Grace to you and Peace!
“And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be by son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:6-8
Hopefully it has become clear over the last several weeks how pervasive and important the theme of the antithesis is in the Scripture. In this meditation I thought we’d try to sum up this grand theme so we can move on to other important topics. Revelation 21:6-8 is a great way to accomplish this.
The antithesis simply means, who are the sons of God and who are the sons of Satan throughout history and ultimately at the end of history? The sons of Satan (city of man, kingdom of darkness, seed of the serpent) will join him in the lake of fire inheriting eternal punishment while the sons of God (city of God, kingdom of heaven, seed of the woman) will inherit eternal life.
In the OT the physical progeny of each line is more directly involved in who are the sons of Satan and sons of God, but the Scripture clearly shows that ultimately it is about faith. Those who have faith in God and are led by the Spirit of God, those are the sons of God. Those without faith, giving heed to the doctrine of demons, who do the will of their evil father, Satan, are the sons of Satan. Jesus makes this clear in a confrontation with the Pharisees who were physically descended from Abraham. The Pharisees tell Jesus that Abraham is their father, but Jesus says, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (John 8:44) This is the antithesis, and you can see it all through the Scripture.
We saw it in Genesis with Cain and Abel and the godly line of Seth versus the wicked line of Cain. We saw it in Noah vs Ham. The antithesis continues to manifest itself in Abraham and Sodom, Isaac vs Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Israel and Egypt, Moses and Dathan; Joshua and Canaan, David and Saul, Jesus and the Pharisees, the church and unbelievers, all the way to Revelation 21:6-8
Revelation 21:6-8 describes the end of the battle between the sons of God and the sons of the devil. The sons of the devil, the cowardly, unbelieving, and ungodly lose this war. But the sons of God overcome the city of man, the kingdom of darkness, and inherit all things drinking feely from the water of everlasting life.
In light of the wicked and perverse generation in which God has placed us, in the face of what seems to be the strengthening of the kingdom of darkness in our day, what an encouragement it is to know that you are a son (and daughter) of God and that the sons of God win. Indeed, we have already won. Romans 8:37 calls us “more than conquerors.” We are more than overcomers because of the love of God bestowed on His children.
With the end victory in full view, let us be strongly encouraged today to fight the good fight, to wage the good warfare, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord!
His mercy endures forever!
Pastor Flynn