“Waiting for Our Coming King” by Katie Taylor
Two years ago, I had the amazing opportunity to study the book of Revelation. One. Line. At. A. Time. I am forever grateful to Bible Study Fellowship for their courage to boldly and thoroughly teach such a challenging book. What once seemed scary and confusing to me became hopeful and life-giving. It created a paradigm shift for me…one I’d love to share with you today.
All week we’ve had Jesus on the cross imprinted deeply in our hearts and minds. From the time we first hear about Him, we are taught about that moment He died for us. We will spend the rest of our lives seeking to know the depths of what took place on that cross.
We are not, however, often taught to look at Jesus as He is described in Revelation. We don’t hear much teaching about it in church. Perhaps because we live in time and have a hard time connecting with a promised future. Or perhaps the enemy keeps us from knowing of his demise through confusion and fear. But our timeless God has given us this book so that we may know Him more fully now.
As my study of Revelation was coming to a victorious close, it was around the time of Easter.
Our teacher reminded us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 ESV) She led us through two different pictures of the same Jesus that made a lasting, powerful impression on me:
On the cross, He was pierced by a sword. (John 19:34) When He returns, He will have a sharp sword coming out of His mouth to strike down the nations. (Rev 19:15)
On the cross, He wore a crown of thorns. (John 19:2) When He returns, He will wear many crowns. (Rev 19:12)
On the cross, He bore the mocking name “King of the Jews”. (John 19:19) When He returns, He will have the name “King of King, Lord of Lords”. (Rev 19:16)
On the cross, He closed His eyes and gave up His life. (John 19:30) When He returns, He will have eyes like blazing fire. (Revelation 19:12)
On the cross, He was alone and His followers deserted Him. (Luke 23:49) When He returns, the armies of Heaven will be following Him on white horses. (Revelation 19:14)
On the cross, He was thirsty. (John 19:28) When He returns, His voice will be like the roar of many waters. (Rev 1:15)
On the cross, His face was marred beyond recognition. (Isaiah 52:14) When He returns His face will be like the sun, shining in full strength. (Rev 1:16)
This teaching was a game changer for me! Until we see Jesus in Revelation, we don’t know Him fully. It opened my eyes to visualize the One I pray to in a new way.
These two pictures make the love and humility of the cross even more astounding. The One who holds a sword to avenge the nations, for the joy set before Him, died a criminal’s death for you and me. Wow. To the world, He may seem powerless on that cross, but He’s not. He extends a powerful love like none other.
He has all authority. And yet He gave it up and became small and despised…for us. He took our sin and bore our shame so that we could be free, forgiven, redeemed, new and His.
Those eyes that see us from the cross and say, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” have a fire in them that see from beginning to end. And in the end, He made a way for us to be together:
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)
Revelation tells us of this promised day Jesus will come back to get His beloved bride. Justice will be settled; Satan will be gone forever. Setting our hearts toward this, not just as a wishful thought, but a future reality reframes everything!
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So, today we wait.
We wait much like we do on this long day sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I often wonder about that Saturday—that day it appeared Heaven had lost. It must have seemed like a painful eternity.
And when we look around this broken world today, it can sometimes appear as though darkness is winning. My heart has broken just this year to see another marriage torn apart, another cancer diagnosis of a loved one, another shooting, another suicide attempt from a teenager, another friend losing a parent and another momma sobbing over the loss of her child. This broken world can hurt beyond words.
If we’re honest, sometimes we can wonder as they did that Saturday after the cross…is the darkness winning? The enemy can whisper doubt…has our God left us?
But unlike that eerie Saturday after the cross, we know He hasn’t left us for a moment. And we wait today because He will never leave any of His children:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
We now know what tomorrow holds. We know the power of the resurrection and our victorious Savior who is always with us. We know today’s silence will be shattered by tomorrow’s glorious and global rejoicing. With every flower on every tree we see coming back to life after a cold, dark winter, we are reminded we have a God who brings dead things back to life right in front of our eyes.
Darkness has never had the power to win. When it collides with light, light wins every single time.
All authority belongs to Heaven’s King from beginning to end. And we have the gift of knowing the end; we have the gift of Revelation. “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Revelation 22:7)
The last words of Jesus have the power to pierce through any darkness we may face today as we pause and wait.
“Surely, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:20 ESV)
Written by ~ Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor is a child of God, rescued by grace. She is the blessed wife of Will and momma of three little children. She is a Freedom Writer at Lincoln Village Ministries and serves whenever she can at the Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center. She and Will enjoy teaching First Grade Sunday School at Rivertree Church and pray they can have child-like faith like the children they teach. She loves the Word of God because it has transformed her life. You can connect with Katie on her blog thefirstdayofspring.net, or for more on Revelation, see “Revelation: the Blessing and the Warfare.”
2 Comments
Beautiful, Katie!!
Happy Easter!
Thanks for this reminder friend!