Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome back to the corona chronicles. We are in chapter 14 of revelation. I'm gonna be reading from verse 6. Then I saw another angel flying in mid air and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth. To every nation, tribe, language, and people.

He said in a loud voice, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water. So we've come from at the end chapter 13, we've seen these 3 beasts that ape make sort of a mockery of trying replicate the trinity. You've got this holy trinity of these 3 beasts and and there's 1 that has a fatal wound, but it's been healed, trying to replicate Christ And then you've even got this unholy trinity of numbers 6 6 6, not god, not god, not god. Mhmm.

And then we see the real deal in the in the first 5 verses of chapter 14, and we see how could we ever have been taken up with this fake God. Here is the lamb himself, standing on the throne with the music, and the elders bound down. And now in verse 6, we we have the the gospel that's proclaimed to every nation tribe language and people. Yeah. It's it's interesting, isn't it the way that revelation carries on switching our perspective between the heavenly and the earthly.

What's going on with the people of God in heaven and what's going on with the people of God on earth and just switching the perspective all the time. And you've got this angel flying in mid air, as you say. An angel is basically a messenger. Yeah. You know, it's 1 who 1 who brings a message or 1 who comes to minister.

And he's just flying in midair announcing this eternal gospel. Yeah. And we just wanted to spend time dwelling on that gospel. Didn't we? The gospel that we have to proclaim.

And there's a number of things that are interesting about it. It's the eternal gospel. In other words, this is God's message for the world. That really, although we've over time gradually learned more about, the basic tenants of it haven't changed. Yeah.

This is God's eternal gospel, his good news gospel for the world. And it's something to be to proclaim. And, you know, so it's not a gospel that we know ourselves instinctively. And it's not a gospel that we can just have as our own little private message. It is something which needs to come from God to us in a proclamation and something that must be must be shared.

So even at the beginning there, we're learning stuff about this gospel, aren't we? Yeah. I think that says a lot about the nature of God that he is a God who wants us to know him. Mhmm. And he is a God of Revelation, you know.

He tells us his name, he shows us his plan. Mhmm. And I'm encouraged for 2 reasons that it's an eternal gospel 1, that it was always the plan. Therefore, all the 14 chapters we've had so far of Revelation, they look horrendous, but they're all within God's sovereignty. Yeah.

And secondly, that those horrors that are happening cannot stop the gospel from enduring and have been accomplished. So, It's it's it's interesting. And I think 1 of the things that we really are seeing time and time again in Revelation is the scope of this gospel. Yeah. And the scope of God's salvation plans.

So you've got it at the end of verse 6. Who's it gonna be proclaimed to? Well, those who live on the earth and who's that? Every nation tried language and people. So this is this is a really kind of cosmic in its scale, isn't it?

This gospel does not exclude people from any nation tribe or language. In fact, in heaven, part of the glory of the redeemed people is we're gonna be hearing stories of people who were saved in contexts that are vastly different from our own, and we'll be learning new languages and learning how to praise God in tongues that we ourselves perhaps could never speak on earth, and that we'll all be part of seeing the riches of God of God's grace and glory. Yeah. And but with all of that said, for those who are watching who are Christians, they might read in verse 7. The contents of this gospel and think, well, it doesn't really sound by the gospel, you know, because we would expect to hear something about Jesus and the cross and the resurrection, you know, those first important things.

But the gospel here is fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water. That is the eternal gospel. Now, there's more to say about it because all of that finds its climax in Jesus. Yeah.

But it's not less than that, but that is the basic command to mankind. You need to fear God. Who is the judge and the creator. And yeah. Yeah.

Yes. And that that won't fear. There's there's lots of things wrapped up in it because God doesn't want us to be sort of trembling before him like he's an authoritarian kind of distant figure. Mhmm. But we fear him like we fear our fathers in a way.

There's a kind of there's a love and a respect, but also there is an understanding that they are great, you know, above viewing. And therefore, you know, worship him. And he made the heavens the earth to see in the Springs of Warsaw. We all of these elements come up in lots of ways with the book of Revelation and we see Jesus with his feet on the land and the sea and -- Yeah. -- you know, another reminder you know, this is why we ought to fear him because he is the creator of all these things.

I think that's right. And, you know, I've just been struck by that personally reading reading through the bible in the Old Testament and the Psalms particularly. And and how much of praise for God is rooted in the fact that he creates and judges. Mhmm. You know, that he made the earth and the heavens and all that is in them and the sea and all that is in there and He brought judgment upon pharaoh and Egypt and rescued his people.

So him as creator and judge. Are are really the big thing is to praise him for in the bible. And that's why that's why it's interesting, you know, in our age when that is so strongly denied, isn't it? That God is not God is not a creator, you know, that the earth came from nothing. We want alternative creation stories that remove him from the picture.

Mhmm. The idea that God is going to intervene again in world history to bring judgment is something that is just preposterous to many people. And, you know, what a blasphemy about it, isn't it? To deny him as creator and judge, Yeah. When that is at the the heart, if you like, of office eternal eternal gospel.

So we should be unashamed of that in our proclamation. Should we? Yeah. You know, he is judge and creator. Yeah.

And this is not a suggestion, you know, if you fancy worshiping him, then that might be a good to your life. It's a command, doesn't it? Yeah. Worship him. You know?

I think when when when people see him on this day, they will understand why. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there we go.

There's the first angel, 3 angels in this little section. We're gonna take take them a bit slower and look at each angel and its message. And we've spent time in that first 1, the eternal the eternal gospel today.