, the beheaded souls have been calling out from beyond the grave to the God who will give them justice (Rev. 6:9-11). God promised the victors that they would have reward upon reward (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21). When God wins, those who placed faith in God above even their own lives have the incredible promises. For time out of mind (1000 years) they will reign with Christ, they will not be hurt by the second death. While the language of two resurrections is not common in the rest of the NT*, the truth is that they are SO ASSURED of their salvation its as if they cannot possibly be brought to judgment. The joy of this resurrection is that we who are powerless, weak, poor, and oppressed will one day win, be victorious and live forever with God and his Christ, because God wins. 

And Satan can’t win. The dragon’s wings are clipped, and the serpentine body is prepared for the flames. In this world, God has power to throw the serpent of old, the devil and Satan, and bind him for 1000 years. During that time, his temptation and power are cast down. In the end, the devil who deceived the world was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is a threat and a promise. Moreover, Satan KNOWS this is his end. The battle between God and Satan is not a cinematic, climactic masterpiece. There is no worry about who will win. Satan is not trying to win, because he can’t. He IS trying to make YOU LOSE, because that is a possibility. But God will help you overcome sin, fight temptation, and come through faithful. God can protect you from the defanged, declawed, clipped-wing dragon, because God wins. 

In some sense, part of the glory of God, part of his winning, is allowing humans to choose their outcomes. God allows people to determine their final state. While we are only and forever able to be saved by the glory and grace of God, God both does not force his salvific will upon us and does not preclude us from choosing him. God gives people what they desire. The books are opened; the dead are judged. Christ is our hope (Col. 1:27), our peace (Eph. 2:14), our resurrection and life (John 11:25). If any person has rejected Christ, what have they done but rejected peace with God and people? Rejected hope of eternal life? Rejected the resurrection and the life? God gives them exactly what they demanded. God doesn’t put up with those who were rebellious against him in this life. Because…

God wins.

No ifs, ands, buts. 

No amount of persuasive words will make it less true. 

No force of hell can stop Him, not a dragon or an atheist. 

The promise is true:

God wins. 

– Jake Ballard.

* There are hints of two resurrections in the rest of the NT, but nowhere is it explicitly stated like here in the apocalyptic work of Revelation. 

(originally posted Dec 5, 2022 for SeekGrowLove)

Reflection Questions

  1. How significant is the phrase “God wins” to you? To elaborate, in what areas of your life are you losing? Temptation and sin? Suffering and pain? Anxiety, depression, stress? What would it mean for you to stop trying to fix it all yourself, and let God win, allowing him to be victorious where you haven’t been yourself?
  2. In the ultimate sense, Satan is powerless. While we might be attacked, tormented, and tempted by evil today, that is not the way the world will be forever. How does it make you feel to know that all evil and wickedness are going to be overcome by the power of God? Will you allow God to protect you, so the battle is one-sided in your favor today?
  3. There is no peace, hope, resurrection or life without Christ. Have you given him control of your life, allowing him to be your savior and lord?
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New!

Sunday, December 31, 2023, New Years Eve

Theme Week – Celebrating Jesus: Revelation 21

Old Testament: Malachi 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 150

            Here we are, the last day of 2023.  We’ve come to the end of the year.  We’ve also come to the end of this eight day focus on the life of Jesus.  We started with the announcement that he was to be born, then his birth announcement, his escape to Egypt, his new beginning in Nazareth, his baptism and testing, his ministry, his death, this resurrection, his ascension to heaven and now we’ve reached the end.  Revelation 21 is a picture of what the future will be after all of the other prophecies surrounding the end of this age and the return of Jesus to reign are completed.    I’m going to insert one passage from 1 Corinthians 15 to help transition us to Revelation 21.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-24).

Paul here gives the basic outline: Christ died and became alive again.  When he comes again those who belong to Christ will, in the same way become alive again, never more to die.  Jesus will reign for a time, Revelation 20 says it will be 1000 year or a millennium, and at the end of that time there will be a final judgment and all of the powers which opposed God since the beginning will finally be destroyed, at which time Jesus will hand over the kingdom to God himself who will come and reign over us in person.

