I think I shared with you last year that I decided to read through the Chronological Bible in 2015. I did. I heartily recommend it. The year’s reading ends in Revelation. With all the tragic news of 2015, all the uncertainty, all the loss…the devastating floods, the catastrophic financial losses, the saber-rattling of nations, the threats from leaders, the godlessness, N. Korea testing a hydrogen bomb, the slaughter happening at a workplace or school, the war of words between candidates, the corruption… you know the list. We can rehearse it in our sleep. In light of all of that and more it is great to once again, be told that God is in control. Everything is on His time schedule. He has not forgotten us.

When I was young  sometimes I would jump to the last page of a book to see how it ended – too impatient to let the plot unfold.  I am sure we’ve all done that. When we look at the condition of the world, it is disheartening if not downright frightening. I am sad for my grandchildren; they will never know the world in which I grew up.

When I watched the evening news with my mother she’d often turn the TV off and declare as she did so; “I have read the last chapter and I know who wins”!

Let’s take the time to read the last chapters and remind ourselves Who wins!

21 – 22
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true. And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. … And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal: having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: … The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there): and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.

For those whose names are in the Book of Life, that’s our future and what a future it is! If you are not sure your name is written there you can make sure by repenting of your sin and asking Jesus to live in your heart.  Immediately your name is written in the Book of Life and cannot be erased.

You have all of glory to look forward to. That’s your future.

American Standard Version. 1995 (Re 21:1–27). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.