Encountering Christ in Revelation 1

Revelation 1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John"

When you study the scriptures you discover some 200 or so names ascribed to Jesus Christ.  Of those 200 or so names or titles or descriptions, nearly 40 of them are found in Revelation 1.  The Book of Revelation is an incredible book, insofar that it reveals Jesus Christ most profoundly, personally and powerfully.  In today's blog I want us to sketch out the five ways we encounter Jesus Christ here in Revelation 1.

1. Jesus Christ the Savior. Revelation 1:1,5,7,13, 18
As much as the Book of Revelation focuses upon Jesus Christ's Second Coming, reference is often made to the accomplishments of His first coming.  For example, we are reminded in Revelation 1:5 that He is the resurrected "firstborn" from the dead Who has ascended to inaugurate His reign in Heaven over His church.  As the term "firstborn" suggests, Christ is the rightful heir of all things.  As you come to Revelation 1:7, mention is made of how the tribes of the earth will see Him who was "pierced", a reminder that even in His now glorified humanity, Jesus still bears the marks of nail prints in His hands and feet.  Jesus Himself testifies in Revelation 1:18 that He is the Living One who was once dead but Who is alive forever more.

2. Jesus Christ in His Deity.  Revelation 1:1,7,8,9,10,13-17
When Jesus came the first time, He came in the virgin birth to assume fully humanity.  As a man Jesus could die.  However as God at the same time, the value of what He accomplished was infinite.  The Divine titles we see associated with God in the Old Testament are assigned to Jesus here in Revelation 1.  Perhaps one of the clearest examples is the title "Alpha and Omega" in Revelation 1:8.  In Isaiah 44:6 we read these words - "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts, 'I am the First and the Last; besides me there is no god."

3. Jesus Christ the Priestly Mediator.  Revelation 1:5-6,13
In scripture we see Jesus occupying three offices in His representation of believer's before the Father's throne.  First He is our King, who right now rules over His church in Heaven and Who is coming back to set up His throne here on earth. (Colossians 1:15-20; Revelation 1:5) Secondly, Jesus Christ is the Believers High Priest, represent us to God the Father. (1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 1:7)  Then thirdly He is the Prophet Who is the Full Revelation of the Invisible Father and the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:12-16)

4. Jesus Christ the King. Revelation 1:5,6,8,20
Though we have already shown Jesus as the King, the title "Ruler of the Kings of the Earth" is worth mentioning. (Revelation 1:5)  In the study of Bible prophecy scholars use a little phrase "already/not yet" to explain prophecies wherein an event has been begun but has not yet reached its full manifestation.  Thus Christ is ruling right now in Heaven over His Kingdom in a spiritual sense and over the church in particular.  In some sense He is already reigning in Kingly authority over the Kings of the earth.  However He has not yet fully manifested this reign, and won't until He returns as revealed in Revelation 19-20 to set up His 1,000 year Millennial Kingdom.

5. Jesus Christ the Prophet. Revelation 1:6,16 
As the "Prophet", Jesus Christ brings God to us because of the fact He is God Himself.  Throughout the New Testament we see Jesus ascribing to Himself Deity. (John 8:58)  He tells Phillip in John 14:9 "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."  The Apostle Paul writes in both Philippians 2 and 1 Timothy 3:15-16 that in essence, Jesus Christ is "God in Human Flesh".  Jesus Christ is the Prophet Who is the Full revelation of the invisible God. (Hebrews 1:1-2)  Jesus Christ as God in Human Flesh shares in the same Undivided nature with the Father.  1 Corinthians 8:6 for example tells us that the Father is the One "from whom all things exists" and the Son at the same time is the One "through Whom all things consist".  In addition to the New Testament, the Old Testament hints at the fact that even in His pre-incarnate state (before the flesh state), the Son made various appearances and revealed the glory of the invisible God to the patriarchs and prophets. (Isaiah 6 compare John 12:41; Proverbs 30:4-5)

Revelation 1:1-8 The Coming Christ

Revelation 1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John."

