Year 3, Day 358: Revelation 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Identity, Obedience

• Identity: Our true identity comes from God.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from God.

In Revelation 14 we hear about the 144,000 martyrs.  What leapt out before me about these martyrs is that they are sealed on their foreheads with the name of the Father and the Son.  It is clear from whom these martyrs get their identity.  We talked about Up yesterday and unlike the people in Revelation 13 the martyrs of Revelation 14 have God in their Up position.  Their identity is absolutely coming from the Father.  In fact, their identity comes so much from the Father that they are willing to be martyred for it.  Now that’s identity!

However, this passage doesn’t stop with identity.  The passage goes into obedience.  What do these people do with their identity?  They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.  It’s like the inverse of the nursery rhyme about Mary and her little lamb.  Instead of the lamb following everywhere that Mary went, the people of Revelation 14 are smart enough to follow the lamb!

Then we look to the message of the first angel?  Fear God and give Him glory!  Here is another chance at obedience.  Fear God.  Turn to Him.  Get your identity from Him.  Then give Him glory!

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