Today’s reading in Revelation 21 shows what will happen after Jesus hands over the kingdom to God.  God sets up his kingdom on earth, in what Revelation calls the New Jerusalem (it’s much larger than the present city of Jerusalem).

This brings the Bible full circle.  In Genesis 1-3 when God first created the earth, he came to the Garden of Eden to visit with Adam and Eve in person.  After they sinned and were cast out of the garden, they were separated from God.  They could no longer dwell in the presence of God.  God made provision for his people through various tabernacles and temples that would have a very holy place where the glory of God would come and where a representative of the people, the high priest would come once a year.  But God’s presence was always mediated by other forms- a burning bush, an angel, pillar of fire or pillar of cloud.  Now, in Revelation 21, God is back fully on earth with his people, in an unmediated direct way.  There’s no need for a temple now, for everyone who is there has been made holy by the blood of Jesus which has cleansed them from their sins.  They are immortal and sinless.  There will be no more death or pain or brokenness.  The Lord God announces, “I am making everything new.”

Tomorrow begins a new year, 2024.  My best guess is, not much will change in the world. Yes, you’ll need a new calendar.  People might have a new insurance plan.  But there will still be sickness, there will still be wars, people will still be snarky on social media and the Democrats and Republicans will continue to fight.  And people will still die.  That’s not going to change until Jesus returns and puts a final nail in the coffin of evil in this world.  This passage gives us a hopeful picture of what the world will be like after that happens, when God comes to live with us, when the final enemy of death will be destroyed and God makes all things new.

The world will be the same tomorrow, but you can be made new.  If you put your full faith and trust in Jesus and follow him, he will make you new.    2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”.  Will you choose to be in Christ, will you be made new?  Happy new year and happy new you!

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. How would you describe Revelation 21 to someone who has never read it before? What do you find most exciting about the New Heaven and the New Earth and New Jerusalem? 
  2. Have you chosen to be in Christ? How does life in Christ create a new creation?
  3. Through your Bible reading what have you learned about God and His Son Jesus in 2023? How can what you learned change you? How can you put this knowledge to use in 2024? Who needs to know what you know? Thank God for revealing Himself to you through His holy Scriptures. 

Watch for the NEW 2024 SeekGrowLove Bible reading plan to be revealed later today! 

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Judgment: The Positive and The Negative

Old Testament: Ezekiel 33 & 34

Poetry: Psalm 105

New Testament: Revelation 20

     Revelation 20 involves God’s judgment, and it may make sense to put 19:20-21 in your mental image of the passage so the beast, the false prophet and their armies are in there. Verse ten reiterates the judgment of the beast and the false prophet, pairing them with the devil they had served. I see the passage with alternating sections of negative and positive references to judgment (19:20–20:3, 7-10, 15) and (20:4-6; 11-14). Grouped this way the text has every use of “lake of fire” (a different phrase appears in 21:8).

     After 19:20-21 establishes the punishment of those who served the dragon, chapter 20 opens with very satisfying language about the serpent not being able to deceive the nations. He is chained and sealed away for a thousand years.

     The description of the saints’ resurrection which follows in verses four to six may seem notably out of sequence. The first resurrection takes place at the last trumpet, in the twinkling of an eye (meaning in the time it takes to blink; 1 Corinthians 15:52). At Christ’s return the dead in Christ rise first, at the sound of the trumpet, and his servants who remain alive rise to meet him just afterward (1 Thessalonians 4:14‑17). That happens before Jesus fights the armies of the antichrist. It seems that the first resurrection was skipped over in Revelation 19. It also seems questionable for there to be an evaluation of the martyrs like is described in the vision. God knows all about them – they are raised because of who they are. It seems that the evaluation was described just for the sake of the vision, and what this passage presents as “judgment” clearly would need to be a fully positive judgment.

     Recognizing all of that, I think God wanted this text here, after a description of what happened to the devil. It contrasts what happened with those who accepted the mark of the beast (dead) and the leaders of the conspiracy (burning) and the one who inspired that conspiracy (imprisoned for a thousand years) to those who stood firm against it (they come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years). Considering what these martyrs suffered, God wants to emphasize their acceptance and glorification, although that called for it being addressed out of sequence.

