Category Archives: Forgiveness

Colossians, Faith, Firm Foundation, Forgiveness, Maturity, Sanctification/holiness

Firm Foundations – Study 6 – Colossians 3:1-17

The new you part 1: Put on love

Topic covered: How do we now live as Christians?
Glossary: sin; fruit of the Spirit; forgiveness; love. Now-but-not-yet.

Discussion Question

Which do you think is better: to be told what not to do or what to do?

Context

In the first half of his letter, Paul has proclaimed Christ to be above everything else. Christ is the source of life and Christ is the only way to or eternal hope. In Chapter 2, he hopes that his readers have ‘died with Christ’ so that every other reality is subordinate to knowing and following him. He has said that we are to continue living our lives in him, established and built up in the faith.

In the next section of his letter, we will hear examples of what this all looks like. Paul will give us some solid applications of what he has laid down in Chapters 1 to 3. What follows is not new thoughts on unrelated issues, but what flows out of our true knowledge of the gospel.

Read Colossians 3:1-17

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 

What did you see?

Structure

  • Set your hearts on eternal hope (1-4)
  • Walk away from your old self (5-9)
  • Put on love (10-14)
  • Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly (15-17)

Set your hearts on eternal hope (1-4)

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ…” Paul begins his second half of the letter with this brief reminder of what he has been saying so far. Remember that the letter is one flowing argument based on the truth that Christ is the source of life and the giver of eternal hope.

“…you have been raised with Christ…” This is another little gem statement about the gospel. If the free gift of salvation was not complete, then Paul couldn’t say that we HAVE been raised with Christ. He’s not talking about a future resurrection but about a reality right now for those who have already DIED with Christ. Our identity is now paired with him. Our status in life for all eternity is as alive and qualified because we are with Christ.

“…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” In 2:20, Paul said to stop allowing everyday things to have eternal meaning. He now says it in the positive: set your hearts on what is eternal. The King is on His throne and our destination is with Him. What matters most is to make what matters most matter. Christ, the eternal King, is all that matters. So, lift your eyes sinner. Set your horizon higher dreamer. Give your goals an eternal perspective. Our hearts are our loves and passions. What is it that you desire and long for? Take your eyes off what is fleeting and place it on the eternal and true. Fall in love with the hope that is in you. Believing that Jesus Christ is really seated in heaven at God’s right hand will change your life!

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Not just what we love but our thoughts. The bible speaks to both parts of the person which work together. What we know, we will train our hearts to love. And what we love, that is what we will pursue. Earthly things, refers to everything that is passing away. Our generation (as all that has preceded us) is so fickle and rejoices in short-lived shiny things. But this is the essence of the fight within all of us to sin no more. Sin is about grabbing hold of things that are not worth loving but we do anyway.

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” This is not a new thought but embraces 2:20-3:2. Picture this like boarding a lifeboat. We have boarded the boat, which is Christ, because we see that we need saving and this is our only real option. But boarding the boat means leaving the water or the sinking vessel. Your only future is to stay in that boat and not play around with the danger that you have left behind.

“When Christ, who is your life, appears…” So, this is an important point of view of the Christian. Although we have not seen Christ, we love him and although we don’t see him now, we believe in him and are filled with the joy of knowing him now and anticipating seeing him face to face (1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 3:1-2). A day will come, maybe in our lifetime, maybe not, when Jesus will come again in the flesh and wrap up this earth which is temporal. We live for this future and it affects the way we deal with everything in this world. We are in Christ now, but we will see him for real in the future. This is called the now-but-not-yet reality of now. We are hidden with Christ but we are not yet with him in sight.

“…then you also will appear with him in glory.” It’s easy to talk about God as the glorious one and that Jesus is the one to be glorified and praised but we are also told that there is a future version of us that even we don’t know the reality of. One day, the person who God is working in you to be will be revealed in glory. We will see ourselves for what God, by grace, has made us. On the last day, we will be united with Christ and both he and we will be seen for who we really are. This is what we live for now. So, don’t have a short view of the future. Think about eternity!

