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one purpose God is eternal...in existence, in purpose. Three entitied Persons, having clearly three unique identities acting in an inclusive way as one having the very same objective of conceptual reality. The three persons are distinct in their personal relationships with each other, but they are the same in substance, equal in power and glory, and have all that makes God who he is. The word "person" is used to describe the three persons because it's one of the only ways to describe this concept in language, but it doesn't mean that the persons are human beings. Instead, each person has intellect, emotion, and volition, and had a unique role in creation and salvation. God presents Himself to His people as one God. The people of God know Him and believe in Him as one God with one Name. We are a baptized people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Such a truth shows us that within God Himself there is both a unity between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one name and a distinct three persons. The wonder of this mystery: the Father is not the Son and not the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father and not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father and is not the Son. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit is God. No priority is due to one, no neglect is due to either. God cannot be divided. God, who is spirit, determined to physically come to earth in the form of humanity to put mankind in the right relation with Him. This done because of sin. The presentation of Jesus as Son of God, complemented by the promise of the Holy Spirit, gave rise to the singular purpose for redeeming mankind from our fallen condition that we may be partakers of the plan of salvation. We see not the plurality, but the harmoniousness of purpose in the counsel, in the creation, in the plans of both redemption and salvation. We hear “in the beginning God” and “let us make” regarding the expression in a singularity of deliberation, in fact referring only to One God. In all our discussions, the bible is to be the authority. It shows us that the central theme of all that is determined providentially in the council of peace is Jesus Christ the God-man. He is the fullness of divinity and humanity of the same substance, having the one essence with the Father and being consubstantial with the Holy Spirit. The Council decreed that Jesus, the Word, and Son of God, has been eternally ‘begotten’ from the Father to be worshipped and together glorified. He was incarnate, made flesh, of the specific Mary and became human. Herein is the mystery of godliness. In Jesus Christ there are two energies and two wills corresponding to his two natures. The purpose of this conciliar teaching protects the doctrine of the fullness and completeness of both Jesus’ humanity and Divinity. The God of the bible is a God of purpose. And not just general purposes but specific ones. And His purposes extend from eternity past to eternity future, encompassing not only the ultimate destiny of His creation, but our personal lives. In Christ the purpose for His creation is fulfilled. God Himself assures us of this: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’. But God is so much more than simple purpose. He is sovereign in His call to Abraham as a gentile to become the father of His people. And establishing us as descendants by faith as His Israel. And delivering us into the propheticness of His story to bring to a people the perfection of being by faith as is His Son. The story ends with the consummation, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth, and once all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. This is God’s ultimate purpose - to bring about a new heaven and new earth. God’s grand purpose for the world to come, then, is in the process of coming into being in the present through the redeeming and restoring work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, and by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, God is at work preparing a people to populate His new world. His purpose is to conform them to the image of Christ. This means that God’s purpose for each one of us is to be transformed in our character, such that we more fully reflect the character of our God and increasingly live a life of love and faith. This involves every area of our personal and moral life to include our family and others. God has a determinate character. He has purpose and performs particular events. He does one thing and not another. God's sovereignty and purpose, particularly in light of events that seem unequal, random, or unjust. It stems from the observation that God acts in specific ways in certain situations but not in others, such as healing some people while others suffer, or saving some individuals but not all. Therefore, the various actions we perceive God taking are not separate or distinct acts in God Himself, but different manifestations of His one, simple, perfect nature. A human might act wisely in one moment and mercifully in another. In God, however, wisdom and mercy are not separate attributes; they are one and the same as His very being. His essence is identical in all His attributes. God does not have goodness…He is goodness. He doesn’t have existence…He is existence. All He does from creation to salvation is one single, eternal divine act. Light is a single source, yet as it fractures it results in many colors distinct one from another. From God’s oneness we see such things as justice, wrath, mercy. God wants us to discover His will. The assurance that in Christ we are in the center of God’s purposes brings lasting stability to our experience. This is why we study the word...God’s will is made known to us. The word shows how God’s will is shaped by His ultimate purpose for us. We are to give every word careful thought with patience and a right attitude to God. The word of God gives us fundamental principles to guide us in every situation. God is good. Such a like purpose exists between God the Father and God the Son that their declarations of divinity and humanity are the same. The Father said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. The Son said before Abraham was, I am. They both refer to their eternality and existence. According to this truth and this Word of God, we believe in one only God, who is one single essence, in which are three Persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct, according to their incommunicable