     In verses seven to nine Satan is again free, for a short time. Perhaps this represents a winnowing of the nations before God makes the next big change in the status of earth. Satan again deceives the nations who are willing to be deceived and assembles them for judgment (even if he doesn’t understand that is what he is doing). And this time judgment comes on him as well. God is closing out the books, after this there won’t be anyone else around able to be tempted. God could have left this entire story unmentioned, but He wanted us to know this part of the future, to be aware that our enemy will be permanently dealt with. (Not that Genesis 3:15 didn’t already indicate it.)

     I like the imagery in verse 11, as though perhaps God’s majesty surges up, and all that is nearby is not holy enough to remain. “Earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them” (v. 11). We continue to be reminded that this is a vision, as the lake of fire is still present for the later part of the vision and did not flee away. Maybe this is looking toward the next part of the story, that God is in the process of replacing heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:12). The description of death and Hades being thrown into the lake of fire is very positive (v. 14), but also serves as another reminder that we are reading about a vision (as it is hard to figure how John knew this happened except by being made aware of it).

     Elements of both the positive judgment scenes (v. 4-6, 11-14) can be found in Daniel 7:9ff, with the thrones, the books, and the fire, but they are mixed. It is a common statement that prophets of the Old Testament saw future events like we might see a distant mountain range, unable to tell very well how large a valley was between the peaks. Events from Christ’s first coming and second coming could be discussed right next to each other in a passage. With Daniel 7, making distinctions relevant to the existence of multiple resurrections wasn’t purposeful. And with Revelation John could not see and appreciate all the things happening in fully accurate order.

     I questioned whether to think of the judgment in Revelation 20:11-15 as neutral, or to break it between a positive first four verses and a ‘negative’ verse 15, because it raises the idea of someone’s name not being found in the book of life. It is interesting to think that verse 15 involves a resurrection too late in history to be relevant for the reader and so may not be intended as a warning for us. But I suppose it will be a warning to people during the millennium.

     Lord, your judgments are true. Thank you for offering your mercy. Please open my heart to accept your gracious offer, for myself, and for others. Don’t allow me to remain burdened with the past. Don’t let me be held back by refusing to forgive. Lord, let me listen so well to you now that I will not be deceived by the evil one or accept any of his lies. Let me seek your truth, and love it. In the name of your beloved son, Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you think it will be like for people in the millennium to read the Bible?
  2. How does it make you feel to think that God is eager to praise those who have faithfully served Christ?
  3. The text refers to “priests of God and of Christ” who will “reign with Him for a thousand years” (v. 6) – have you given much thought to what that might involve?
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The Thing I Know

Death and Kingdom: Revelation 20
Old Testament: 2 Kings 1 & 2
Poetry: Psalm 127

Mema Ballard owned a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas … or is it Encyclopedias Britannica? That is exactly the kind of question one my be tempted to look up in an encyclopedia. Technically, it’s the latter, but she only owned one Encyclopedia, with multiple volumes. It felt like no matter what question we wanted answered, all we had to do was look in the Encyclopedia and boom! Question answered. Crisis of unknowing averted. “All’s right in the world.”

When I entered college, I thought of the Bible much the same way. One library of books, containing multiple works, and if I came with a question, I would have it answered as soon as I learned to know where to look. 

It sure would be nice if the editors of the Bible just put it all into easy-to-read statements of fact and doctrine. Why use all this narrative, all these stories, all these symbols? Poetry; why, couldn’t that lead to interpretation, discussion, and, horror of horrors, more questions?

Obviously, it does.

And yet God did not inspire an encyclopedia. He inspired a library of books that pokes and prods and needles as much as, or much more than, it answers and comforts and assuages. 

If we are asking, “what can we know about death and the Kingdom at the end of the age”, and we turn to Revelation 20 (conveniently at the end), suddenly a lot of questions crop up. 

Which angel comes down and binds Satan?(20:1) Why does Satan need to be released? (20:3) Why is this the only chapter where the dead in Christ are raised in a resurrection apart from the rest of the dead (20:5), and why is this the only chapter where the 1000 year reign of Christ is spelled out in clear detail (20:4, 6)? How could people who saw immortals ruling over them, as is implied, think that they stood a chance, and join forces as “Gog and Magog,” against the “camp of the saints and the beloved city”? (20:8-9) 

I think these questions do have answers; for some, they are complicated, and for others, I don’t know them. 

