The answer to the tension of chapter 9 is that God does not write off rebellious humanity but instead sends out his people to proclaim the mystery of Christ: to invite the repentance of all and to show forth the nature of God's love by living lives like Jesus’ life.

The consistent Biblical picture of God's judgement is this: God patiently warns and waits. And the warning is to allow humanity to see and experience more and more of what they are asking for. To demonstrate by example and by experience the fruits of destruction that come from worshiping destruction — to show us the emptiness of following empty gods.

Each day, as we read and hear the word of God, each day as we work in the world and encounter his creation — as we experience the suffering of brokenness in the world, see war and famine and injustice and futility — we are called to hear the trumpets of God which proclaim his kingship and his judgement upon this system of this world, and we are called to respond in repentance and in following him in his ways into his good promise to us.

This is our promise: that the broken things of this world are not the last word, and that the tears we shed are not shed apart from hope, because God himself will shelter us, will clothe us, will draw us into his presence, and will, finally, with his own hand wipe every tear from our eyes.

As Christ unseals the scrolls of God's plan, we find evil run rampant. Those with authority use it to oppress. Those with might use it to make war. Those with wealth use it gather up luxury for themselves at the expense of the weakest and poorest. But in the midst of it all, the Lamb stands triumphant and calls us to trust him with justice.

In this chapter of John’s Revelation of Jesus, we see the purpose of the Son — to restore all of creation to the right worship of God and to reconcile all things with God. Ultimately, he has accomplished our daily prayer: a re-creation of the world in which the Father's name is hallowed, his will is done, and his kingdom extends throughout all of heaven and earth.

We called to witness and worship — to witness BY worship— and we are tempted always toward self-reliance, self-deceit, and compromise with the powers of the world that offer us peace, security, acceptance, and comfort if only we will be willing to accommodate the status quo.

The one whose mouth is a sword speaks and cuts away all the coverings and reveals what is at stake: conquer or be conquered. Conform or be transformed. Follow the Lord of all, or follow the pretender who seeks to subjugate God's people to himself. In this book, there's a lot of mystery, but there's no moral ambiguity — there are only two ways: the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death.

What is visible on earth is not the angelic victory choirs, nor the sunshine face and sword mouth of the glorious son of man, nor the burning lights of the angels of the churches. All we see is this lone pastor praying alone on his prison isle. And yet… when the Lord speaks, reality itself is uncovered and we realized that things were not as they appeared.

If the question of apocalyptic literature is to ask "what's really going on? who is really in charge of the world?" then the definitive answer of John's Revelation is clear: the God who led Israel out of Egypt, the God who created the world, the God who sent Jesus Christ to redeem his people, is the absolute king of heaven and earth.

The promise of God to his people is that although our sin makes his life-giving face destruction for us, he shows mercy. He comes to restore us—to remake us—so that by his Spirit we might be made capable of receiving the life that only comes from his face and the glory that shines out from his presence.

The Psalmist calls all people to the joy of flourishing in the presence and knowledge of God. He calls all to come into the pasture of the one good shepherd — calls us to dwell in joy by expressing a rightful thanksgiving — and the joy is found and the thanksgiving flows from this knowing. Knowing that the God who made the world also made us, and he didn’t then turn away, but instead thinks of us as his people, and even walks with us as our protector, and provider.

The God of the Cosmos turns our “awake and save us” back toward us. He says, “I am awake. Now you wake up and be saved.” We cry out for his help, and the grace and goodness of God is that he reaches out in power to give it.

The uncomfortable message of Jesus is that the Son of Man — the glorious King, the promised Messiah — has not come to primarily to save his people from their difficult circumstances… from Rome, from powerful men with evil in their hearts, from the broken systems of injustice… not yet. First, he comes to save his people from themselves.

If we understand what Paul is saying here, we actually will have the internal delight and quiet confidence that we think of when we use the words “joy” and “peace”, but it’s important to understand that we’re not called to have that state in spite of our circumstances but because of them. Because Jesus really is that good and kind and lovely, because the deepest powers of the universe really are at work on our behalf… that’s where our peace and joy come from.

We are citizens of Jesus’ kingdom, called to live here on earth like people whose whole identity is caught up in our King. As a result, we live as people whose law, values, rights, and obligations are defined by a totally different standard than the people around us.

We don’t earn our status before God, we don’t obtain it through our own strivings, rather we come to Jesus, the center of all things, and at his feet we kneel, cast all things aside, and trust ourselves completely to him.

The good news for us is is that we will, by the power and goodness of God himself, become more and more Jesus shaped in every way—in our hearts and their affections, in our minds and the way we think, and in the conduct of our lives.

Paul is full of joy because he can see that his service to the gospel is bringing glory to the Messiah, and so he can be confident that his life is going exactly how it’s supposed to go. Whether he lives or dies, he proclaims Jesus either way.