The most bizarre nonsense is peddled concerning the book of Revelation but this book is God telling his people that he is in complete control of all things as we see them in the age in which we live. As our Lord Jesus Christ came preaching the Kingdom of God, this book tells us that God’s glorious Kingdom will prove to be unrivalled in the end. It is a kingdom whose citizens, in the wisdom and eternal purpose of God, are justified sinners whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world (2 Tim 1:9). Sin must merit God’s condemnation and earn its due wages which is death (Romans 6:23), eternal death, the second death, but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who is the Lamb of God took the sin of his people upon himself, being made sin. Being found guilty of it he bore its punishment in his own body on the cursed tree of Calvary’s cross so that his people, sinners, would be cleared of their sin debt, him having paid it in full himself on their behalf, so that his people would be made the righteousness of God in Christ, all the righteousness that God requires for citizenship of his glorious Kingdom of righteousness and peace.

    God’s glorious kingdom stands in complete contrast to the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of Satan. Satan and the hordes of this world aspire to a world-wide kingdom of peace and a false righteousness; they made their first attack in the fall of Genesis 3 when Adam, as king of God’s kingdom in Eden became an ally of Satan in opposition to God. After the Flood, Nimrod tried to build the Tower of Babel to assert the kingdom of Satan in this world aspiring to heaven without the need for Christ. But God confused the language of humanity, and separate-language nation states arose which warred with each other frustrating the intention of establishing a world-wide Christless kingdom of false righteousnes and peace. Even in the attempt of the kingdoms of this world to establish a form of ‘righteousnes and peace’, economic strife arose, and all the time, death continued to take away great swathes of humanity. How do you explain this?

    We don’t need to explain it; God’s Word tells us why things are as they are. In Revelation 6 we see the first four seals of God’s eternal purposes opened. Christ comes preaching God’s kingdom on his white horse calling his elect by the gospel, but also causing great swathes of humanity to follow so-called ‘christian religion’; then the red horse of war goes forth bringing unspeakable strife of war between nations. When war is not frustrating Satan’s intentions, the black horse of economic strife puts the brake on his aspirations to establish a world-wide utopia. And all the time, death visits each and every one of us, believer and unbeliever in varying degrees.

    Why does God so ordain things? To show us that his eternal purposes are certain to be achieved. The true Kingdom of God will triumph. Of Christ we read in Isaiah 42:4 that “He shall not fail”. Praise God!