saved

I just saw the new Star Wars movie. It was a lot of fun - don’t believe the critics - but it was also basically two hours of the impending end of hope. I thought about it a lot as I read chapters 12 and 13 of Revelation. Those chapters are full of blow after blow against God’s people on earth, as evil does its utmost to win the last war.

And, at the end of these two chapters of oppression and carnage, this, from Revelation 14:1: “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.”

It’s like that moment in the movie, in a lot of movies, when at the blackest of moments the hero arrives. The message of hope is delivered. Good stops losing and starts winning. In the darkest part of this end-times story, Jesus stands firm on the mountain with his people.

No matter how bad things get between now and the end, Jesus will preserve his elect. That’s a huge comfort as things seem to go more and more against us. It’s another reason that Christmas is a big deal.