properties; namely, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost...these Persons thus distinguished are not divided nor intermixed; for the Father had not assumed the flesh, but had the Holy Spirit as Melchisedec, and the Son only. The Father had never been without His Son, or without His Holy Spirit. For they are all three co-eternal and co-essential. There is neither first nor last; for they are all three one, in truth, in power, in goodness, in mercy, and in love. We hear of the same purpose in the Father and the Son expressed in such an intimacy of relationship in the very words of Jesus...all things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. God presented Himself in Jesus as the Son of God. It is a mystery. The truth that God does not change is to be understood on a spiritual founding. God is speaking to His covenant. God was pleased to renew His covenant with man in such a way as that His unity might be believed in, after a new manner, through the Son and the Spirit, in order that God might now be known openly, in His proper names and Persons, who in ancient times was not plainly understood, though declared through the Son and the Spirit. Does the mystery of God’s omnipresence indicate change? Omnipresence is an attribute belonging to God alone, traditionally described as his quality of being present in all places everywhere at all times any time, with the implication that he is not bound by time or space, galaxies or dimensions. God is boundless, infinite. And by His word He attributes all to Jesus. And he has fitted and arranged all things by his wisdom, while he contains all things, but he himself can be contained by no one: he is the former, he is the builder, he is the creator, he is the Lord of all; and there is no one besides him or above him. That both God’s omnipresence and transcendence are depicted in his incarnation through Christ. While God revealed himself to us through Christ, he did not lose anything of his Divinity. As we now worship Him ‘in the Spirit and in truth’ anywhere we want to worship Him makes God ‘more omnipresent’ in the Holy Spirit and in the truth of Jesus. God can be the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and even the angel of God. Read Genesis 31:11-13. How so wonderful is the mystery of the purpose of God the Father and God the Son. He can hang on the cross as God the Son and cry out to God the Father, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani’, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Read Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 40, verse 28 and Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. A purposeful creator? The ways in which God shows His oneness of purpose and compassion with humankind. The one purpose - to glorify God. The Father: determined creation, redemption, and consummation, and is supreme in authority. The Son: responsible for creation, the mediator, and the Father's image. The Holy Spirit: brings the works of God to completion, and is the bond of love between the Father and Son. God is a purposeful being...everything He does is for a purpose. History itself has a purpose...and God is working things out for that purpose. This is one of the most encouraging things about the doctrine of God’s sovereignty...seemingly random events are not random at all; everything is being worked out according to God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, God’s purpose in all of this is in some way defined and accomplished by election. God has a purpose, and that purpose is a sure and certain one. God’s purpose rules over the entire process of salvation. God’s purpose stands over His foreknowledge of people, His predestination of the people He foreknew to be conformed to the image of His Son...His calling of us by the gospel, His justification of us by faith, His future glorification of us. Again, the purpose of God the Father and Jesus is one...the bible says God has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. The purpose is now being revealed. We see that God’s purpose is totally centered in the person of Christ...grace given us IN CHRIST; Christ was and is the center of God’s purpose. We see an absolute harmony between purpose and grace...God’s purpose is a gracious purpose, or a purpose to give us grace in Christ. God’s call to us in Christ Jesus is part of this purpose. God’s purpose is so big, it even includes predestination! Our predestination itself was done for this purpose. God’s purpose is a “free and sovereign” purpose, in which He does everything after the counsel of His own will...it is not governed by anything outside of Himself. Unconditional election makes God’s purpose stand. Unconditional election ALONE makes God’s purpose stand. In salvation God desires His own glory above all things. In salvation, God also desires that all His elect most certainly be saved, that none of them be lost. Only election can accomplish these purposes, which are really one purpose ultimately. God’s glory is most clearly displayed in one way: that all of the elect might be fully and finally saved, that not one of us would be lost, and that we would stand and proclaim forever that we are saved for the praise of HIS GLORY . The decisive influence of all that happens in the world is God’s. He works all things after the counsel of His own will. He alone has the freedom of ultimate self-determination. In a word, God, looking on all ages, from the creation to the consummation, as a moment, and seeing at once whatever is in the hearts of all the children of men, knows everyone that does or does not believe, in every age and nation. Yet what God knows, whether faith or unbelief, is in nowise caused by His knowledge. Men are as free in believing or not believing as if God did not know it at all. Let’s pause in this truth concerning the one and same purpose of God and of Christ. Please reason this statement in the truth of the reality of the measure of faith given us by God. But before penning the statement I ask that you read and hear the following truths... Romans 3:22 Galatians 2:16 Galatians 3:22 Revelation 14:12 Now see by what it is that God’s people live... Galatians 2:20 Not our faith, but that which is of Jesus Christ, God Himself. God’s electing purpose will stand because our election was based on nothing outside of God Himself. It is not based on foreseen works, neither is it based on foreseen faith, nor anything God foresees in us at all. Rather, it is based totally on Himself. Election accomplishes this purpose of