Walk away from your old self (5-9)

“Put to death…” Sit on this phrase and soak it in. What follows are things that we need to do away with and not put on a shelf to come back to but to end our relationship with them. Christ is our life, and we are to begin our discipleship by murdering. The examples that follow in verse 5 are about sex.

“…therefore…” This word tells us that what follows comes out of the work that Christ has and is doing in us. Christ is our life…therefore. We are hidden in Christ…therefore. You will appear with Christ in glory…therefore. This is the power of the gospel. We will put to death only because of what Christ has done. Without his work, we are incapable of putting these to death.

“…whatever belongs to your earthly nature…” This phrase in with Verse 2 when he told us not to set our minds on earthly things. But he then goes on to list what they are.

“…sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” We could say that these 5 items here relate to passions of the flesh. Most fall in the category of sex. Greed is related in that it is about taking what we feel is needed even though it is not. John Woodhouse, former Principal of Moore Theological College, argues that all of the items are under the umbrella of the first item: sexual immorality. It is easy to see that the items are to do with passions of the flesh. We see, we want, we take.

Sex contained inside marriage is a very Christian idea. At the time of the New Testament writers, this was not common sense nor the norm. We live in an age again when this is no longer normal. Saving sex for marriage and containing it in marriage seems a very odd thing to do in these days. If one believes that there is no God or that God does not wish to judge us, then we are merely creatures doing what creatures do. But Colossians 3:5-7 teaches us that there are immoral approaches to sex.

“…which is idolatry.” Feeding the passions of the flesh is akin to self-worship. It places sex above God. Just in case someone reads this and thinks I am suggesting God hates sex, clearly the passage is about sexual immorality and impurity, and not everything about sex.

“Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” When we read the bible, we understand that sin is about feeding the flesh in self worship. God’s anger is against his creatures who saw, liked, took and ate – despite the clear instruction against it. The wrath of God is judgment day.

“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.” Remember that Christians are not good people, they are sinners saved by grace. We used to walk in these ways. We can never look on a Christian and presume that they know nothing of the ‘wild life’ or rebellion and so on. They just don’t tend to brag about them!

“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these…” First we were to put to death sexual immorality. Now there is something we are to put away. Like you put the gun back in the holster. What follows is a list of things that we do with our mouth.

“…anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” A lot goes on between the eyes, the brain and the mouth. It can happen extremely quickly, but self-control is an outworking of the gospel. In the book of James we are taught that if you can control your tongue, then you can control your whole body! See James 3:3-12!

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Here is a great summary of 3:5-8. The old self used to look out for number one. Child development experts note that lying is a normal stage of mental maturity, indicating intelligence. Could it not also be a kind of evidence that sin is in all of us?

The power of the gospel is transformed lives, desires and a trained tongue. We transform our thinking by growing in our knowledge of the gospel and of the true meaning of God’s grace. We reflect on the eternal hope stored up for us in heaven and that alters our wants and desires in the immediate.

Put on love (10-14)

“…and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” We don’t simply kill and put away the old self but we replace it with knew thinking. We learn more and more about our great and perfect Creator. God is referred to as Creator here to remind us that he has made us for a purpose and a reason. We are not made for lies and malice and anger and sexual immorality. We are being transformed to the likeness of God. Sin has turned his creation into a wild mess but grace will win in the end.

“Here there is no Gentile or Jew…Christ is all, and is in all.” Paul rounds out this paragraph under the theme of being images of God in that everywhere around the world, every race and human culture are one when in Christ. We lose our divisions and call one another brother and sister. In the church, there is no division according to race or anything, but we are all being transformed to the image of our one Creator in Christ Jesus.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people…” The title of God’s chosen people originates in the Old Testament when God called Abraham and his descendants to follow Him by faith. This is an element of the doctrine of election which says that we are not saved because we first came to God but that he first chose and called us.