Should I say that again? 

I don’t know everything. 

Questions unanswered, hurtling directly into the unknown, and I feel the anxiety all around. 

Do you sometimes feel the same way? That you don’t know everything and the things you do know you aren’t sure about?

You don’t have to know everything, because we can’t.

But we can know one thing with absolute certainty, 

We know the ONE who does know everything. 

Which angel? An angel sent by the God who controls all things and cannot lose to Satan. Satan is ALREADY defeated, one day he will be bound. 

Satan’s release and turning away of the nations? God gives everyone a choice to believe, and people can make the choice to not believe.

The 1000 year reign and two resurrections?

I don’t know everything, but I know that if we place our hope in Jesus, we receive eternal life. (John 17:3) We can and should argue, teach, and debate theological and doctrinal points, because they are important.

But those are secondary to trusting in the Messiah for salvation, and living the way Jesus showed us to live. Because those who do not give in to the sins of this world, and live for the will of God (20:4), they will be blessed. And they are blessed in this way : “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.” (Rev. 20:6)

Do you believe? Because if you do believe, there is just one more thing I know. 

Revelation 21:3-4 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

I know I want that experience. 

No death.

No grief or crying. 

No pain.

Every tear of sorrow wiped away. 

God with us. 

I know I want that for you. 

And, even with all your questions, you know you want that too.

Because that is good news. 

That’s gospel message. 

That’ll preach. 

Amen. 

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. Describe the ONE that you know with absolute certainty. What do you learn about Him in His words? What do you still want to learn about Him?
  2. Why do you think God inspired the Bible as it is, rather than to be like an encyclopedia?
  3. How often do you think about what happens at/after death or what will happen at the end of this age? What is the benefit of studying what the Bible says about these topics?

Jake Ballard is pastor at Timberland Bible Church. If you’d like to hear more from him, you can find Timberland on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TimberlandBibleChurch/ ) and on Instagram (https://instagram.com/timberlandbiblechurch?igshid=t52xoq9esc7e). The church streams the Worship Gathering every Sunday at 10:30. Besides studying and teaching God’s word, he is raising three beautiful children with the love of his life, is a big nerd who likes fantasy (right now, Harry Potter), sci-fi (Star Trek), and board games (FrostHaven). If you’d like to reach out to talk Bible, talk faith, or talk about your favorite nerdy things, look Jacob Ballard up on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jacob.ballard.336 ) or email him at  jakea.ballard@yahoo.com. 
God bless you all!

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God wins.

Revelation 20

Monday, December 5, 2022

The title of this post is unassuming. Two words: a noun, the subject, and a verb in the future tense. 

I am in the business of speaking, teaching, training, sermonizing. And sometimes (less often than I’d like to admit) I may have a sermon that God uses in spite of all my failures and faults. But if I were to have all the power of the greatest speakers, the powerful conviction of Billy Graham, the clarity and precision of Andy Stanley, the dedication of pastors from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. and beyond, more than a thousand eloquent sermons could not compare to the truth of the future of the world summed up in these two words. 

God wins. 

I don’t want to take away from that truth, but I do want to flesh it out a bit. 

In the earlier parts of Revelation, the beheaded souls have been calling out from beyond the grave to the God who will give them justice (Rev. 6:9-11). God promised the victors that they would have reward upon reward (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21). When God wins, those who placed faith in God above even their own lives have the incredible promises. For time out of mind (1000 years) they will reign with Christ, they will not be hurt by the second death. While the language of two resurrections is not common in the rest of the NT*, the truth is that they are SO ASSURED of their salvation its as if they cannot possibly be brought to judgment. The joy of this resurrection is that we who are powerless, weak, poor, and oppressed will one day win, be victorious and live forever with God and his Christ, because God wins. 