God because it thwarts all human boasting. Justification is conditional on faith, but election is not. Our faith in Christ is a condition for justification. But our faith is not a condition for election...God wasn’t looking in us at all when He chose us…He was looking in Himself. The “call” dear friends is that powerful call by which God creates what He calls. Do not imagine any sinner is beyond the pale of God’s unconditional election...unconditional election was designed to amaze and awe the world at who is included!! So God in Christ sees His people as we will be when Jesus comes. God sees us whole, sees us as we will be in His love eternally, sees us through the mediating eyes of Jesus. God sees us in Himself. God sees us through the eyes of love made flesh in Jesus Christ. This one same purpose with God and Jesus intends for us to be like Christ. Truly faithful people are precious in God's sight; we are His peculiar treasure; His delight is in us, above any people. We are His vineyard. And this makes God's people truly honorable; for we are really what we are in God's eye. By faith in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, as we trust in Jesus, we are part of His holy, chosen people. The object of our faith is God and His promises. Each of us is born for purpose, but it is God’s purpose. Remembering that it is not our faith, but the faith credited to us as righteousness. And by whose righteousness is why faith is the way God has chosen for us to get right with him. And God chose faith as the way to justification because faith accords with grace and grace is the free and sovereign work of God that makes the promise certain. God means to justify us by faith because it gives us strong assurance. God's free and sovereign grace is what guarantees the promise of salvation and makes it sure. And faith is the one condition of the heart that accords with grace in justification. Faith says yes to grace and is glad that God will save us that way and rests in that wonderful work of grace. So the purpose is expressed in the faith of Jesus as the way that we get right with God - the way to be justified - he wanted to base the whole thing on his almighty, all-glorious grace, so that our boasting would be excluded and his glory would be exalted and our salvation would be certain. Our pride is put down. God's glory is lifted up. And salvation is made sure. Therefore, rejoice that our justification is by grace through faith. Brothers, sisters, justification is not a process. It is a verdict. It is a singular act of counting us righteous and acceptable to God on the basis of the righteousness of another, namely and specifically, Jesus Christ. It is this kind of faith that God designs by His grace that will persevere. All subsequent faith dear friends is like an oak tree contained in the acorn. God, in the act of justification, which is imparted to us in our first believing, has respect to perseverance, as being virtually contained in that first act of faith; and persevering in faith is looked upon as being as it were a property of that first act of faith. God has respect to our continuance in faith, and He is glorified by that, as though it already were by divine establishment. God's purpose is to conform us to the image of Jesus, or to become like Jesus. The word states that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son, and that Christlikeness is God's eternal purpose. It means that full and steadfast justification is given to us through one simple act of faith; and assurance of eternal life is possible from that very beginning. And the work of Christ in whom we have our righteousness is a complete and perfect work. It does not get better with time. And we are united to Christ at once, through our first faith, not progressively. So, we ask reasonably...what is meant by from faith to faith? It means that God declares us to be righteous in His eyes because of our faith, from beginning to end living in a way that generates more faith in God and His promises. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Righteousness is thus a complete and total work of God. It is a right standing before God that has nothing to do with human accomplishment or worth. It is received by faith. There is nothing we can do to deserve or earn it. From the faith of God, who makes the offer of salvation, to the faith of Jesus, by whom we receive it. Salvation comes from God’s faithfulness to our faith. That salvation is accomplished through God’s faithfulness, which comes first, and our faith in response to that as a progressive, growing development of faith from one degree of faith to another akin to the ever-increasing glory of transformation. From day one of our journey of faith until the very last day, we, the righteous, must live by faith. We must trust God “from start to finish” and rely on His mighty power - the power of the gospel - to change our lives and the lives of those we encounter. Purpose!! We receive a faith that answers to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. That is also faithfulness to the call of God. God’s own faithfulness is in view with our justification which progresses into our faith. The faith of God is prior to all. It is the fundamental faithfulness that undergirds the covenant and creation itself and is paired with God’s steadfast love. The revelation of God’s righteousness is not just personal but cosmic. The word equates God’s righteousness with His salvation, which will act for the whole world. This all points toward Christ. We see this beautiful progression from God’s faith to Jesus’ faith, which leads to our faith and confidence in their faithful work. The mediating faith of Jesus stands between the faith of God and the responding faith of man, reinforcing the centrality of Jesus Christ in God’s saving and reconciling work of love. Jesus is not only the “author and finisher” of our faith but also the author and finisher of faith itself. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ reveals, on one hand, God’s faithfulness toward man. On the other hand, he as representative man reveals the faithful response of humanity toward God. And here is where our faith is born: in Him! We see the far-reaching of the one purpose - it is by faith from first to last, because faith is a word that binds God and man together through Christ in covenant relationship. In light of this, our own efforts and works are truly of no avail at all, for if we are not “of faith,” we are apart from God and Christ. But when we are “of faith,” then we are united in them and participate with them in the faith that defines them, and us. This is how and why God looks within Himself... because before there was our faith, there was His faith, the faith of God that was embodied in our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is their faith, the faithfulness of the Father and Son, that we are to think about most these days. For their faith is what makes our faith possible. This is the message of the everlasting gospel. God Himself will make sure of our perseverance in faith - not perfection in faith, but perseverance, persistence. How can we know this? Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. That last clause is crucial. It says that those whom God has justified, he most certainly will glorify. It's as good as done. That is, he will certainly bring us into everlasting life and glory with himself in the end. Now if that is true - if God will certainly and eternally save those who have been justified - and if our justification comes through faith which perseveres, then God will see to it that we certainly persevere in faith. This is a very precious truth: that God Himself is committed to keeping his people and not letting them forsake him utterly. We may stray for a season. But he will bring us back. Clouds may gather and faith may falter, but those who are justified will not stumble so as to fall utterly. We will persevere in faith. Our hope for glorification is not in our own willpower to believe. It is in God's faithfulness that he who began a good work in us will complete it unto the day of Christ.

Micheal stands, Jesus Shouts The Bible’s use of names and titles for the Son of God is never casual. Each name reveals a dimension of His work in the great plan of redemption. When He is called Jesus, He is the Savior. When He is called the Son of Man, He is the Judge. When He is called the Word of God, He is the Revealer. But when He is called Michael, He is the Commander of heaven’s armies—the Warrior who contends for His people. At the Second Coming, all these identities converge, but it is His identity as Michael that Scripture highlights at the resurrection, for in that moment He comes not as a suffering Lamb but as the conquering Prince. The return of the Lord is one of the most profound and climactic themes in all of Scripture. Yet the Bible presents this singular event from two complementary perspectives - the day is both harvest and threshing, gathering and trampling, embrace and exposure. The final crisis of earth’s history is not merely a clash of nations or ideologies, but the great climax of the ages—the war between Michael, the Prince of heaven, and the rebellious powers of darkness. In this closing conflict, the attitudes of the wicked and the righteous will stand in sharpest contrast. Each group will reveal, through their thoughts, words, and dispositions, the master they have chosen and the destiny they have embraced. On the one hand, the Lord is revealed as Michael, the Warrior Prince who makes war with the living wicked and destroys the powers of rebellion. “Michael” means “Who is like God?”—a name that functions as both confession and challenge. In Daniel, Michael is “one of the chief princes” and “the great prince who stands for the children of your people”. He contends with principalities, stands up at the time of unparalleled trouble, and is intimately connected with the deliverance of His people and the first resurrection. That essential line: “At that time Michael shall stand up … and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was … and at that time your people shall be delivered.” Michael’s “standing up” signals the transition from heavenly intercession to royal enforcement. It is the signal that heavenly jurisdiction has moved to executive action. Intercession issues in intervention; the Advocate who pleaded now appears as the Judge who delivers. It is the moment when the verdict in the heavenly court of Daniel chapter 7 becomes the event in history: protection of the sealed, exposure of the unrepentant, and the opening of the graves. Jude 9 remembers Michael’s authoritative confrontation with the adversary. Revelation 12 shows Michael warring against the dragon, casting him down and securing heaven’s victory song. The wicked, preparing to war with Michael, will be characterized by arrogance, defiance, and delusion. Having rejected the pleadings of grace and resisted the drawing of the Spirit, they will be utterly hardened against God. Revelation describes them as gathering under the leadership of “the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet” to make war against Him who rides upon the white horse (Revelation 16:13–14; 19:19). Their attitude will not be one of sober calculation, but of blind rage fueled by deception. They will believe themselves invincible, even as their kingdoms totter and their resources fail. Like Pharaoh chasing Israel into the sea, they will rush forward under a spell of false confidence, unable to perceive that they are running into their own destruction. Hatred for the truth and bitterness toward God’s faithful people will consume them, driving them to unite in a last desperate assault upon the throne of Christ. Their preparation for battle will be filled with the spirit of defiance, curses against heaven, and a confidence born not of reality but of satanic lies. These texts portray more than a creaturely angel; they unveil the Prince who embodies the authority of God, answers the question of His likeness, and executes His judicial warfare. On the other, He is revealed as Jesus, the Redeemer and Bridegroom, who raises the righteous dead, transforms the righteous living, and gathers them all into His eternal kingdom. The righteous preparing for the coming of Jesus will be marked by humility, patience, and holy expectation. Their hearts, having been purified through trial, will beat in quiet harmony with the will of God. Unlike the wicked, who draw courage from numbers and weapons, the righteous will find strength in communion with their Lord. Their preparation will not be a frenzied mustering of armies, but a sanctifying of spirit. They will watch and pray, not in terror but in faith, trusting in the promise that “our God shall come, and shall not keep silence” - Psalm 50:3. While the wicked curse, the righteous sing; while the world plots revenge, the saints lift up their heads, knowing that their redemption draws near. Their attitude will be one of childlike expectancy, longing for the face of the Bridegroom, eager