The Message
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER SUNDAY
A few years ago, I was teaching a lady, preparing her to take her exams, so that she could get her GED, (high school diploma). One day she came to me, panic stricken. She heard that an atom smasher was developed, and a European country was going to smash an atom. It was dangerous. An escaped destabilized atom could cause other atoms to break apart, join together and cause massive explosions. She expected the world to explode and everyone to die. She was not the only one to think this. Scientists all over the world had similar concerns. To calm her, I explained that God is in charge and the world's end would be exactly as God predicted. The book of Revelation explains our final world's events.
Now the Bible is full of hope, regardless of which version you read. It says that we are not appointed to wrath. In the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible, Verse 6 of chapter 1 says, "He has made us members of his royal family.”[1] Verse 5 of chapter 1 says, " Give glory and power to the One who loves us! He has set us free from our sins by pouring out his blood for us "[2]
The Bible promises that there will be blessings to those who study the writings in Revelation. Revelation 1:3 says "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy. Blessed are those who hear it and think everything it says is important. The time when these things will come true is near.” [3]
Verse 4 says, "May grace and peace come to you from the One who is, and Who was, and Who will come.” [4] The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, in Revelation 1:3-4 says, “Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who reads aloud the word of this prophecy and blessed (happy, to be envied) are those who hear...reading them and laying them to heart...for the time for them to be fulfilled is near.”[5] Verse 4 says, "May grace (God's unmerited favor) be granted to you and spiritual peace (the peace of Christ's kingdom) from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come. Revelation 8 says: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord God. He who is and who was and Who is to come, the almighty...the ruler of all.”[6]
I want you to get a sense if the magnificence of God. In the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible, Isaiah 43:10 says, “Before me there was no other god. And there will not be any god after me.”[7] And Isaiah 43:11, from the King James Version of the Bible says, “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior.[8] Isaiah 43:13 in the New International Reader’s Version states, “I have always been God, and I always will be.[9]
God created us.
We are a part of his family.
He gives us many blessings.
We have joy, peace, wisdom, healing, knowledge, and our needs are met.
In Hebrews, God promises that he will never leave us or forsake us.[10] God loves us. The world is a sad place with pandemics, weather changes and war. But it does not change God’s love for you or for me. He is still on the throne. He is still our Savior!!!
To close, there is a story about a little boy who spent hours playing with a toy boat that his father built him:
One day he lost the boat as a brook carried it away. He was sad that it was lost. But one day he and his dad saw it in a pawn shop. Someone found if and wanted to sell it. He took all of his allowance money and bought it back. He told his father. It was mine to begin with and now I have it back. It belongs to me twice.
God made us. When we were lost, God bought us back through his sacrifice and we belong to him again. Praise be to God!!! Amen.
[1] Revelation 1:6, NIRV
[2] Revelation 1:5, NIRV
[3] Revelation 1:3, NIRV
[4] Revelation 1:4, NIRV
[5] Revelation 1:3-4, AMPC
[6] Revelation 1:8, AMPC
[7] Isaiah 43:10, NIRV
[8] Isaiah 43:11, KJV
[9] Isaiah 43:13, NIRV
[10] Hebrews 13:5, AMPC
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