Revelation 22:7-14

7             “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.

8             I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.

9             But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”

10          Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near.

11          Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”

12          “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.

13          I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

14          Blessing are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.

The promise of coming “soon” reflects the urgency and certainty of Jesus’ return. The early church believed that Christ would return in their lifetime. That immediacy influenced their faith and conduct. Being blessed refers to a state of spiritual well-being and favor from God. This blessing is given to those who follow and obey the teachings and prophecies found in the book of Revelation. It encourages followers to stay dedicated to their faith and to live in a manner that reflects the teachings in the Book of Revelation. These teachings reflect God’s ultimate plan for humanity and the world. We are called to the truths found in the Book of Revelation shape our lives and priorities. It can feel counterintuitive to follow the teachings in this book because this book has been used to scare us and force into a life of Christ for the sole reason of not being forced to hell. However, the teachings found in this book are taught throughout the message of the Gospel. God wants to ensure with you will spend an eternity him. The teachings have a real-world application. We should work towards ensuring that all believers receive the experience the blessings of God and best represent God to them to make sure they can understand who God truly is.

John is traditionally understood to be same John who was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, which adds weight to his account. The act of worship that John committed is not right. Angels are not meant worshipped. This, nonetheless, is a reminder for us to make the distinction between the creator and the creation.  We are not to worship creation – that’s how pride and idolatry gets developed. Worship is given to God and God alone. The angel’s role as a messenger is highlighted to showcase the importance of worshiping the object vs. worshiping God. Despite being one the most influential apostles, John shows his humility and imperfection. This reminds us that even the most faithful can fall and need correction and guidance. None of us are perfect, no matter what we think. None of us will ever be perfect either. The only perfect being to walk this earth was Jesus. We need to design our lives to strive for perfection. When I was walking through my sextortion incident, there were a lot of people who looked down upon me and treated me negatively because I fell victim to this. It led to disdain with leadership and eventually cost me my job. It wasn’t that I was failing at my job, because I had support from everyone. It wasn’t because I didn’t recover well – because I did what was asked of me, attended therapy for it, and learned my lesson. It was because my errors could not supersede my identity for some people. We must learn to overlook some things that people have done and recognize that they have learned their lesson through the grace of God.

John messed up with worshipping the angel. It’s actually a common human tendency to worship the messenger rather than the messenger. God’s messengers are always shown through is messengers, supporting the role of the prophets as messengers and not objects of worship. The ultimate purpose for all of creation is to glorify God. The angel reinforces the power and worthiness of God as the being of true worship compared to the false idols and earthly powers. The angel acknowledges himself as a servant with John and the prophets. Those who do the work of God are equal servants. There’s no servant that’s more powerful than another because we are all working towards the same goal. No one servant should be praise more than the other. We need to work together to celebrate the good of the kingdom that’s happening and how we can become stronger servants of Christ through our community.

John is instructed to keep the prophecy open and accessible for everyone. The accessibility of this message shows how transparent and urgent God’s revelations are. The early Christian believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime, which encouraged them to live in a state of preparedness and faithfulness. It’s a reminder for that God’s plan for the world is unfolding before it, whether we understand and recognize it or not. The accessible nature of the prophecy told here provides us hope and encouragement when facing chaos. It’s a reminder that God has the ultimate victory. God has won our battles. God has gifted us with the strength needed to fight our battles. God wants us to lean on him to make our battles easier. God provides us with an out every time when we’re tempted in life. The temptation could be a general one or something we run into when we have a moment of anxiety, panic, or fear. God is with us to remind us that he wins, and he gifts us the way to make it happen.

The wicked will continue in their ways, unable to understand the truth of God’s teachings. They will recognize the finality of their spiritual state at the time of judgment. The unrighteous are those that reject God’s offer to be saved from the bondage of sin and continue living sinfully. Those who choose to continue living like this, will remain that way until the end of the age. The wicked are separated from the righteous. The righteous are those who have accepted God’s rescue and living according to his teachings. The righteous are called to grow in their holiness and live out their faith. Believers should practice their righteousness as a reflection of their relationship with God. Believers should maintain their devotion and dedication to God. We should holy as God is holy. The transformative power of the Holy Spirit helps believers live in a way that honor God. Overall, let this be an encouragement to live in a way that is holy and right regardless of the chaos going on around us. Our brains are wired to focus on the negative. Our ancestors relied on this for survival. For us, we are haunted by this. Not only do our brains perceive the negative around us, but we are inundated with it on social media and TV. It’s easy to give up and succumb to the chaos because we think it’s too much and nothing we could do would change the evil. This isn’t true either. I believe the better we can do for our community, the more we can work to conquer the evil. We can share God’s compassion and mercy to all those around us and change the narrative that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

The idea of reward is consistent with other teachings from Bible on divine justice and recompense. The reward is not just a future promise. It’s tied to the presence of Christ Himself, suggesting that the ultimate reward is being in His presence. Our deeds do matter. Our call to live righteous matters – even from the perspective that we will be evaluated at the final judgment. It’s not through our works that we’ll receive the final blessing though. It’s about why we do our works. Paul states in Ephesians 2:8 that, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Our works have a purpose, but they will not be the reason we get into heaven. God’s rescue plan is what will guide us there, and understanding that we should do his will for the benefit of the kingdom of God is that stepping stone to launch us in the right direction. Accepting his salvation is the main part to take us to heaven – and there’s nothing we can do to lose that. We still must work under his command and wisdom to ensure that our name will be in the Lamb’s book of life.

Being the Alpha and the Omega symbolizes completeness. It shows that God is always there (omnipresent) and always powerful (omnipotent). Christ’s reign over creation and history, affirms His role in both creation (Genesis 1) and the final judgment (Revelation 22). Christ is in control of the entire narrative of history, and he will bring his purposes to fulfillment. Jesus’ divine authority should lead us to live a life of worship and obedience, acknowledging Him as Lord over every part of our life. Everything we do and everything we say should be the honor and glory of God. We are called to be his true representatives on this world and that has been a struggle. So many Christians are divided in so many different directions – politically, denominationally, ethnically, socioeconomically. Each segment leading and learning a different variation of what God’s message really is. As I tend to say, “same food, but different flavor.” Unfortunately, some Christians have spoiled the recipe for some. Banishing them from coming to the table, ensuring that they follow the proper dress code and etiquette before coming into the restaurant, and judging others for the path they took to get there. It’s time we quit looking down on others and look up to God for his grace and mercy and look to our left and right to connect with our community.

In a biblical context, washing robes is symbolic of cleansing from sin, often connected to the blood of Christ. This act represents the sanctification necessary to stand before God. Accessing the tree of life signifies restorations to the original state of the relationship with God, lost through sin. This highlights the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan, where believers are able to have eternal life through Christ’s atonement. Entering through the gate shows the legitimate access and acceptance into God’s eternal Kingdom. In the ancient cities, gates were places of authority and judgment, where the entry was controlled. Christ’s sacrifice for our sin was necessary for us to access God’s eternal promise. It’s hard to wrap our head around what this sacrifice means for us because we don’t have a modern-day example of what this could look like. Having someone who loves us dearly enough so that we could have the best life humanly possible, even if it means their own death – this is not common in our world today. We must value who Christ is for us, how he changes our lives, and how we change those around us.

Next Part: Guess Who’s Back – Part 2