Day 353

Ezra 4:6-5:17, Revelation 11:1-19, Psalm 145:1-7

In the middle of the woes (two down, third still to come) we find the message that we have been waiting for, the Kingdom of Christ on earth.

Some people argue that we are in the middle of the Kingdom on earth and some people argue that it is still to come, that all this narrative in Revelation hasn’t happened so it’s not yet here. Either way, it is a message of Christ reigning for ever, when our trust is not in earthly powers but in him, and him alone. When we look around at all that is happening at the hands of man then we can see that the reign of Christ will bring a very different agenda with it.

Right at the end of this passage, but deep within all that is going on in this part of Revelation, there is then a truth so relevant to who we are and the work of Christ within us. John talks of the temple being opened and the gory of the Lord shining out. Yet from our reading of the New Testament we see that we are the temple now. At the heart of the temple is the ark of the covenant and the glory of the Lord. At our heart lies his glory, and if we let it, it will shine out for the world to see. 

Whether the Kingdom is here or to come, one thing we know is that he reigns in us in all his glory. Let that glory shine forth.