“…holy and dearly loved…” What a way to speak of the people of God! We are not called to be enslaved to God and to serve Him for His own selfish gain – but we are holy because of the sins washed away from us and we are dearly loved, demonstrated by the sacrifice God made for us in Christ (Romans 5:8).

“…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” The gospel produces fruit like this (Galatians 5:22-23). There is a decisiveness to this in that we are to clothe ourselves. Christian growth does not happen entirely by the work of the Spirit but by the cooperation of us with the Holy Spirit.

Compassion: to feel concern for others.

Kindness: often demonstrated with the way we use our tongue but always when we think of how our speech or actions will affect someone else.

Humility: the opposite of boasting and pride. Even an expert in a subject can demonstrate humility toward others – making them feel important too.

Gentleness: a soft word, a quiet approach and a soft touch all stem from compassion, kindness, humility and patience.

Patience: Don’t let your time be the most important. It could be that someone else needs more time to come to an answer or to learn a new skill.

“Bear with one another and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.” This is a truly remarkable difference that the gospel can make. Bearing with one another is about letting things slide at times. It comes from patience. We give others room to make mistakes because you ain’t perfect either. I love it when others bear with me while I work things out or while I have time to repent of my anger or pride. Nobody rebuked me but knew that I had stuff to work on. So, don’t jump on one another every time someone does something wrong. This really helps with road rage! And then there’s forgiveness. After a recognition of sin or fault by someone else and a ‘sorry’, we run to forgiveness. The gospel must teach us this. Just like the gospel itself, forgiveness follows repentance. Without repentance there is no forgiveness of sins (Jeremiah 5:3; Ezekiel 18:32; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 11:18; 2 Corinthians 7:10).

“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Enough said? Well, forgiveness cost God. Forgiveness is not easy but God believes that it is worth the cost. It can hurt to forgive somebody but this is the way of grace.

“And over all these virtues…” What Paul has listed are examples only of Christian virtues – or virtues found in the chosen people of God. We were created to be like this.

“…put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” When you practice any of these virtues you are showing love and exercising love. Ever wondering what to do in a situation? Put on love. Ever wondering what to say to a person? Put on love.

So we have reflected on where our hearts and minds are to be directed (1-4), we have decided to put away the old man (5-9) and replace him with the virtues of love (10-16). Now we look at what gospel itself does in the community of believers.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly (15-17)

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” I love the thought of allowing the peace of Christ to do its thing. Don’t resist what God is doing. Allow the gospel to be communicated and meditated on. Let the impact of the gospel dominate your heart and your passions and desires. Allow God to be the greatest treasure to you. We let that happen by putting to death the deeds of the flesh and putting away the old habits of sin.

“…since as members of one body you were called to peace.” The gospel does not bring people together to be enemies but to be friends. We lose our high views of ourselves and surrender to Christ and all of us are on equal terms – one in Christ.

“And be thankful.” Practice being thankful. Make a point of ticking off the things to be thankful for. Christians ought to be thankful creatures. Thankfulness dominates resentment and discontentment.

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly…” Again, let the gospel flow in the Christian community. Let the church be well fertilized by the word of God.

“…as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom…” To teach is to instruct and remind one another of the gospel truth. To admonish is to urge and steer people back to the gospel life. Both are to be done with all wisdom. That means to know when and how to do it. We don’t just speak truth because it’s true. We do it with compassion, kindness and patience.

“…through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit…” So, the teaching and admonishing are part of our singing tradition. The songs we sing ought to be filled with gospel teaching which encourages one another in the truths of God’s word. From the Spirit refers to the content of the songs being from the mind of God.

“…singing to God…” So, our songs are sung toward one another because they are for teaching and admonishing and also sung to God as our proclamation of faith.

