The Greatest Question

 

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.  And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” (Revelation 22:6-11 ESV).

 

Appropriately so, the vision of the new heaven and earth constitutes the final vision of the book of Revelation. What remains are various closing words of instruction from the Lord, delivered first through the mediation of an angel and then by the Lord Himself. Today we are looking at the closing comments from God that come to John through the angel. First, we have a reminder that Jesus is coming soon (v. 7). This reminds us that consummation of God’s plan is imminent because we are living in the final era of redemptive history. All the work necessary to bring the new creation has already been done by Christ; we await only the consummation. The time before all things is finished is indeed short from God’s perspective, so we must be ready for it. Second, God pronounces a blessing on those who hear and keep the book of Revelation (v. 7). The book of Revelation came to us not to encourage eschatological speculation but to warn us of the coming judgment so that we will be prepared to repent and cling to Christ until the very end. Only those who do so will experience life in the blessed new creation.

 

Once more, the glories of the moment overwhelm John and he is tempted to worship the angel, and once more, we see that this message is truly from God because the angel who represents Him commands John to worship the Lord alone (vv. 8–9). John is told not to seal up the book he has written, “for the time is near” (v. 10). Earlier in redemptive history, Daniel had to seal up his vision of the end, for the final part of God’s plan of salvation lay far ahead of him. With the coming of Christ, this is no longer the case, so John’s vision must be published and kept (cf. Daniel 12:4). In this final era, Jesus and His gospel form a dividing line between the unrighteous and the righteous. He forces people to decide as to whether they will be on God’s side. Those who choose against Him become more confirmed in their evil (v. 11).

 

He is coming soon… are you ready? There really is no greater question in our lives than that!