for the consummation of the covenant they have held by faith. The Lord descends “with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God.” The Lord descends—not to touch the earth and set up a worldly throne, but to summon His saints to Himself. The shout is the royal command; the archangelic voice is the authoritative summons that pierces the graves; the trumpet is God’s broadcast signal of assembly and victory announcing that the age has turned. The voice of the archangel is the voice of Jesus Himself, but framed in the language of battle and conquest. The three belong together in one person’s appearing: the Lord Jesus. The bible suggests identity, not mere accompaniment: the very voice that commands resurrection is the voice of the archangelic Prince—Michael—wielded by the Lord Himself. The titles differ; the person does not. The word declares his omniscient sovereignty. His being the “name written, that no man knew” signals the inexhaustible depth of the Son’s divine identity. Order and togetherness guard the church from fear and envy: the dead are not disadvantaged; the living are not isolated; the Lord gathers all in one embrace. The trumpet summons like a long-awaited song. The sleeping saints stir; the earth releases what it could not keep. Mothers meet sons, husbands meet wives, friends greet friends—yet every reunion is gathered around the One whose scars still speak. The living feel corruption flee their bones; weakness leaves like a shadow at noon. Together, like a single bride, the church rises to meet her Lord. No fear, no dusk—only the King, the Lamb, the Word who kept His word. These two scenes do not contradict one another but display the fullness of the Parousia—the appearing of the Lord—where judgment and salvation occur simultaneously. These functions transcend those of a created angel and point to divine prerogatives. Jesus, the incarnate Word and Lord of glory, is likewise described as Judge, Warrior, and Deliverer. It is crucial to note that both groups will be moved by a sense of inevitability. The wicked will prepare for war because they can do nothing else; the bent of their nature, corrupted and sealed in rebellion, leaves them incapable of repentance. Likewise, the righteous will prepare for Christ’s appearing because their lives have been fully surrendered; the Spirit within them cannot but long for the coming of the Lord. Thus, in the end, the distinction between the two groups is absolute—one marked by rage against heaven, the other by peace with God. One girds itself with weapons of earth, the other with robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. The contrast is not only theological, but deeply moral and emotional. For the wicked, preparation means hardening—more hatred, more deception, more violence. For the righteous, preparation means softening—more love, more surrender, more purity. As the wicked are animated by fear and wrath, the righteous are animated by hope and joy. As the wicked prepare for a battle they cannot win, the righteous prepare for a victory already secured at the cross. Thus, when Christ appears, the wicked will cry to the rocks and mountains for covering, while the righteous will cry with joy, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us” (Isaiah 25:9). In the final analysis, the attitudes of the wicked and the righteous in the last preparation reveal the deepest truth of all: every soul becomes like the master it serves. Those who resist Michael will bear the fury of the dragon; those who wait for Jesus will shine with the meekness of the Lamb. The great separation will be complete, and the attitudes of both camps will bear witness before the universe to the justice and mercy of God. The first scene presents the return of the Lord as Michael the Warrior. In Revelation, heaven opens and the Faithful and True appears, called “The Word of God.” He rides a white horse, His eyes are flames of fire, upon His head are many crowns and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. Not the blood of defeat, but the blood of costly victory. He treads the winepress—showing that His triumph carries the weight of His own sacrifice. Armies of heaven follow Him, also mounted on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. From His mouth goes a sharp sword with which He strikes the nations. The beast and the kings of the earth gather to oppose Him. Human power reaches its hubris: to marshal history’s might against God’s Lamb. But they are powerless before the majesty of His appearing. II Thessalonians echoes this vision: the lawless one and the wicked are consumed by the rod of his mouth and the breath of His lips. An echo of creation and prophecy: the Spirit-breath that gave life now executes judgment. And destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Glory unmediated. The very appearing is lethal to entrenched rebellion. The Lord’s presence is paradise for the pure and perdition for the impenitent. The imagery demonstrates that His war is not fought with earthly weapons but with the truth of His Word and the unveiled radiance of His presence. The gathered kings are the apex of rebellion. The Rider overcomes not by numbers but by nature because of who He is: He is King of kings. The beast’s coalition collapses; the false prophet is exposed; the Word stands. The wicked are slain not by steel but by light. This war is not a chaotic melee of creaturely steel against steel. It is the decisive judicial warfare of the Word. The sword proceeds from the Rider’s mouth: His verdict exposes, His proclamation deposes, His light annihilates the resistance of darkness. The war is waged by the Word. He judges and makes war “in righteousness,” not by brute force but by the potency of divine truth. The brightness of His appearing is itself judgment against those who loved the lie. The winepress imagery emphasizes that this is God’s own day of vengeance, the settling of the covenant lawsuit against stubborn impenitence. On one side stand the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth with their armies—the whole apparatus of human and demonic rebellion. On the other stands the Lamb, called Michael in His militant office, attended by the armies of heaven. The gathered opposition presumes to “make war” with the Lamb, but the war is asymmetrical: a breath, a word, a flash of unveiled glory—and the insurgency collapses. The living wicked are judged in their flesh by the appearing of the Lord. Judgment is not arbitrary. The judicial war of Michael follows a prolonged season