“…with gratitude in your hearts.” Be thankful.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Paul ends this section also with a great summary of what he has been saying all along. Our tongues and our actions must be changed by the gospel. Christ is the true King seated at the right side of God and our destiny is to be glorified with him. So let’s get busy transforming our minds and actions and words for his glory now! Put on love and do everything because Jesus is your Lord. Not out of resentment but from a thankful response to the kindness, love and mercy that God the Father has poured on us through Christ.

What did we learn?

Paul ends this section, in verse 17, with a great summary of what he has been saying all along. Our tongues and our actions must be changed by the gospel. Christ is the true King seated at the right side of God and our destiny is to be glorified with him. So let’s get busy transforming our minds and actions and words for his glory now! Put on love and do everything because Jesus is your Lord. Not out of resentment but from a thankful response to the kindness, love and mercy that God the Father has poured on us through Christ.

Now what?

Topic A: Putting to death and putting away. We must remember that our project is not to build up a perfect life but to embrace what God has already done for us in Christ. We are not earning a salvation for ourselves (Christ has claimed it for us) but when we turned to Christ, we became his followers. We are in the race. As runners, we need to get rid of things that don’t fit this life anymore. It is time to walk away from our past habits and embrace new ones. CS Lewis once wrote about Satan’s ploy to convince us that the only was to get rid of temptation is to give into it. This is a lie. Learn to turn up prayer when temptation comes. The temptation will pass and when it does, the deed will no longer look beautiful but pathetic.

Topic B: The fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit of God. They are not good deeds but good character and virtues. The fruit of the Spirit does not grow by focusing on the fruit but by focusing on the foundation which is Christ and His kingdom. Colossians talks about producing the fruit of the Spirit like putting on clothing. In that sense, we can help the Spirit work by practicing and thinking about such things as compassion and kindness. Again, understand that this improvement does not come by building your inner self and strength up but by letting Christ rule in your heart.

Topic C: Forgiving as the Lord forgave you. We’ve heard this before! The Lord’s prayer puts this right at the centre. Praying the Lord’s prayer can help us to meditate on who is the rightful ruler, whose kingdom are we serving and how are we to think about love and forgiveness, temptation and power. The point is to look to God for your motivation and direction. Maturity comes to those who let Christ rule. When faced with the hard choice of forgiving others, ask yourself what Jesus has been willing to do for you.

Conversion, Cross of Christ, Faith, Forgiveness, How Faith Works, Luke, Repentance

Study 3 – Faith Grants Eternal Life – Luke 23:32-43

Discuss this quote: 

“faith … is the hand of the soul, to lay hold of all the graces, excellencies, and high perfections of Christ.” (Richard Sibbes circa. 1600).

Context

Our study on “faith” has, so far, taught us that faith is not about feelings but about a certain hope (Hebrews 11:1). That is, we don’t live on wishful thinking, rather, we live in the certain hope of the resurrection as proven by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we learned that faith is something that we can observe in someone’s life. We act and speak in response to our faith. James 2:14-26 showed us that faith is not simply what we think, but what we do with that thinking.

This week, we turn to an account in the Gospel of Luke which reminds us of the importance and power of faith.

The context of this account, as you will quickly see, is the moment of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Read Luke 23:32-43

Retell the story in your own words.

Reread Luke 23:32-43 (these three steps will help get the passage into our vision so we can see it clearer).

Observation

Structure

  • 32-33 With Jesus
    • 34 Jesus said…Forgive them.
      • 35 The people and rulers said…IF he is God’s Messiah
        • 36-37 The soldiers said…IF you are the king
          • 38 The public notice said…This is the king of the Jews.
        • 39 One criminal said…Aren’t you the Messiah?
      • 40-42 But the other said…This man is innocent…he is the King.
    • 43 Jesus said…Today you will be with me in paradise.
  • 43b With Jesus

Notes on the structure

A study of the structure above will show you the flow of the passage as well as the central theme – Jesus is the King, God’s chosen One, the Messiah, but who can see it? The account begins a birds eye view of Jesus nailed to his cross with two criminals on his right and his left. It is a mockery of a kingdom. The description sounds like a kingly position with those on his right and his left but they are criminals and the place of honour is a place of shame – the cross. Jesus, however, declares that they do not know what they are doing. The spectators then get numbered off as all questioning and/or mocking the point of Jesus as Messiah. The great irony is placed at the centre of the story: a sign with the plain statement that Jesus is the King of the Jews. The sign is of course there to mock either Jesus or the Jews or both, but the message does not come with a snarling voice or a mocking laughter – the sign is neutral, without emotion – it states what we know to be true. Everyone around the sign has their own opinion.

