“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”

Revelation 22:12-14

This passage comes at the very end of the book of Revelation. Themes of the power of God, the supremacy of Christ, and the ultimate judgement of the wicked are present throughout the entire book. It is meant to bring encouragement to the churches who are undergoing sever persecution by the Romans. This passage sums up the message of Revelation perfectly: Christ will soon return and bring about judgement upon the sinner and salvation to the children of God. Imagine, for a moment, that you are surrounded by the most brutal torture and executions known to mankind and you know that God will return and bring with him justice for the saints. You read this letter, seeing that God is a powerful God. You see in this letter that, even though you are in unimaginable persecution, God will deliver you and punish those who have mistreated you.

This should be just as much of an encouragement to us as it was to them. Even if we never see the kind of persecution that the early church suffered, we still have the same hope they possessed: the hope of the return of our Savior. Christ’s return will bring us a life with him on the New Earth. Revelation describes this paradise as having no sun and no moon because Christ will the the light of the world. It is a place of absolute peace and absolute perfection. No more pain. No more death. No more loss. No more sin or evil. Just an eternity with our creator and savior.

This week, remember that no matter what you are going through and no matter what comes your way, you have a hope in Christ. He will never leave you nor forsake you and you will spend an eternity with our glorious God. Share this hope with someone this week so that they too may know the salvation that God has given you.