The Book of Revelation #5 Jesus the Controller of History

The Book of Revelation #5 - Jesus the Controller of History.

It is often noted that the English word “history” = His Story.

I believe all of history, the events of human beings upon this earth, individual lives and the rise and fall of nations, revolves around one thing: Jesus Christ building his church, as he gathers his elect, from among the nations, and across the span of time.

He is the master chess player moving the “pieces” so that he can accomplish what he wants, not what we want.

And what he wants, the most important thing to Jesus, is to build his Church!

Kingdoms rise and fall, nations rise and fall, rulers rise and fall, oil is in one place but not another (oil is where it is, as a result of the Flood, pooling under ground, were King Jesus wanted it to be), etc etc because that promotes the building of his kingdom, by himself, as he said “I will build my church.” He is the active builder.

What we call “natural events” or “acts of God” are indeed “Acts of God”; God the son, bringing judgments upon peoples and nations. Not randomly, or without purpose, but judgments due because of willful disobedience, willful refusal to believe and obey him, and judgments that hasten the completion of building the church.

The Russian Communist Revolution, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is shot in Sarajevo and World War I starts, Stalin was in seminary to be an Orthodox priest but drops out, Fidel Castro could have been a baseball player or lawyer but leads a revolution in Cuba, The Berlin Wall falls, history unfolds … but all is controlled by Jesus to effect his purposes!

And the unfolding of the events in The Revelation are all controlled by Jesus, and lead to the end of time; the gospel will go into all the world (“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Mat 24:14); the last elect person will be saved, and then … time ends!

There is a last day, a last hour, a last minute, a last second.

From now until then, Jesus is ordering events, as he builds his church, by gathering the elect.

Note:

He opens the seals.

There was no one in heaven or earth who was worthy to open them; worthy as to the inherent worth of their person, or as to the greatness of their life’s work. He is worthy on both counts: as the son of God, the creator, he is worthy to wind up what he originally created; and as the redeemer of the elect, he is worthy to wind it up, once all of his people have been saved.

As the Lord of the Harvest, he coordinates the missionary preaching of the gospel into all the world, so that all of the gospel is preached at the right time in the right place, and each of his elect people are saved; not one will be lost. Then once that last one has been saved, the end can come.

Remember, the elect are a fixed number, there names have already been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, written there “from before the foundation of the world”; there is a last person to be saved. I am not saying the end comes the instant the last elect is saved, but once all of the elect have been saved, there is no reason for the present age to continue; Jesus can usher in Eternity!

Note also:

He controls the sequence in which the seals are opened.

He determines how much time elapses between each seal.

He decides the extent of the destruction; only 1/3, or the entirety.

Jesus Christ is the absolute controller of world events, both in the natural world, and on the geo-political front.

The lowly carpenter from Nazareth is the Ruler of the Universe!

“As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Mat 13:40-43

That is what will happen at the end, but between now and then, Jesus is controlling the preliminary events that lead up to that consummation of the Ages.

14 June 2024