The punch line comes with the second criminal who, firstly, rebukes the mockers (namely the other criminal), secondly, declares Jesus’ innocence, and thirdly, puts his trust in Christ alone: by speaking of Jesus’ kingdom, he declares his own faith in Jesus as King. He is the only person in this account who sees Jesus for who He really is.

Some questions to work through the passage:

Question 1: How is the scene depicted in Verses 32-33? (Note the use of the words “with him” and “along with” and finally “one on his right, the other on his left” which highlight the obscenity of this scene – the King of Glory is pictured as the chief of thieves.

Question 2: List the various characters in the passage from Verse 35 to 39 and comment on what they said to Jesus or about Jesus. What do these statements tell us about the theme of this account? (Make sure to include the sign in Verse 38. The theme could be stated as: do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?)

Question 3: Focus on the statements of the 2nd criminal in Verses 40-42. What does he believe? (about God, judgment, himself, and Jesus?)

Question 4: What does Jesus believe? (see Verses 43 and 34)

Question 5: Do you believe that this man was saved? Why?

Meaning

Luke believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One of God and that forgiveness comes to those who hear this good news and repent (see also Luke 24:46-48). The 2nd criminal put his faith in Jesus and, with no good works of his own, was promised a place in paradise by the King who can make that promise. His faith was not blind, although it was present despite the present reality. That is, most people saw a sad and pathetic fool but he saw the saving work of God.

Application

Application A: Seeing what’s really there. The mockers on that day were blind to the reality of who Jesus is and therefore rejected him. Jesus demonstrated no strength (apart from patience, kindness, love and self-control) and yet the 2nd criminal saw a king. What the 2nd criminal also saw was the unfairness and shallow mindedness of the people of this world. In the same way, it is easy for us to overlook the reality of Jesus as King when we live in a world where he is invisible. Our happiness seems not to come from faith but from money, sex and power (it would be great to do a short sermon series on those!) What we can see and feel is real. But, as Romans 1 reminds us, God’s eternal qualities and power are clearly seen from what he has made and done. Romans 1 also tells us that the gospel is the power of God that saves. We are being asked today, “do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah/King of paradise?” Or would you rather believe that paradise is only what you make of yourself in this world?

Application B: Which criminal are you? The first criminal comes across quite angry with Jesus (at least that’s the emotion I hear in the text). He almost blames Jesus for the state that he is in! Have you ever prayed like, “God, if you are there and real, what are you doing?! If you were real, my life would not be like this!” His position is: My Messiah would do x, y and z. If you are not doing these things, then you must not be the Messiah! On the other hand, the other criminal accepts where he is in life, and turns to Jesus for deliverance. He doesn’t try to change Jesus or rebuke Jesus – he turns to Jesus for help. Note that his act of repentance is subtle – not really stated bluntly but his declaration that Jesus is King is fairly clear. His repentance looks simply like a declaration that he is in the wrong – getting what he deserves. And his confession of Jesus as LORD comes in the form of, “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Do you wish Jesus to be what you want him to be? Or do you wish Jesus to include you in His kingdom?