Yesterday we offered some introductory quotes from some leading scholars about the Book of Revelation, as well as an outline of the Book.  In today's post, we are going to touch on some key features of Revelation 1:1-8.  Revelation 1:1-8 functions as the "front porch" or "preface" to the whole book of Revelation.  Among the key themes of the opening verses is the theme of Christ and His second coming.  This bodes well with the whole theme of the Book of Revelation, since it centers around the Person of Jesus Christ and His Second Coming.  As the first five words of Revelation 1:1 state: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ". 

Main thoughts to consider about Christ's second coming
As you read down through Revelation 1:1-8, you find reference to Christ's second coming three times that reveal to us the nature and significance of Christ's Soon return.  Christ's second coming dominates the biblical prophetic landscape, with 224 prophecies expected to be fulfilled at His Coming.  Furthermore, three terms are used to summarize the nature of Christ's second coming in the New Testament: "approaching", "visible" and "powerful".  Let the reader understand that these thoughts are attempting to capture the main point of the passage, rather than attempting to exhaust the details of the text itself.  So what can we note about Christ's Second coming from Revelation 1:1-8?

Christ's Second Coming is Approaching
Revelation 1:3 states - "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."   The nearness of Christ's second coming to this planet is a truth repeated throughout the pages of the New Testament in general and Revelation in particular.1  For example, Jesus began preaching in Matthew 4:17 that the "Kingdom of Heaven was "near" or "at hand".2  This sense of "uncertainty" as to the timing of Christ's return and "immediacy" all factor into the manner in which His coming is approaching. 

To believers and mainly the world, the second coming of Jesus may seem to be taking a long time, however on God's upper story time table, the second coming is right around the corner. (2 Peter 3:9-10)  The approaching, imminent return of Jesus Christ is often spoken of as a day wherein the sun is setting and night is approaching. (1 Thessalonians 5)  The approaching of Christ's return could happen within our generation or sooner.  As Jesus Himself told John in Revelation 22:10 - "And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near."

So the second coming of Jesus Christ could get underway sooner than we think.  But notice  a second trait, namely....

Christ's Second Coming Will be Visible
Revelation 1:7 reveals - Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.  The Bible is pretty clear that the second coming of Jesus Christ will not be a secret event, but a public one.  The Old Testament prophets such as Zechariah 12:10 predicted that every eye would see the Lord in His second coming.  Jesus Himself in Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21 speaks of the "public" and "visible nature" of His return.  When Jesus ascended into heaven before the disciples, the angels told the apostles in Acts 1:14 - They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”  How will the whole earth witness this major event?  Many of course have speculated, but all we know is that everyone will know when He returns and His return will be unmistakable.3 

Now the "visible" nature of Christ's second coming is not only to demonstrate to the world the reality of the event, but also to underscore something about Jesus Himself - His humanity and Deity.  When Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, He still retained His full post-resurrected humanity.  Why is that important?  Because not only did Jesus have to be fully man and fully God to be the Savior and Lord to accomplish redemption in His first coming, but prophetic scripture reveals He has to be fully man and fully God in His appearing.  Daniel 7:13-14 speaks of a figure "likened unto the Son of Man" who will appear at the end of time.  Scripture teaches that the Christian's body will be made like His at His appearing. (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:1-3) The Bible plainly states that Jesus at His appearing will be fully God in glorified human flesh. (Acts 17:31; Titus 2:13)  


Christ's Second Coming Will Be Powerful
Revelation 1:8 tells us - “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Christ's second coming will literally alter earth, Heaven and time itself.  Jude for example tells us that Enoch, the 7th from Adam, predicted that the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the glory and power of many thousands of holy ones. (Jude 14)  2 Thessalonians 2 reveals that Christ will return to slay the Anti-Christ and his forces by the word of His mouth.  Quite literally when Christ returns, mountains will split and the current terrain of earth will be altered and refurbished to be prepared for what will be Christ's Millennial or 1,000 year reign. (Isaiah 11; Zechariah 12-14; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Revelation 19:11-20:15).  Christ's coming will be attended by the uncreated fire of His own Deity and the glory of His Father that will melt rocks and disentangle all the forces currently holding our universe together. (2 Peter 3)  The power of Jesus Christ exceeds the unaided human mind untouched by grace. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