of patience, witness, and warning. Those who “received not the love of the truth” are given over to delusion; the unveiling of the lawless one is the last, climactic exposure of human pride. When the Lord appears, He confirms the choice of every heart: those who loved darkness are overwhelmed by the very Light they despised. The sky tears like a veil pulled back. Light—not gentle dawn but consuming noon—pours over the earth. The coalition that promised safety finds its banners fluttering before a wind they cannot name. The Rider’s eyes find every heart; the lie dissolves; the masquerade ends. The breath of His mouth swallows the boast of the final tyrant. What the wicked called power proves fragile as ash before flame. The Day of the Lord does publicly what the gospel did privately—declare Jesus Lord—and compels every knee to bow, willingly or unwillingly. The armies who follow Christ upon white horses carry rich symbolic significance. White horses are emblematic of victory, purity, and triumph in revelatory imagery. Those who follow are described as clothed in fine linen, which Revelation 19:8 identifies as the angelic armies who accompany Michael the Archangel, Christ in His warrior role, in His final triumph over the beast, false prophet, and kings of the earth. Their whiteness signifies their sharing in Christ’s victory, not by their own might but through the Lamb who overcame. The armies on white horses represent those who belong to Him, standing as witnesses to His final victory over evil. And here is one of the reasoning points that we must considering reading Revelation 17:14. The called, chosen, faithful are with him? We are not with him when he returns but with him in the same warring purpose. We recognize that the believers are with Christ in a spiritual sense during their earthly life and struggles, but will be brought physically to be with him at his final return. This eschatological reality involves both a present, spiritual union and a future, physical reunion. We are already considered "with" Christ in a deep, spiritual sense, made possible by our union with him. This is not a physical presence, but a spiritual and theological reality that is the basis of our salvation. Because we are spiritually united with the conquering Christ, his victory over sin and evil is already credited to us. Therefore, even while we suffer persecution on earth, we are identified with the victorious Lamb. The "called, chosen, and faithful" are "with" Christ in Revelation 17:14 because their identity and victory are already secured in him through their present spiritual union. This triad traces salvation’s arc: the gospel call, election’s purpose, and faith’s perseverance. Those who belong to the Lamb share His victory. At his return, this reality is fully revealed as they return with him in physical bodies to celebrate his ultimate triumph. Revelation compresses realities to proclaim a single truth: all who belong to the Lamb—angels who serve and saints who are saved—stand on His side and share in His victory. The second scene presents the return of Jesus as Bridegroom and Redeemer. The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ rise first, bursting forth from the graves at His command. The graves that received their dust return it at the command of their Maker. This is the “first resurrection” for the righteous, the vindication of faith, the answer to tears. Then those who are alive and remain are transformed in an instant and caught up together with the resurrected ones. The meeting-place is the air— the domain once polluted by principalities, now reclaimed as the highway of the King. Together the redeemed accompany the Lord to the prepared place, the kingdom He promised. Mortality puts on immortality; corruption puts on incorruption. From that moment forward, the redeemed are forever with Him. Unlike the scene of judgment upon the wicked, this perspective emphasizes salvation, reunion, and everlasting comfort for the people of God. Taken together, these two perspectives form a coherent sequence of the Day of the Lord. The Lord descends with heavenly glory; the trumpet sounds and the dead are raised; the living saints are translated and caught up; and simultaneously, the wicked are exposed and consumed by the brightness of His coming. Thus the same event is both life and death: life for the saints, death for the wicked; embrace for the redeemed, destruction for the rebellious. The armies of heaven bear witness to this twofold reality, celebrating the triumph of Christ’s cross as it finds its final manifestation in history. For the church, these truths carry profound application. They call us to comfort one another with the hope of resurrection, to live in purity and watchfulness, and to find courage in the certainty of the Lamb’s victory. They remind us that readiness is not about predicting dates but about being faithful, holy, and steadfast. To the faithful, the brightness of His coming will be everlasting light. To the rebellious, it will be consuming fire. One Lord appears—Jesus, who is also Michael—and in His one coming He is revealed both as Warrior and Bridegroom, Judge and Redeemer, King of kings and Lord of Lords. The bible’s use of Michael at the resurrection is not to diminish Jesus but to magnify Him. Michael is Christ unveiled in His warrior-prince identity, the one who has always contended for His people and who at last commands the grave to release its captives. His shout is the battle cry that ends the great controversy. Yet even as He calls the righteous forth as Michael, He receives them as Jesus, the Bridegroom. In this union of names, we see both His majesty and His mercy: the Lion and the Lamb, the Warrior and the Savior, the Archangel’s voice and the Shepherd’s embrace. Thus, Michael calls the righteous to rise not because He is other than Jesus, but because in that moment Jesus is revealed as Michael—the Conqueror whose voice is life and whose victory is everlasting. This event is recognized in one of the most mysterious time prophecies in Scripture. “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour”. This prophetic interval holds profound significance. It signals the climactic transition in heaven’s administration when Christ lays aside His role as intercessor and assumes His role as warrior and king. The silence corresponds to the moment when heaven itself is emptied—Michael descending with the angelic armies and Christ descending to gather His saints. The “standing” is more than posture—it is a judicial and military act. Christ rises from His priestly seat in the heavenly sanctuary, signaling the close of intercession. At that very moment, Revelation 22:11 is fulfilled: The destiny of every soul is fixed. This standing ushers in the “time of trouble”, a period of anguish surpassing every prior crisis. Yet this is not yet the visible coming of Christ, nor the final battle. Rather, it is the transition in which God’s people, sealed and secured, face a world abandoned to judgment without a mediator, while Michael stands invisibly as their protector. Once probation closes, Revelation reveals the last plagues poured out upon the earth. These judgments are not mixed with mercy, for mercy has ceased. They expose the futility of human rebellion and prepare the stage for the last conflict. The saints endure these days with unbroken trust in God, preserved by His promises. This period is Jacob’s time of trouble, Jeremiah 30:7, in which the people of God wrestle in faith while surrounded by global hostility. Yet though unseen, Michael’s standing assures them of divine protection. He has not yet left heaven with His armies, but His power shields the remnant until the climax. During the sixth plague, the kings of the earth gather for the battle of Armageddon. The nations marshal their strength against the Lamb, and the great controversy reaches its earthly peak. At this decisive moment, heaven is no longer silent because of intercession but because its armies have emptied its courts to descend with Christ. This is when Michael, the warrior-prince, fully reveals Himself. He who once stood to close probation now comes forth as King of kings to execute judgment and deliver His saints. The silence in heaven aligns with this moment: heaven’s throne room stands empty because its Sovereign and His hosts are on the move. At Christ’s descent, the words of I Thessalonians 4:16–17 find their fulfillment. The shout of the archangel is none other than Michael’s commanding voice, breaking the silence with a decree that shakes both heaven and earth. It summons the sleeping saints from their graves and calls the living sealed remnant to ascend with them. Thus, Christ’s role as intercessor gives way to His role as warrior, and finally to His role as Bridegroom and Redeemer. The armies of heaven descend, the dead are raised, and the living saints are transformed. Together they are gathered to meet their Lord in the air, beyond the reach of plague or enemy. Please note that Christ Michael has resurrection authority. Truth presents Christ under different names or titles depending on His role in redemption. As Jesus, He is the Savior in humility, bearing our sins. As the Son of Man, He is the Judge entrusted with authority, John 5:27. As the Word of God, He is the eternal revealer of the Father. And as Michael the Archangel, He is the warrior- prince, commander of heaven’s armies. The title archangel does not mean “highest created angel,” but “chief of the angels.” Michael is not a created being but Christ Himself in His commander role. Notice: Daniel 12:1–2, Michael stands, and immediately the resurrection is mentioned. I Thessalonians 4:16: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Jude 9: Michael contends over the body of Moses, asserting resurrection power. John 5:28, 29 - the resurrection comes by the voice of Christ. I Thessalonians says it is the “voice of the archangel”. These are not two voices—they are one and the same. Michael is the name that emphasizes Christ’s warrior-commanding power at that climactic moment. So, it is not that Michael calls the dead instead of Jesus. Rather, Jesus calls the dead as Michael, the archangel—the commanding voice of heaven’s Prince. Reason with this context: the resurrection happens in the midst of the final battle at Armageddon. Christ comes, not as the suffering Servant, but as the King riding forth with heaven’s armies. The title Michael stresses His military authority and protection of His people. By using the name Michael, Scripture shows us the nature of the moment: Christ is no longer mediating as Priest but commanding as Warrior. His voice is not the gentle call of a shepherd but the battle-shout that breaks the power of the grave and rallies His army of the redeemed. At the Second Coming, we therefore see both realities united: as Michael, He shouts in command, raising the dead and destroying the enemy with His armies. As Jesus, He gathers His beloved, meeting them in the air and taking them home as Savior-Bridegroom. The two names are not in conflict—they are complementary. One emphasizes His authority, the other His intimacy. To the universe, He is Michael the Conqueror; to His saints, He is Jesus the Bridegroom. Michael calls the righteous to rise because Michael is Christ Himself in His role as Commander of heaven’s hosts. The resurrection is not a work delegated to another voice, but the direct command of the Lord, whose archangelic voice is the very power that breaks the hold of death. The half-hour silence represents the solemn interval when heaven holds its breath. The universe recognizes the finality of judgment and the imminence of deliverance. The silence in heaven is not emptiness but expectancy—the holy pause before eternity’s most decisive act. In that silence, we see the majesty of Christ as intercessor turned warrior, and finally as Redeemer, coming to gather His elect. Michael’s armies and Jesus’ descent converge in one breathtaking finale, revealing the fullness of His love and the certainty of His victory. The wicked face the terror of unmingled wrath, while the righteous cling to divine promises until the shout of Michael calls them forth. Thus, when the heavens are parted and the trumpet sounds, every heart will face its truth. For some, it will be the dreadful end of rebellion; for others, the joyous beginning of eternal fellowship. But for all, it will be the revelation of the One who has always been both Lion and Lamb, Warrior and Bridegroom, Michael and Jesus. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

