“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” — Revelation 22:11 NKJV

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”  — Revelation 22:13 NKJV

 

Near the end of John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ, the angel who ”showed me these things” makes an astonishing declaration concerning the identity of mankind and of Jesus Christ. This revelation has been ignored by some, glossed over by many, and misunderstood by most.

It lays before us the undeniable fact that God has created us with a free will, we have the choice to be the kind of person we wish; if we desire to be unjust, filthy (in a moral sense), we may live out that desire and we also may choose to be righteous and holy as God has designed us to be.

If, after hearing all the words of The Revelation, after hearing the Gospel preached, after viewing God’s creation and all of its wonder and magnificence, we choose to go our own way then God will allow it. Though hell is the destination for those who insist on denying Christ Jesus, God allows us to do so.

A statement on the state of mankind is not the end of the message; there remains for us the words of Jesus Christ in verse 13, they must be dealt with. These words thunder across eternity so that all of creation may know His identity; “I am”; God told Moses, “I AM has sent me to you” Exodus 3:14, here Jesus tells the world for a final time, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end, the First and the Last.”

“For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”(John 3:16)

He has come, He has spoken, He is coming back for the faithful. We have been granted the responsibility of free will; it is our responsibility to choose how and where our eternity will be spent.

Choose wisely my friends, heaven and hell await your reservation.

The Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.