More tomorrow....
Endnotes________________

1. Steve Gregg in his book: "Revelation, Four Views, A Parallel Commentary" page 19, lists the following passages in Revelation that many say hint to the second coming of Jesus Christ: Revelation 1:7; 6:14-17; 11:18; 14:14-20; 16:20-21; 19:11; 20:9

2. The word translated "near" could speak of a normal time event as being either a few days from the time of the speaker (John 2:13) or of a place that was in "near" proximity to another place. (John 10:40) When Paul spoke of his impending death as being near in 2 Timothy 4:6, he was sure that his death was "imminent" or at any moment. Peter spoke of his own sense of impending death, noting that the time was "rapidly drawing near". (2 Peter 1:14)

3. Many have speculated that perhaps their will be satellite broadcasts beaming the signal around the globe at the end of the seven year tribulation period prior to His coming. However with such cosmic disturbances predicted, sattelite transmissions will be rendered next to impossible. Furthermore, the earth's population will be diminished and shifted more towards the middle-eastern region. It would seem that the second coming of Jesus will be witnessed in real time by eye-witnesses who wilfully and knowing rejected Him. Furthermore, the Jewish nation who will had gathered in Jerusalem will be granted the Spirit of Repentance and call upon Him as Her Messiah. (Zechariah 12:10ff) 

Introducing the Book Revelation

Revelation 1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John"

Some Great Quotes Introducing the Book of Revelation
The incredible Book of Revelation will be the focus of today's blog. 
I thought we would begin with some introductory quotes from great Christian writers and preachers whose Spirit illuminated insights into the Book of Revelation can greatly aid in approaching God's final reveal book.

The first quote we will consider is from an early 20th century Bible commentator of the first order - Arthur W. Pink.  In the introduction to his book "The Redeemer's Return" we read:  "But wondrous and blessed as was the first Advent of our Lord in many respects, His Second Coming will be even more momentous. At His first appearing He was here in weakness and humiliation, but at His second He shall come in power and glory. When He was here before He was "despised and rejected of men," but when He comes back again every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue confess His Lordship. When He was here before He paid tribute to Caesar, but when He returns He shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of lords. When He was here before His personal ministry was confined to the land of Palestine, but when He returns "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab.2:14)."

Secondly, the late Dr. John Walvoord, great prophecy teacher and professor in the earlier days of Dallas Seminary, writes this about Revelation in the preface of His book "The Revelation of Jesus Christ": "In some sense, the book is the conclusion to all previous Biblical revelation and logically reflects the interpretation of the rest of the Bible". (Preface, Page 7)

Thirdly, we read these words from the inimitable late pastor of First Baptist Dallas, Dr. W.A Criswell, in his commentary: "Expository Sermons on Revelation": It is a book in which all things in the Bible find an echo and reverberation.  It delineates the consummation of the age.  It is the great goal toward which all of the plans and purposes of God in history reach.  It touches things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth." Later on in the same book, Dr. Criswell writes: No other book in the Bible has as much circumference and height and  depth as does the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ." (Sermon 1, Page 13) 

Fourthly and lastly, one of the most Godly and gifted pulpiteers of our day, Dr. John MacArthur, writes these words in his commentary on Revelation: "But the book of Revelation provides the most detailed look into the future in all of scripture.  The fitting capstone of God's revelation to man in the Bible, the book of Revelation unveils the future history of the world, all the way to history's climax in the return of Christ and the setting up of His glorious earthly and eternal kingdom." (Page 14, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - Revelation 1-11)

An outline of the Book of Revelation
My aim is to present the reader an outline of the book, with particular focus upon the Person of Jesus Christ.  From Revelation 1:1 we understand that if Jesus Christ is your focus before you read Revelation, during your study of the book and even moreso after studying Revelation, then you have rightly interpreted Revelation.  With that said, I offer you dear reader a basic outline of the Book of Revelation.  The outline proceeds in two ways that are based off a key verse and a key theme.  First, the outline follows the key verse of Revelation 1:19: "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things."  Included in this outline is a second feature - namely the key theme of the Person of Jesus Christ.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

 

Part One: Things which you have seen 

Jesus Christ and His Church               Revelation 1-3

Part Two: Things which are/will take place
Jesus Christ and His Worship             Revelation 4-5

Part Three: Things which will take place
Jesus Christ and History                      Revelation 6-18

Jesus Christ and His Coming Reign   Revelation 19-20

Jesus Christ and His Bride                  Revelation 21-22 

To God be the glory.  

P3 of 3 Understanding God's Ultimate Will - Implications

Deuteronomy 29:29-30:1,5 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law." 30:1 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you." 30:5 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers."

Over the past two days we have been attempting to better understanding what the Bible speaks of when it comes to God's Will.  We used the following headings:

God's Ultimate Will
        God's Unrevealed Will
        God's Revealed Will
        God's Permissive Will

In using the above designations, we can navigate our little boats of understanding through the vast sea of God's will. As you may have noticed, we placed God's unrevealed, revealed and permissive wills underneath His Ultimate Will to convey how God orchestrates all things by means of the other aspects of His will.

In today's post I want to draw out some implications and applications for you the reader.  It is not enough to just know "categories" of God's Will.  Among other reasons, God reveals His will, and things about His will, in order that we will in turn live out His will for our lives. 

Ten practical considerations about God's Ultimate Will and Unrevealed, Revealed and Permissive Wills

1. God's Ultimate  Will is His plan and passion being carried forth that covers all history, redemption and eternity. God's Ultimate Will is like an umbrella under which every aspect of his will and creation fits. Another analogy we could evoke would be thinking of God's Ultimate Will as being the shores that bound the mighty river of history.1

2. God's Ultimate Will cannot be frustrated

3. There are events which God fixed that cannot be altered nor revoked by any creature

4. No one can go outside God's Ultimate will, since His Ultimate will "ultimately" covers every thing.

5. The purpose of God's ultimate will is God's glory.

6. God's Ultimate Will includes His unrevealed, revealed and permissive wills.

7. God's unrevealed will doesn't cross purposes with those areas He has revealed, meaning that God is the same God in His unrevealed, revealed and permissive wills.

8. God's revealed will is His Word or the Bible and is what we are responsible to believe by grace through faith and to carry out in obedience. To obey the Bible is to proceed in the known will of God.

9. God's Permissive Will is that area of His ultimate will wherein God operates His will through the wills or decisions of creatures, events of creation and acitvities of nations. God wills to allow such things as evil, even though He is not the author of it. (Isaiah 45:7) The fact God orchestrates things by permission demonstrates the ability of creatures to choose within their own creaturely limitations and to what they deem the greatest good. God's Permissive will is how He includes his creatures and creation in His overall plan.

10. By keeping these distinctions in mind, we can preserve such complementary truths as God's Sovereignty and human responsibility, the evil of sin and the Justice of God shown at the cross, the Divine authorship of Scripture and the human instruments who co-authored the Bible with the Holy Ghost and other such wonderful truths.

End Notes______________________

1. History is flowing toward an intended end. Though creatures such as humans are floating on their vessels of life and can freely move on those boats, even yet they are bounded. God however is unbounded and bounds everything else in the two shorelines of His Ultimate Will: Justice and Grace. The boats of people's lives are sinking and capsizing. When they fall into the mighty river, they are still in God's ultimate will. The mighty ship of salvation, piloted by Jesus is anchored in the middle of the stream. He calls out to all men to be saved. Those who by the Spirit's work in the revealed will of the Word hear the Savior's voice can grab the life rafts of faith and be pulled upon the the decks of salvation. Now that they are safe, the mighty river of history also teems with perils that tempt. God permits such to exist to exercise His saints in wanting Him and loving Him. As only God can do, those same perils call to those who freely reject the Gospel call and convince them to swim toward the judgment. Unrevealed to His creatures is of course how all these aspects function in detail, how God preserves man's responsibility and yet God remains fully Sovereign. God is Sovereign enough to affect a man's salvation who has it in him by grace to believe. Likewise, God is Sovereign enough to knowingly let a man pursue his own base desires that will render that man without excuse and subject to judgment. (Acts 13:44-48; Romans 9:15-24; 2 Peter 3:9-10)

P2 of 3 Understanding God's Ultimate Will Specifically

Deuteronomy 29:29-30:1,5 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law." 30:1 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you." 30:5 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers."