And Satan can’t win. The dragon’s wings are clipped, and the serpentine body is prepared for the flames. In this world, God has power to throw the serpent of old, the devil and Satan, and bind him for 1000 years. During that time, his temptation and power are cast down. In the end, the devil who deceived the world was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is a threat and a promise. Moreover, Satan KNOWS this is his end. The battle between God and Satan is not a cinematic, climactic masterpiece. There is no worry about who will win. Satan is not trying to win, because he can’t. He IS trying to make YOU LOSE, because that is a possibility. But God will help you overcome sin, fight temptation, and come through faithful. God can protect you from the defanged, declawed, clipped-wing dragon, because God wins. 

In some sense, part of the glory of God, part of his winning, is allowing humans to choose their outcomes. God allows people to determine their final state. While we are only and forever able to be saved by the glory and grace of God, God both does not force his salvific will upon us and does not preclude us from choosing him. God gives people what they desire. The books are opened; the dead are judged. Christ is our hope (Col. 1:27), our peace (Eph. 2:14), our resurrection and life (John 11:25). If any person has rejected Christ, what have they done but rejected peace with God and people? Rejected hope of eternal life? Rejected the resurrection and the life? God gives them exactly what they demanded. God doesn’t put up with those who were rebellious against him in this life. Because…

God wins.

No ifs, ands, buts. 

No amount of persuasive words will make it less true. 

No force of hell can stop Him, not a dragon or an atheist. 

The promise is true:

God wins. 

– Jake Ballard.

* There are hints of two resurrections in the rest of the NT, but nowhere is it explicitly stated like here in the apocalyptic work of Revelation. 

Reflection Questions

  1. How significant is the phrase “God wins” to you? To elaborate, in what areas of your life are you losing? Temptation and sin? Suffering and pain? Anxiety, depression, stress? What would it mean for you to stop trying to fix it all yourself, and let God win, allowing him to be victorious where you haven’t been yourself?
  2. In the ultimate sense, Satan is powerless. While we might be attacked, tormented, and tempted by evil today, that is not the way the world will be forever. How does it make you feel to know that all evil and wickedness are going to be overcome by the power of God? Will you allow God to protect you, so the battle is one-sided in your favor today?
  3. There is no peace, hope, resurrection or life without Christ. Have you given him control of your life, allowing him to be your savior and lord?
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The Books are Opened

Revelation 20

Revelation 20 6.png
You have a destiny.
It sounds like a movie or a great novel. I’m not Morpheus encouraging you to take the Red-Pill, or even a Wardrobe beckoning you to take your place upon the throne at Cair Paravel.
We are discussing something much more crucial: eternity. 
 
In Revelation 20, we are witness to two resurrections and therefore, two judgements. While Jesus in Matthew 25 tells us there will only be one judgement, with some sheep and some goats, Revelation expresses the security of the saved by expressing their own resurrection as separate. Instead of being raised and judged all together, all those who fought against the beast and his mark will reign with Christ and live forever, being raised in an earlier better resurrection, free of fear of the second death. Revelation then shows us that there will be those that, no matter what, will stand against God, and will march against the Lamb. God will smite them and Christ will judge them from the great white throne. There are many books opened, but there is one crucial book, the Book of Life. Those whose name is written in the Book will live, those whose name is not written in the book will die. Those whose name is not written in the Book will be like the goats of Matthew 25, who go off to shame and everlasting contempt.
 
A question we may ask ourselves is “which is the most accurate description of the final judgements? Is it all people into sheep and goats (like Matthew 25) or two separate judgements separated by 1000 years (Revelation 20)?” And that is a good question.
 
A good one, but the WRONG one.
 
The question we MUST ask is, “Am I a sheep or a goat? Is my name written in the Book of Life? Will I be raised in the first resurrection?” This is the correct question, because it is also the one we can answer with assurance. 
If you have believed in the name of Jesus, 
if you have fed the hungry, given water to the thirsty, clothed the naked, visited the sick and imprisoned, (Matthew 25)
if you have refused the mark of the beast, the authority of this world, (Revelation 20)
if you fought against the anti-God system of the world by speaking the message of Christ in love, 
THEN you have been promised by God Himself that you will be raised to eternal life. 
 
May you, my brothers and sisters, be among the sheep, raised in the first resurrection, and may you never need to fear the second death.
Jake Ballard