WHAT WE DESERVE AND WHAT JESUS CAME TO DO

November 19, 2014

WHAT WE DESERVE AND WHAT JESUS CAME TO DO

Revelation 16:1–7

Katie Beth Pelley

Central Truth

True and just are God's judgments, but God sent His Son, Jesus, so that we might be reconciled to Him in the coming age.

"Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!"
(Revelation 16:5b-6)

The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters^{1

16:5
Greek angel of the waters} say,

“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”

7 And I heard the altar saying,

“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
true and just are your judgments!”

Footnotes

[1] 16:5 Greek angel of the waters

A month after I had successfully gained driving freedom, I was guilty of pulling the famed "rolling stop." As I was bombarded by a siren and flashing lights, the cop (without blinking) enthusiastically informed me of my crime. Within two minutes I had earned a $250 prize that I was required to pay for.

At 16, I received a traffic ticket, lost driving privileges, and got a lengthy lecture on the importance of paying attention to traffic signs. This is punishment that I deserved.

Today's passage describes how the seven bowl judgments pour out God's righteous, deserved wrath on earth's inhabitants during the Great Tribulation preceding the Second Coming of Christ. God commands the seven angels to pour out on the earth the seven bowls of His wrath (Revelation 16:1).

In Romans 6:23, we learn that "the wages of sin is death." Yet God loves us so much that He has made a way for us to know Him and have life. "[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God sent Jesus, who had no sin, to be sin for us "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Christ's blood was shed so that we could be reconciled to God. God did this so that we might spend eternity in His presence.

The people in this passage reaped consequences like "harmful and painful sores" (Revelation 16:2). Their punishment was greater than anything I faced at age 16! Like them, we deserve death because of our sin. But Romans 5:10 tells us that "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" and that we shall "be saved by his life."

I'm grateful for God's great love in sending Jesus, who unites us to Himself, and how we are made alive with Christ by God's grace! (Ephesians 2:4-7)

I'm also grateful for learning awareness and caution in driving. :-)

1. How does the gospel affect the way you are living today?

2. What fears are preventing you from finding freedom in Christ alone?

3. What can you stop and thank the Lord for doing in your life today?

4. How are you practicing living for eternity instead of living for things of the world?