The title for this devotion is from the Old Testament book of Joel 3:16. It refers to the time when Jesus Christ returns to earth the second time to judge His enemies (Revelation 19:11-21) in what is known as the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14-16). This is the time when Jesus Christ will establish His thousand year kingdom on earth (Revelation 20:1-7).
How vital it is for us to be delivered from a one-dimensional view of the character of Jesus Christ. We are so prone to ignore the fact that Jesus is not only the God of grace (1 Corinthians 1:4) and mercy (Hebrews 2:17), but also the God Who is Just (Acts 7:52, 22:14) and Judge of man (Acts 17:31). What is the root cause of judgment? Sin. God forbid that we should trivialize the magnitude of sin! Sin is the worst enemy a human being can have. It was the cause of Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:12), and it is the very same enemy that has brought about the death of each and every human being born since then (Romans 6:23).
In our study this morning, we jump back into the book of Revelation and one of the parenthetical chapters of this amazing prophetic book (Revelation 1:3, 22:7,10,18,19). We will see that Jesus Christ is going to roar out of the heavenly Zion and defeat His enemies in a blood bath the likes of which this world has never seen (Revelation 14:19,20). Because the description of these events is so incredible, many people prefer to think of them as poetic rather than actual accounts. Not so. Just as hell is a real place (Revelation 1:18; 6:8, 20:13,14), these are real judgments that will take place on this very planet that you and I are standing on this morning.
Yes, judgment to this earth is inevitable, but today is also the day when we come to The Lord’s Supper to remember The One Who paid the full price (John 19:30) to deliver us from our debt of sin (Ephesians 1:7) and the ruling power of sin in our lives (Romans 6:14,15). God has provided for lost man deliverance from the wrath to come, and that provision is in the Person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). May the glory of the cross capture our hearts this morning with the precious reminder that in and through Jesus Christ we find forgiveness of sin and deliverance from the coming wrath. So, while we look around and see the signs of His return approaching (Luke 21:28), may we be swift to look up to Him Who has redeemed us with our hearts filled with thanks and worship. And may we be faithful to pray for those who have yet to believe the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