Application C: Living like a criminal. The righteous criminal turned to Christ (literally) and was saved. But his earthly life came to an end that day. We who have turned to Christ continue to live out our faith as changed people. We will look more into what this looks like in the coming weeks but it is true that the only difference between us and that criminal is time. He was guaranteed a place with Jesus that day (refrain from questions about the time-frame between death and the resurrection – good question but it is a sidetrack to our point). We are guaranteed a place with Jesus at a later date – but our guarantee is not changed. Read Ephesians 1:13-14 and see who will see to it (guarantee) that we make it to eternity. Hint: He is named in the passage.

Forgiveness, Judgment, Kingdom of God, Resurrection, Revelation, sin, The Last Days, Visions

Revelation 19:19-20:15

Armageddon and the Thousand years

Discussion Question

What is your favourite book? (In this study we will see all the books opened that will be used to judge all of humanity and yet there is the Book of Life – this may become our favourite book!)

Or

Can you think of a story of anti-climax? Like the Y2K bug? All the hype that came to nothing!

Background (Context)

The book of Revelation has been filled with visions from God given to John to write down. We have heard some spectacular things. Chapter One gave us the flavour of the book with its vision of the throne of God. Chapters 2 and 3 contained seven letters to seven churches and we discovered that being faithful to God and holding fast to his promises would return a crown. Chapters 4 and 5 displayed the glorious throne room of our God, declaring that he is worthy and powerful. Chapters 6 to 19 have described the history of the world under the curse of sin while it awaits the return of the King who alone is worthy. Three types of characters appear in the book: those who oppose God (described as beasts and dragons and prostitutes and so forth, they are aligned with Babylon and are tricked by the beast), those who praise God (sometimes called the martyrs or those who survived the tribulation, whose names are written in the book of life) and lastly there is God and his heavenly agents.

Armageddon was mentioned back in Chapter 16 Verse 16  (see VV12-17ff) and as part of our context, we will begin by reading Revelation 19:19-21 to see that it matches the same event as Armageddon.

Read Revelation 19:19-21

Follow this link to read the passage on BibleGateway… 

What did you see? (Observation)

Structure

  • The beast and the armies of the world rise up! (19)
  • But they were all captured and destroyed (20-21)

The beast and the armies of the world rise up! (19)

“…gathered together to wage war…” Compare this phrase in Verse 19 with 16:14 and 20:8. There is one event in mind here and it is a picture of all the worlds strength in attack against God and God dismantling all their efforts in a heartbeat. This is not new to Revelation. Ezekiel 38-39 is alluded to in these verses as is Zechariah 12-14 and Zephaniah 3. A final war of history is described but surely, like the rest of Revelation, they are a picture of how final and effortless the Judgment of God will be on that Day. The emphasis is not on how scary and brutal are the enemies of God but on how swift and final is the Word of God.

Another surprising OT reference is Psalm 2! “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed…The One enthroned in heaven laughs…You will break them with a rod of iron…” Psalms 1 and 2 set the agenda for the whole of the Psalms and give a theme of the entire scriptures. Psalm 2 declares that there is no king besides Jesus (or David in its immediate context) and we need to get right with Jesus before it is too late!

But they were captured and destroyed (20-21)

“But the beast was captured, and with it…” As was mentioned last week, the beast who has lured humanity away from God is defeated – just like that.

“…who had performed the signs on its behalf…mark of the beast…” Rev 13:12 refers to the activity of the beast and the signs that deluded many. The mark of the beast sounds like a branding. We will not get drawn into equating this image with barcodes or something else. This is not how we have been reading Revelation and we won’t start now. The picture language is about being enticed to side with the rebels instead of with God and humanity are tricked in all manner of ways. We are not going to accidentally be marked by the beast by using a certain credit card or something like that. But one can find themselves so distracted by the things of this world that they cannot say they are marked out by Jesus. We ought to take our eyes off avoiding the beast and rather set our eyes on the One who can put our names in the book of life.

“…thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphuric.” We will return to this in Chapter 20.

