Taking Control

“And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” (Re 11:16-17 AV)

The statement of eternity!  The four and twenty elders, representing the church, praise the LORD for asserting His absolute right to reign without the interference of His creation.  God has been, and always will be, in complete control.  Nothing happens without His consent.  That doesn’t mean He causes all things.  It just means He knows what will happen and uses it according to His divine plan.  This also means He has allowed the liberty of His creation to participate in the events He has determined will happen.  The choices of free agents like Satan and men are in the design of His perfect will.  However, there will come a time when this liberty is severely constrained and consequences for choices come unabated upon the actors.  He will take back His creation from the influence of evil and will reign completely according to the laws of His holiness!  This is for what the 24 elders are praising the LORD!

With seven brothers and three sisters, chaos was a regularly occurring theme in our family.  Specially when we got together in an attempt to play. It often got out of hand.  We were wise to keep it down and not destroy anything or anyone in the process because it meant Dad had to get involved.  Just his presence alone seemed to solve a lot of issues.  One of these times didn’t involve play, but rather, a chore we shared.  We rummaged through other people’s garbage and collected glass, which in turn, we smashed and sold to the recycler.  It was our job, usually three of us, to smash the glass and store it in barrels.  This wouldn’t take a whole lot of time.  But it was a chore no one liked to do.  Arguments often ensued and what should have taken an hour easily mushroomed into three or four hours.  My father would often come to the garage door and peer inside.  As he did, we would get quiet and resume working together.

The church so desperately desires for the LORD’s return that He might set in order the chaos caused by sin!  We want His rod of iron so that sin will cease and peace will blossom.  We want the LORD to take back His kingdom, locking the adversary up, so that all of mankind might enjoy the blessings of God’s grace!  Come LORD Jesus!  Come!