God's Will in the Bible
Yesterday we discussed in general God's Ultimate Will.  In defining the term "will" itself, we discover in the Bible that God's will is Him being both passionate and planning through how He would execute His Sovereign purposes - both saving and eternal. As we began to consider the various aspects of God's will, we covered the idea of God's ultimate will, which we defined as follows:

God's Ultimate Will = God's Overall or Sovereign Will that covers all creation, redemption and eternity. No one can be outside the Ultimate Will of God, since His Ultimate Will covers all things. 

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 has this to say about God's Ultimate or Sovereign will: "God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures." 

Having looked at God's ultimate will in general, today I want us to consider His ultimate will in particular.  We will be considering the aspects of His will that are included in His ultimate will: God's Unrevealed, Revealed and Permissive Wills.

God's will has important distinctions
In Deuteronomy 29 and 30 we see Moses laying out the prophetic future for Israel. If we work our way back from Deuteronomy 30, we will see some necessary categories for understanding God's Will:

God's Ultimate Will (Deuteoronomy 30:3-10) = Again, it is God's Overall or Sovereign Will that covers all creation, redemption and eternity. No one can be outside the Ultimate Will of God, since His Ultimate Will covers all things.1  When God says in Deuteronomy 30:5 of how He "will bring" Israel into the land, He is stating that future event by His Ultimate Will.
         
God's Unrevealed Will (Deuteronomy 29:29a) = Moses writes: "The secret things belong to the Lord".  God unrevealed will is what God
only knows and has not revealed to any creature. This would
include such areas as what will happen tomorrow and the day
and hour of Christ's second coming. This is called by some
theologians God's Decretive Will, since He decrees things for
reasons only known to Himself.

God's Revealed Will (Deuteronomy 29:29b) = Moses writes again in Deuteronomy 29:29b "the revealed things belong to us and our sons forever."  What God has revealed to people through the Bible for their responsibility and salvation. Though people can never be outside God's Sovereign will, they can violate His revealed will in the Bible and thus be outside the moral will of God. If we can picture God's revealed will as a car and His Ultimate will as a garage.  While in the car I am protected and can go places.  However when I get out of my car, I am still in the garage.  Whenever you and I disobey God, though we may go outside His morally revealed will (the car), we cannot escape His Ultimate Will (the big garage), which includes His willing to permit trials to correct us so that we will repent and get back into His known revealed will of scripture. (Hebrews 12:5-6)  Some theologians term this God's "preceptive will",
meaning that by the "precepts" or "teachings of revealed
scripture", man can know God's morally revealed will for their
lives.

God's Permissive Will (Deuteronomy 28:1-29:28; 30:1-2) =
God wills to permit both good and evil to accomplish His ultimate
will, to accomplish His saving purposes and grant space for
responsible creatures (humans) to repent in response to His
drawing grace or reject him freely. Thus for example, God willed
to permit evil men to crucify the Lord Jesus as part of His
Ultimate will in which He and the Son decreed and agreed to
accomplish salvation. (Acts 2:23-24) God permits what He declares evil in His
revealed will to accomplish His Ultimate will, even though He
has not revealed in detail why He wills to permits certain things
(like evil, suffering, disease). I often will use a little phrase to
summarize this: God permits what He hates in order to
accomplish the Good He intends. (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28)

In using the above designations, we can navigate our little boats of understanding through the vast sea of God's will. As you may have noticed, we placed God's unrevealed, revealed and permissive wills underneath His Ultimate Will to convey how God orchestrates all things by means of the other aspects of His will. 

