Thursday, November 6, 2008

[God's] Judgments Are True And Righteous because He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her fornications, and avenged The Blood Of His Slaves out of her hand. Rev. 19:2.

In the end-time setting of Revelation 15-19 God acts in judgment against Babylon, the great power that has oppressed His people. It is interesting, however, to note that He calls His people "slaves." They are not Babylon's slaves, but God's slaves. Though redeemed by the blood of the Lamb(Rev. 5:6, 9, 10) in one sense they remain "slaves" in this life.

We find an interesting analogy to this language in American history. The American Civil War began as a battle over the relative rights of states verses the national government. But in the course of time a higher cause came into focus-freedom for the slaves in the Southern states. Many who were reluctant to die for national union were willing to give their lives so that all might be free.

Abraham Lincoln, the American president, longed to liberate the slaves, but knew it would be a pointless act if people believed the South would win the war. The Union armies marched from defeat to defeat until September of 1862. Then at Antietam Creek in Maryland, 3,600 men died on the battlefield in a single day (the largest casualty count of any day in American history, including September 11). As a result of the carnage, the Southern army withdrew to Virginia, and Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the southern slaves free.

All over the South slaves heard the news and cried out, "I am free at last!" But were they truly of joy as they heard the news, the daily routine did not change. Husband, wives, and children continued to be sold away from their families. Slaves still endured beatings, whippings, and hangings when they did not comply with orders. Many continued to be treated like cattle.

But something had changed. People were dying to set them free. Governments now acknowledged their right to freedom. Though they were slaves to the master's lash, their hearts and minds had been set free. They knew that the day of liberation was coming, because it had already been proclaimed. Though they remained slaves in one sense, in another they were already free!

In Christ all human beings have been set free. The story of Revelation is full of carnage and anguish because the battle rages to implement what Jesus has already done. No matter what you are going through now, the decisive event has already taken place. It is not too early for God's slaves to proclaim, "I am free at last."

Lord, help me today to live in the freedom that Christ has already won for me.

It will require a sacrifice to give yourself to God; but it is a sacrifice of the lower for the higher, the earthly for the spiritual, the perishable for the eternal. God does not design that our will should be destroyed, for it is only through its exercise that we can accomplish what He would have us do. Our will is to be yielded to Him, that we may receive it again, purified and refined, and so linked in sympathy with the Divine that He can pour through us the tides of His love and power. However bitter and painful this surrender may appear to the willful, wayward heart, yet "it is profitable for thee."(TFMB 62).