God is in Control

I'm coming to the end of my New Testament course at BGU, and I have been really encouraged by the different perspectives I have been reading on the book of Revelation. I thought I'd share a couple quotes with you from some of the authors I'm reading.

George Ladd wrote, "The most important word of all - that which contains every other blessing of the new order - is subsumed in the words, 'They shall see his face' (22:4). This is the goal of redemption. No person has seen God at any time; the only Son is the sole mediator bringing the knowledge of God to human beings (Jn. 1:18). When Christ's redeeming mission is completed, the redeemed will enjoy the glory of the beatific vision. They will see God's face. All else is secondary and contained in this greatest of all blessings. And so the Bible ends, with a redeemed society dwelling on a new earth that has been purged of all evil, with God dwelling in the midst of his people. This is the goal of the long course of redemptive history. Soli Deo gloria!"

Winn Griffin wrote, "It appears to me that the main purpose of the book of Revelation is to comfort the church in its struggles against the forces of evil during this Present Evil Age. The symbolic language which breathes life into the book should not be taken with literalness, which often causes its expression of faith to be missed. The battle of this age and the Age to Come is played out in Revelation. The church is the battleground. She can take comfort from its words. God will win! No matter how dark and desolate it looks, God is always in charge."

So there's a good word for all of us today... God is in control, and one day we will see God's face!