In tomorrow's blogpost we will list out some implications of this understanding of God's Ultimate Will and its aspects of Unrevealed, Revealed and Permissive Wills.

More tomorrow......

 

End Note______________

1. Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology, mentions the following references to what we are discussing concerning God's Ultimate Will (which he terms "God's Will in General"):
-Ephesians 1:11 "who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His Will", also Ephesians 1:10,23; 3:9; 4:10; Col 1:16.

-Revelation 4:11 "For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created"

-Acts 4:27-28 ..."to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."

P1 of 3 - Understanding God's Ultimate Will in general

Deuteronomy 29:29-30:1,5 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law." 30:1 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you." 30:5 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers."


God's Will in the Bible
The three verses above contain massive truths about God's Will.  Before we go any further, we need to ask: what is God's Will? 
When we combine the testimonies of God's Will from the Old Testament and New Testament scriptures, we discover that God's will is Him being both passionate and planning through how He would execute His Sovereign purposes - both saving and eternal.1
With those general considerations in place, we can now turn to tracing out the Bible's teaching on God's Will.

God's Ultimate Will. Deuteronomy 30:5
We could classify this as God's Overall will or His Sovereign Will.2  The Bible speaks of God's Ultimate Will as being incapable of frustration (Job 42:2); working forth all things for the good (Romans 8:28) and all things being from, through and to God. (Romans 11:36). When it comes to God's Sovereign Will, Daniel 4:35 clearly states - “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’  Revelation 4:11 similarly states - “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” God's Ultimate Will covers all areas. It is impossible for anyone or any creature to be outside God's Ultimate Will. I liken God's Ultimate Will to an Umbrella, under which all other aspects of His Will fits. Regarding the purpose of God's Ultimate will, God aims to reveal His glory. (Romans 11:36) 

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 summarizes God's Ultimate or Sovereign will in this fashion: "God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures."

A few examples of God's Ultimate Will
In Deuteronomy 30:3-10 we see God's Ultimate Will for Israel that no matter what - He will bring her into the promised land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. No devil, angel or man can prevent God from fulfilling this promise to Israel. Ephesians 1:11 tells us that God works out all things according to the counsel of His will. Thus for the Christian, their salvation is plugged into God's Ultimate Will, meaning that no matter what - "He Who began a good work in you will bring it unto completion in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) One other example of God's Ultimate Will is Christ's Soon return that marks the end of this current age. No one can change the date which the Father has appointed, since it is fixed on His prophetic calendar. 3

God's will has important distinctions
In Deuteronomy 29 and 30 we see Moses laying out the prophetic future for Israel, which is an example of His Ultimate Will in general.  If we work our way back from Deuteronomy 30, we will see some necessary categories for understanding God's Ultimate Will specifically.  Knowing such truths can aid us in understanding better (albeit not fully comprehending) complementary truths such as God's Sovereignty and human responsibility.

For now we will just list them, and then consider each of them in tomorrow's blog: God's Unrevealed Will, Revealed Will and Permissive Will.

More tomorrow..... 
End Notes:______________________
1. In the Hebrew Old Testament, the idea of "God's Will" has to do with God's passion and desire. The Hebrew language is a very concrete and emotionally charged language, thus when God revealed the Old Testament in the Hebrew (and Aramaic), he utilized terms to describe His Passion and Desire to see His plans brought to pass.

When you come to the New Testament, its original language was the common Greek of the first century. Greek people were more cognative or cranial in the Greek words used to describe the word will. When the Apostles wrote the 27 New Testament Books by divine inspiration, their words for "will" had more to do with God using His mind to plan seek counsel within Himself as the Triune God.

2. Some great Bible Teachers and Theologians have described God's Ultimate Will in the following manner: Sovereign Will, The Decree, General Will and other designations.