“…killed with the sword coming out of the mouth…birds gorged…” The judgment comes from the word of God coming from the mouth of Jesus who rides on the horse. The sword is not a metal blade but a word of judgment. The birds remind me of something Jesus said in the gospels, when he was speaking about the end times (Luke 17:37). They are an image of the aftermath of war where the slain are left for the birds to eat – there is no one to bury them.

Read Revelation 20

Follow this link to read the passage on BibleGateway… 

What did you see? (Observation)

Structure

  • I saw the dragon bound (1-3)
  • I saw the saints at the first resurrection (4-6)
  • Armageddon? (7-10)
  • The books are open (11-15)

I saw the dragon bound (1-3)

“…having a key…and holding in his hand a great chain.” The theme of holding someone against their will is introduced.

“…the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan…” Four identities given to Satan and linking us right back to Genesis 3. We did not know that the serpent was Satan in the garden but this is clear now. I love to remind people that the bible is one complete book. Themes introduced in Genesis have grown across the pages to give us a complete image – just as much as the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 could not have been known to be Jesus until the whole of scripture was revealed.

“…bound him for a thousand years.” It will be interesting to hear each group discuss what the thousand years represents. These thousand years have created a debate about which Millennial view the bible holds: a Premillennial view refers to a Thousand years which begins after Jesus’ return; a Post-Millenial view refers to a Thousand years which ends when Jesus returns and then there is the A-Millenial view which maintains that there is no actual Thousand years but are, again, an image supplied by Revelation to teach us who is in power. Notice how Satan is bound by chains and by time. He is not at all in charge of this cosmos.

There is a timeframe in which Satan is held back from deceiving the nations.

I saw the saints at the first resurrection (4-6)

“…they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” We further our investigation of the Millennial views as this thousand years is not in addition to the previous but superimposed. The question remains, is it an actual thousand years or a metaphor. If it is a metaphor then what does it tell us? The sequence of events seems to follow the sequence in Ezekiel 37-48 (resurrection of God’s people; messianic kingdom; final battle against Gog and Magog and final vision of the new temple and new Jerusalem). The thousand year reference can simply point to a time that has far extended any kingdom that has ever been before. David’s reign was limited by death. Adam’s life fell short of a thousand years. This new era is stronger than any other.

“This is the first resurrection.” The first resurrection refers to the resurrection of Christ. Note that the rest of the dead, those who have not put their faith in Christ, do not participate in this first resurrection. With the power of the gospel, Satan is bound for the same period. He cannot steal or take away what has been claimed by the blood of the Lamb.

“The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God…” This is you and I who have come to Christ. We have full assurance against the judgment to come – do you have full assurance? You should and you can! In this “thousand year reign” that commenced with the resurrection of Christ, we are priests who bring people to God. Jesus said to Peter: I give you the keys to the kingdom! The gospel unleashes security to those who know it and live it!

Armageddon? (7-10)

“When the thousand years are over…” So, despite there not being a literal thousand years (the amillennial view which I hold), there is a storyline of what happens after the resurrection of Christ and after the period that we live in now is over.

“… Satan will be released…go out to deceive the nations…Gog and Magog – and to gather them for battle.” Verse 7 and 8, as mentioned earlier, allude to Ezekiel 38-39 where Gog and Magog are both mentioned. They appear here to represent cities who have bought the lie of the beast and sided with him rather than with the Lamb. The phrase, “gather them for battle”, occurs at 16:16 and again in 19:19 and helps us to see that this is the same event retold again and again. The beast gathers the nations by deceiving them that they can do better than God. God takes them down with his breath. The whole thing ends, not with a bang but with a whimper. This is Armageddon. (I’m-a-gettin’ out ‘o here!)

“In number they are like the sand on the seashore.” The enemy ramps up in power like they intend to smash down God with their might! The description of the enemy is big. Get ready for a BIG battle!

“…but fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” If it weren’t talking about the Day of the Lord it would be funny! God received no scars from this battle. He didn’t even leave his throne room. This took no effort. It is ridiculous to think that we can oppose God. 

