Today me and some friends were having a cheeky bible study before lectures began. Not ones to be intimidated by the scarier biblical texts, (and armed with tea and chocolate fingers) we tackled Revelation. Wow. One skipped lecture later I was remembering why people study this bad boy!!
Just one of the cool things I've taken from this morning was about the disciple John who throughout his gospel refers to himself as 'the disciple jesus loved'. This man who clearly finds his identity so comprehensively in being beloved by his heavenly father, is the same man who wrote the book of Revelation. There God is shown to be incredibly pure and powerful but crucially also a God of justice who will stop at nothing to see righteousness restored.
The brutality of this judgement shown in Revelation could be seen to be at odds with the God John seems to primarily view as a loving friend. Yet he is the receiver of this (at times!) terrifying vision for a reason. John can only hear and understand this vision of absolute justice based on his own context of absolute love. for first and foremost God is a God of love, his final Judgement - though made necessary because of his holiness, is not the whole picture.
Today reminded me of the many many many things I don't know. It also reminded me that I wouldn't want to worship a God who I understood, who I could quantify, put in a box and neatly label 'safe' - He is fiercely pure and righteous in a way I will never even begin to understand, boy is he powerful, and I like it that way.
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