3. Sinclair B. Fergunson.  "Discovering God's Will".  The Banner of Truth Trust.  Page 16. 
Sinclair Fergunson notes this about God's Sovereign or Ultimate Will: "The long-accepted idea that history in general and life in particular, was cyclical - that is, that life really did go around in circles - was abolished. Christ began to straighten out men's view of history." Fergunson later notes: "The history of mankind (and our personal history too) is not cyclical. It has direction."

  

Day of Prayer 2013 S.E.E.K God in Prayer

1 Timothy 2:1 "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men."

The Apostle Paul writes this letter to a young pastor named Timothy about pastoring the church of the living God.  Among his important instructions, we see Paul urging this young pastor to lead this church to seek God in prayer.  On this National Day of Prayer 2013, I thought it would be apropos to consider what it means to seek God in prayer.  Jesus desires His church, composed of all true, born-again people, to be a house of prayer for all the nations. (Matthew 11:17) For this special "National Day of Prayer" post, we will utilize the acrostic s.e.e.k to discover how we can seek God in prayer.

Start with God.  1 Timothy 2:1
The Holy Ghost says through Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1 "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men." Four Greek words for prayer are used by Paul in this first verse.  Without going into the details, the four terms speak of a progressive effort to desparately seek God and delight in Him.  As you study the subject of prayer, you discover that prayer is born of God in the context of need.  So why pray? Because only God can control outcomes.  He desires Christians to participate in prayer for the bringing about of His will in those outcomes.  When you start with God in prayer, you will also end with God in prayer. (Matthew 6; Luke 11)  So to "seek" God in prayer means you start with God. But notice secondly....

Expect God to respond. 1 Timothy 2:2-3
Paul continues on in 1 Timothy 2:2, noting that as we pray on behalf of kings, authorities and all people, we pray "so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." Why do God's people and churches get so discouraged in prayer? Simply put - we often do not expect God to respond.  Prayers with no expectations lead to no results.  Leonard Ravenhill, a long-time evangelist and advocate of prayer, writes: "The lightbulb for us Christians is prayer and God has the power.  But it is faith that makes the connection."  Expect great things from the Great God and watch the Great God do great things.  So you need to start with God, and expect God to respond, and also....

Express prayers for non-Christians. 1 Timothy 2:4-6
We read these words in 1 Timothy 2:3-6 "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time." So why mention Christ's Person and Accomplishment of salvation in the middle of a section on prayer? Because the cross is the ground of prayer.  Furthermore, Paul is reminding His people that a praying people must not just pray for themselves but beyond themselves.  Praying for the lost means your are not just seeking the face of God, but the heart of God.  Before you ever thought about our unsaved loved ones and friends - God had them on His mind before time began.  Prior to any tears the church of God may shed for the unconverted, God oridained the Son to assume humanity to shed His blood on their behalf. Prayer is the sail to which faith is attached.  The Good Gospel Ship is born along by the winds of the Spirit blowing into the sail of prayer.  As Paul already wrote, praying on behalf of all people will ensure the necessary conditions for proclaiming the Gospel to those who would or could oppose it.  So when you seek God, start with God, expect Him to respond and express prayers for non-Christian people, but notice finally....

Keep Praying, stop complaining.  1 Timothy 2:7-8
Paul writes these words in 1 Timothy 2:7-8 "For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. ⁸ Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension." Why would Paul tell this young pastor to warn the people not to pray in "wrath and dissension".  Why? Because the church to often is known more for fighting one another rather than fighting the good fight of faith.  The three underlined words (faith, truth and pray) signal to us how it is we must keep praying, and truly stop complaining.  Faith, rather than fear, will ensure that we pray rather than complain.  Truth, rather than error, will encourage us to pray rather than complain.  Then prayer itself, rather than picking on one another, characterizes the church who is praying rather than complaining.  Paul's preaching in verse 7 and the exhortation to pray in verse 8 go hand in hand.  God has blessed us more than we deserve.  Churches who truly seek God in prayer and are about His kingdom work find far less to complain about.  In fact, I would suspect that complaining and picking among Christians is a sure sign that we are not praying as we should nor sharing the Gospel as we ought.

Lord help us as your church in America and throughout the world to be a people who s.e.e.k you in prayer.