Reminders for the New Year

Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Revelation 18:6b NASB

Last night I finished my goal of reading through the Bible in 2006. For numerous reasons I found myself behind by a number of days so ended up needing to read the entire book of Revelation in one sitting. What seemed daunting at first lasted only an hour and a half. But the experience was rich! I saw the final book of the Bible in a completely different light. In the past I saw it as a book filled with symbols I did not understand and future events I could not fully grasp. But God’s intent was for me to see the treasure of promises….His promises! Those promises house the end of the story. It is a story that started with God’s creation back in the book of Genesis and fast forwards to the demise of our enemy, the destination of each of us, and the determined reign of God!

God’s Word tells us Satan’s end is the lake of fire where he will be in torment forever. He knows this is his end. He knows his days are numbered. He knows God will ultimately have the victory. He knows he can do nothing to avoid his own outcome. So what is he up to in the mean time? His desire is to be as destructive as possible. He wants to thwart any workings of God, prevent people from knowing Christ, and hinder Christians from living the abundant life God promised them. Let’s take every opportunity this year to remind him of his own defeat! Just read Revelation 20 to him the next time he rears his defiant head.

Each of us have an end as well. I would challenge any person to take just 15 minutes and read the last three chapters of Revelation. The only options point to Heaven or Hell. Heaven awaits those who know Christ as Savior and Hell and the eventual lake of fire await those who do not. If a person is being taught of any other possibilities they are being lied to and deceived.

Finally, I drink in the truth that God is and always will be on the throne. He is the beginning and the ending and has the first and last words. So no matter what this year holds we can proclaim with all our might, “God is still on the throne!”

Father, You wrote my name in the Lamb’s book of Life before the foundation of the world and then You gently wooed me to Yourself. Nothing in this life can change Your revealed end of the story! Amen.