When you hear the words “spoiler alert” do you mute your TV, or skip over what you are reading because you don’t want to know what will be coming ahead in the next episodes of your favorite show, or the ending of a movie you want to watch? Are you one to peek ahead and read the last few pages of a book, particularly a mystery? I am one that doesn’t mind hearing a “spoiler” of a movie or TV show. Actually, I often prefer to know what is coming ahead. That way when the show gets tense and stressful, I am not equally tense or stressed. I can relax a bit because I know what is going to happen. And yes, I do occasionally peek ahead in a book I am reading to find out the ending. In life, though, don’t many of us want to know what is going to happen in the future, how everything will turn out with our lives, the lives of our family, and what will happen in the world? Today's Scripture gives us a peek ahead to what God has planned for the future. This is a “spoiler” that no one should pass over or miss!
In the final chapters of the Book of Revelation, the Lord lets us know how everything is going to turn out, both for the saved and the unsaved. I know some people who absolutely go to pieces with doom and gloom with every single event that happens in the world. Political changes, wars, weather events - these may cause many people to be filled with anxiety, but we can be at peace, because we know the end of the story. We know that God has everything under His control, according to His plan.
As our Scripture begins, Jesus is telling us that He will be coming back soon (vs. 12). Bible theologians often use the word “imminent”, meaning close at hand or fast approaching. There is nothing preventing Jesus from returning today, tomorrow, or in a year or two. It could happen at any time. When Jesus comes, He will reward His believers for all that they have done for Him. We don’t get to heaven by our works, but what works we have done in His Name won’t go unnoticed or unrewarded. We need to be ready for Jesus’ return, which could happen at any time, and in the meantime be working to spread the Gospel.
Jesus repeats the words He said at the opening of this book (vs. 13), that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8). These titles of His reaffirm that He is sovereign and eternal, and show us that He is the ultimate authority over all creation. Because of that, we don’t need to panic like the unbelievers do when anything happens in the world. We know that God is in control!
We are then told that those who are obedient to God and His Word will have the right to partake of the Tree of Life (vs. 14). Since the days of Adam and Eve, mankind has been forbidden access to that tree (Genesis 3:22-24), however now that tree is in God’s kingdom, and Christians have the right to partake of the fruit from it, and to enter God’s city. Obedience to God’s Word is evidence to whether we have genuine faith, and that leads to eternal life.
In God’s eternal kingdom we will no longer have to deal with unrighteous people, those who so often have made the problems we deal with in our life here and now (vs. 15). These people who contribute to the stress and anxiety we face, and even the outright persecution for believers in many areas, will no longer be present. Instead, Jesus, the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star, invites believers to drink of the water of life (vs. 16-17), which emphasizes salvation by grace. We come just as we are, and God gives the water of life freely. We cannot buy it or earn it through any work that we do.
The Scriptures close with a warning, and then a promise (vs. 18-20). Jesus warns us to neither add to, nor take away from the Bible. People who say that they have additional revelations from God are not speaking the truth, nor are there some books of the Bible that we can just ignore, effectively taking them out. The Bible is the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. God’s final words in the Bible is a promise that Jesus is coming back again quickly!
Because we know the end of the story, we can have peace in the midst of utter chaos in this world, a calm in the face of disaster. We can be at peace when everyone else is anxious, because we know the Lord is at hand. He is near, just outside the door. When Jesus returns, He will turn everything that is wrong right-side up. No matter what happens in this world and in life, we can have hope in the promise that Jesus will return, and all will be well. This hope is not based on a rumor or wish. Jesus Himself has assured us that He has a place for us (John 14:2-3), and that He will return. He hasn’t forgotten us, or abandoned us in the turmoil of this world.
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