#JESUS2020 - Daily DevotionalsSample

Imagine you are standing in a big crowd. A crowd bigger than the biggest concert you can think of. Everyone is cheering, singing, worshipping. They are shouting “Glory”, chanting "Jesus, Jesus". Imagine you are a part of the situation described by John in the Book of Revelation. This is a way John describes Heaven - like a big concert and with a lot, I mean really a lot of spontaneous and uninhibited joy.

In the middle of this noise, the victor is sitting on the throne of the universe: Jesus. But John describes Him in a weird way that does not fit the atmosphere of joy, victory, and triumph.

"...I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain." What does that mean? After all, it was supposed to be joyful and cheerful. Is He, a victorious King or a Lamb, looking as if He had been slain? What does the Bible say about the use of this weird description?

At the climax of glory and praise, in the middle of the biggest joy, the scars (wounds) from the cross are still visible. Oops! They are going to be visible for all eternity. It is mind-blowing. It is a sign of God’s love. It is something that can never be erased. If you look at Jesus, those traces of the nails will be visible in His hands. Marks that did not exist before, did not exist 2,000 years ago.

It is possible that the only thing that mankind has done on earth that will be visible in eternity is Jesus’ scars from the wounds inflicted on the cross.

Every other achievement, invention or accomplishment will disappear; none of it will be found in heaven. For me, the contrast and paradox of this description is actually the description of a love so big that it cannot be described in a different way. A measure of forgiveness that cannot be measured. An expression of grace that cannot be expressed.

God simply loves us for all eternity. With that in mind, I think the worst thing we can ever do is believe that we are able to do something that will cause God to stop loving us. We are not able to do anything that would keep God from loving us forever.

ACTION STEP:

Every once in a while things happen in our lives that we think can separate us from God for all eternity. Think then of the sign of love visible for the whole eternity – the scars (wounds) of Jesus after the crucifixion. Believe that none, even the worst thing that has ever happened in your life, is greater than His love and forgiveness.

Michal Wlodarczyk, ICF Bydgoszcz