The Everlasting Gospel: The Father and the Son
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Revelation 14:6-7
The first angels message above is set forth as an angel flying in the midst of heaven. The Angel has something that is to be preached "...unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people...". The loud voice that echos this something that the angel has in mid-heaven is for the people to "...Fear God..." "...give glory to him..." because judgement, which occured in 1844, is come. The Call is to "...worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of the waters" (Rev 14: 6-7).
That "something" that the angel in mid0heaven has is called the Everlasting Gospel. The loud voice of the angel outlines thesepoints:
1. Fear God
2. Give Glory to him
Why???
1. The hour of his judgement is come
2. Worship him that made the heavens, earth, seas and fountains of the waters.
When we see these things and parrallell the messages, we start to connect the Fear of God with the judgement and giving glory to God with worshiping him who made the heavens, earth, seas and the fountains of the watres.
This message then becomes a two-fold message of how to fear God and give him Glory.
So then, this is what it looks like in the following two-fold message of the first angel...
1. Fear God=The hour of his judgement is come
2. Give Glory to him=Worship him that made the heavens, earth, seas and fountains of the waters.
To Fear God is to take the written word as spoken by Solomon, King of Israel..
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl 12: 13-14
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. " Proverbs 1:7
What we see here is how to fear God. Not with hate or misrepresentation of who he is, but rather by the keeping of his commandment, and having his word hidden within our hearts. This is the essence of fearing the great God of Heaven. He who knows all things, will bring all things in the balance, and will bring every work into judgement.
What we see in the first angels message is a expansion of what was said in Ecclesiasties 12, to fear God and keep his commandments.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1John 5:3
So then, what does it mean to give Glory to him? If we follow through the sequence set forth it has something to do with whom we worship and how we worship him. Firstly Our Worship consists of him whom created the heavens, earth, sea and fountains of the waters.
What we see is that the God we worship is the great Creator. He whom created allthings by the word of his power. Yet the father was not alone in the Creation, he had a co-worker that was brought up with him.
Like a child brought up with his Father, as one by his Fathers side, so was the Word, Gods thought made audible, brought up by the Father. Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, was with the father when creation commenced. Before the Father creating anyting, behold, he had a Son. And when the father created all things by his Son, Jesus took great joy in the blessings and fruit of his labour.
To give Glory to God is to Worship him. The true test of worship is wheather we are loyal to the Word or Commandment of God or not. True obedience comes into play when we are obident to the Word of God. The law, which is the expression of God's Character, and the Word, which is the essence of who God is, will determine the difference between the sheep and the gots, the wheat and tares.
Fear God and give Glory to him, is the same as, behold he knoweth all things and will bring every secret thing into judgement and worship him, the creator.
But let us go a little deeper in the Word and find the heart of the first angels message.
The Everlasting Gospel, which is to fear God and give him Glory, is the theme of the first angels message. The gospel as told by the Apostle paul tyo the omans, is explained as thus:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16
So then the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God, is that same great power that the mighty angel hath, the comes out of heaven. When we add line upon line, precept upon precept, and dig a little further, we begin to see a glimspe more of the power of God.
When Christ came to the Garden of gethsemane, he prayed to his father this prayer...
"...Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." John 17: 1-2
In context of this prayer, the power that was given to Christ, from The father, is the gift of giving "...eternal life..." to as many as the Father had given to Christ.
What then is eternal life? Following on to verse 3 we conclude...
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John 17:3
The power of God, the everlasting Gospel, the Gospel of Christ, is that eternal life that Christ is willing to give. Eternal Life is to know the Father and the Son.
When we link all the above text together, we begin to see that the heart of the first angels message is to turn the hearts of the Father and Son to the Children, and the Childrens hearts to the Father and his Son. That we may know him that is true. That we may know our heavenly Father, through his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. To know the father, through the Son is what eternal life is all about. It is written...
"But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD" Jeremiah 9:24
Precious thought! Precious promise! The great God of the Universe, wants us to know him and his Son, through his Son. This is the heart of the first angels message. This is what salvation is all about.
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." 1John 5:20
Jesus Christ, the Eternal Life, is the heart of the message. For the messenger of God, who is the message, is also the Life, Eternal Life. For the Only way we can know the father is by his Son.
Le this message go out to all the World, and proclaim on the house top, on the hill hillside, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father. Amen!
