Following that great gettin’ up morning, a sparkling new heaven and new earth will hold a magnificent new Jerusalem. The Lord will dwell among his people, and there will be no more mourning or crying or pain. The thirsty will receive water without cost from the spring of the water of life. God promises this dwelling place to those who victoriously follow him.

But a certain class of people are left outside, consigned to a second death. These you might expect—the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the idolators and liars. But one more group makes the list—the cowardly.

It makes sense to me that those who murder and rape and pillage find the gates of heaven shut in their face, but the cowardly? We all shrink back at times. Less than brave feels like a stance I’ve taken many times in life.

But here “cowardly” refers to those who fear persecution due to their faith in Christ. They slink away. They fail to endure. They hide when they need to step forward. They let their brothers and sisters suffer while they avoid ill treatment.

Hmmm. That’s rather convicting. Where do I show cowardice? When have I failed to speak up when I should say something? Believers around the world face far more intense persecution than me, and many take brave stands. Such people will populate this heavenly city.

I hope I’m one of their neighbors. So I pray, Lord, give me the courage to speak at the appropriate times, even when I’d prefer to blend into the wallpaper. Help me become one who endures to the end and joins the saints in your heavenly city.

Revelation 21 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Rob Martin

Not far from where I live lie vast storage facilities holding every item imaginable. Fleets of trucks carry merchandise to and from these warehouses all day long. Goods fly from the shelves as we all buy gifts and stock up for Christmas. The whole procurement and distribution system amazes me, and makes me glad I’m not in charge. I just enjoy shopping in my pajamas and getting the stuff I want dropped off on my front porch.

Job experienced the opposite of a wonderful holiday season. After many questions and frustrations, the Lord answered Job in his distress. God first reminded Job who created the world, and who stood among the created. The Lord pointed out his own vast facilities, or as the King James Version calls them, his magnificent treasure houses:

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Or hast thou seen the treasures of hail?

The Lord pointed out the abode of light and the residence of darkness. Along with snow and hail, the Lord keeps barns full of lightning, winds and ice. Quite a neighborhood, with bulging doors and flashing windows.

The Lord laid the earth’s foundation and marked off its dimensions. Snow and hail are no big deal to him. He reminded Job, and reminds you and me today, who is the creator and who is the created.

The Lord holds a few hurricanes in the back room for just the right moment. Soon the Lord will deliver snow and ice to my front porch, next summer lightning and hail. I can count on that delivery, and be thankful the Lord continually opens his treasure houses for our benefit.

Job 38 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Adrian Sulyok

John, in his visions of the apocalypse, recorded a macabre scene scene of ultimate judgement. Read it thoughtfully, and join me in pondering the message for humanity:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

These books underscore that God is sovereign over all peoples and all times. Personal histories are in the books, good and bad, hidden and public. But the book of life remains ultimate. Here loyalties are recorded. Did we ultimately turn to Jesus and acknowledge him as Lord? Or did we cling to ourselves?

Over the centuries theologians have argued about how hard it will be to pass the test of the books. Some push a strict view, others more generous. Personally, I lean toward the generous as I consider the mercy and grace of God. But even with full knowledge, some choose for themselves the downward path.

The Good Book makes it quite clear—If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Jesus is not called Savior for nothing. Here is what he saves us from, an eternity of godless, hopeless, aloneness.

Those whose names are written in the book of life step from this grim library into a new heaven and a new earth, glorious and unexplored. Acknowledge Jesus as Lord, ask God to inscribe your name on a page, and pass into the marvelous world beyond.

Revelation 20 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Henry Be

Versions of Jesus float through our world. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, is popular. Advocate Jesus lends his name to various causes. Genie Jesus, who just wants us to be happy, gives unlimited wishes. All these slice off a piece of Jesus and mold it into a more useful form. But John in his Apocalypse blows up such images and introduces a Jesus that’s not so pliant.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Notice some characteristics of Jesus. He’s faithful and true and just. With eyes aflame he wages war. Jesus wears a robe dipped in blood. He’s followed by the armies of heaven, but he doesn’t need them because by the word of his mouth he slays the nations. He presses grapes of furious wrath. Finally he bears his true name—KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (all caps in the Bible means snap your head around and pay attention).

Forget all the flippant ways we think of Jesus. Because there’s nothing flippant about this rider. Jesus charges from heaven with power and glory and all will fall before him, either in destruction or in worship.

I can follow this Jesus.

Gentle Jesus and advocate Jesus and genie Jesus all bore us, because they’re not really Jesus. These are figments of imagination, invented in the Wonka-verse, created to buttress arguments and get our way.

The real Jesus puts that all to rest. Reflect this Christmas season on the Jesus found in Scripture. The babe worshipped by shepherds will grow into the rider on the white horse. Don’t be guilty of passing along insipid caricatures of Jesus. Instead speak of the King of kings and Lord of lords—the Jesus worthy of our lives and our worship.

Revelation 19 in reading the Bible in 2023

 Photo by Domie Sharpin