“They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” The ‘they’ refers to the devil and the beast and the false prophets. The description is of eternal conscious punishment. Revelation contains imagery that we have learned to not take literally (like the beast and the dragon and the four living creatures etc) but the message of Revelation is real. There will be a Judgment to determine the future of all. And here, for the devil and co, there is what we would perhaps call hell. So what about everyone else? Are they, who have not been washed clean by Jesus, ‘devoured’ like in Verse 9? Let’s read on.

The books are open (11-15)

“The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” This is one of my favourite verses in the bible because it is so mysterious and subtle. The heavens is not ‘heaven’ but the space above the earth. Just as easily as the enemies of God were struck down effortlessly, the earth and all that we know of this reality will simply be gone – without a trace. This is well worth our time meditating on regularly.

“…and books were opened.” Revelation 20:11-15 gives a classic and concise account of what every living human needs to look forward to. There is no mistaking the bible to say that we will all give an account of what we have done. Romans 14:12.

“Another book was opened…” The book to take notice of, however, is the one titled: Book of Life. It’s not the “This is your life” book but the “Jesus has saved your life” book. As Revelation says, if your name is in that book, then you don’t need to be concerned about what is in your personal book. I recall Aslan speaking to Lucy after dealing with Edmond’s unfaithfulness. Lucy was told that there is no need to speak of it any more.

“…and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them…” the point is that no person is exempt from Judgment day. The sea, death and Hades are simply three names for the region of the dead.

“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.” Death no longer has any sting. The very concept of death has an end – it is also subject to God.

“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.” Noting firstly that if your name is not in the book of life, the conclusion is that your own life story will not get you saved. We all need saving! The big question is: do Verse 15 and Verse 10 refer to the same punishment? I don’t see how they cannot!

The human race is faced with a decision: turn to Christ and rely on His pure record to avoid the lake of fire or cross your fingers that you have a clean record written in the book of your life. According to Revelation (and therefore the word of God) you cannot pass the test because you have already failed it. There won’t be a party in hell for all who couldn’t care less about Jesus. ‘Tormented day and night for ever and ever” is the description in Verse 10.

What did we learn? (Meaning)

There is no stopping the kingdom of God as it is the most powerful kingdom in all history and beyond. There is no avoiding hell on our own merit. As Psalm 2 says: Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction…blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Now what? (Application)

Topic A: Premillennialism has no future. The only text in the bible that refers to a thousand year reign is this one in Revelation and it stands against much of what the New Testament has to say about judgment day. That is, that it will be swift and come like a thief in the night (see actually Revelation 16 where this is quoted in the context of Armageddon). If there is a thousand years that happen after Jesus’ second coming, then it will also include death and the curse of sin. To take the thousand years as literal is to begin to take the whole book of Revelation literally too, with swords coming out of mouths and feet blazing with fire. What we have reflected on in these notes is that the Resurrection inaugurated a new reality which constrains Satan who cannot destroy those who are alive in Christ.

Topic B: The reality of hell. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31). There is an urgency in the bible to get right with God. Jesus said it would be better to not be born than to betray the Son of Man (referring to Judas). He also said that it is better to enter life a cripple than to have two feet and be thrown into hell (Mark 9:45). There is a view in Christianity that final judgment may result in eternal unconscious punishment, otherwise known as annialation. This is a big area of discussion and no theologian is excited by the doctrine of hell – but we can get excited about the doctrine of salvation by grace alone! How easy is it to avoid!

Topic C: The book of Life. There must be no greater book that this one. I know, it’s a metaphor, but it points to the reality that when you are with Christ, there is no more condemnation! The book of Revelation has talked about the saints being robed in white, given a stone with a secret name on it, being crowned. There is no such language as ‘hoping for the best.’ I pray that all who are involved in Growth Group ministry can fathom the wonder of full assurance. The thing that matters most is not, which millennial view you hold (although it does matter), nor which view of hell you hold (although that also matters) but whether you have run to the Son who saves.