God cries There is this one momentous reason why God cries...His divine love. We might then wonder, coming from so high a Being, what must be the sounding of the God who cries. Could it be a voice that reminds us of where we stand with such a holy God? Could it be a sounding that gives us greater understanding of how we are to see God? We might ought to understand that there can be no technical description to any sound coming from God. We know of the sound of thunder, we know of the sound of wind, of fire, of lightning, trumpets, and even a still small voice. The soundings of God can be revealed expressively or impressively through mountains, water, trees, meadows, clouds, valleys, landscapes, and so much more, but most persistently, through His Word. There can be no audible expression attending God’s soundings without the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help us hear God’s soundings whether God decides to speak audibly, visually, or inwardly through impressions, or even while it walks. As believers we have access to know the plans, mind, and purposes of God for our life through the Holy Spirit. Some of us wait for the face to face encounter. We must always consider the spiritual impressions of God’s nature. When we are in the mind of that holy thing born, God sounds like our own voice. Angels speak in both a physical and spiritual light. Who among us can discern the characteristics of God’s love? Love is the greatest attribute of God. When God sounds, He sounds to our faith, to our hope. God does not have faith in the way we have faith, because He never has to “trust” outside of Himself. God does not have hope the way we have hope, because He knows all things and is in complete control. But God is love, and will always be love. Can a faith that moves mountains be heard? Fortunately, we don’t need to choose between faith, hope, and love. God cares about our coming closer to Him. His crying is not dramatic. In our minds, with His will, we engage with wisdom the understanding of God’s nature through a more subtle path of discernment subtle path of discernment. God does not want us to discern in isolation. He lets us hear His crying through people we know who are farther down the path of holiness than we are. God has made us as an inherently relational being and as we are striving to become what we are purposed to be, we find ourselves deciding between sin and virtue. Then know that the voice of God as He cries is through virtue alone. God never asks us to sin. God’s voice is the sound of consistent love. God comes near us for a good purpose in a contrite spirit. In the reality of God what does it mean that He sheds tears? God is beyond human. Can God’s tears be more than an emotional response? He tells us that His eyes run down with tears. God cries for the pressures from the narrowness of circumstances of things that we are to endure. He knows the grievous blows that are coming to His people. God is love, and there is this principle taught in the divine Word, that true love weeps with those that weep. This is exemplary of the Divine character. But God’s peace of mind is never disturbed. His fatherly love that shares the sorrows of His human family contains no anxiety over our eternal welfare. With Divine serenity His wisdom has planned for the eternal welfare of all His people, and in His serenity He knows His Divine love and power will attain that goal. The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth…and it grieved Him to His heart. Yes, God cried. During the crusades, soldiers in route to the Holy Land slaughtered followers of Christ hiding in their synagogues. Cries of anguish shrilled unto heaven as the wooden structures were torched. And God cried. In Europe reformer’s blood flowed freely in Roman Catholic countries as victims of the so-called “Holy” Inquisition totaled in the millions. And God cried. Over 20 million Black beings were enslaved and between 2 to 4 million died while in slave ships yet at sea during the “Middle Passage” voyage to slave markets run largely by white so-called Christians. And God cried. Six million people claiming to be the people of God, descendants of those who reckoned his blood on themselves and their children were hunted, gassed, and burned in the tragedy termed Holocaust. And God cried. The first of two atomic bombs claimed 130,000 victims and terrified the world. And God cried. Ruthless governments of Nazi Germany, Communist rule, American inexplicable wickedness and the emerging pattern of its unhinged frothing hatred. And God is crying. God’s empathy runs so deep that He actually knows, in the sense of feeling, our troubles, sorrows and tragedies. God grieves with us, and He isn’t in a hurry to superimpose His reality on ours aggressively, why? Because He understands that our tears and temporal pain are a natural consequence of the brokenness we feel which is a direct result of the brokenness in this world. So He empathizes with us first, before He brings His truth to bear in our reality, however long that takes, Love is patient. Does God cry is not an academic question or an abstract philosophy. God suffers when man suffers, and yes, God has His purposes for permitting suffering. God knows the end from the beginning. God’s Son departed from his honor, his majesty to be with us. The foreknowledge of God adds another dimension to the scope of God’s crying. God is doing things too wonderful for us to understand right now. But soon we will see with a clearer understanding of God, that we might serve Him more faithfully and with greater appreciation. God’s last great cry to humanity is going on right now throughout the whole world. We’re a part of this cry, the Bride of Christ with the tears of Calvary, the tears of God, the tears of Jesus, the tears of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that we have been made partakers of His divine nature. Contained in the tears of Calvary are all the love, compassion, mercy of God. In the tears of Calvary, God provided that all the fruits of the Spirit could be manifested in each child of God’s life. God’s crying is not a sound. It is the sheer silence of His presence. You want to hear God cry? Go outside, look around and see what we consider the joy of His creation. Are we attuned to God spiritually? Can we discern the movement of the Holy Spirit? Few there are that can even recognize the voice of God, let alone hear it. Those who are in a right relationship with God can tune out the noise of the world. As God hears their cries, so they hear His. What does God cry about? Why does He cry? Sin interrupted our walk with God and He cries to us in these memorable words...”where art thou”? That cry has been going forth down through the ages to other Adam’s, other Eve’s…God crying over His lost children. Think of the multitudes who have been lost. As Noah and his family boarded the ark, God cried. He cried those seven days the ark door stood open. God thought about the first man and woman He made, how horrifying it had been when they fell into sin, how it grieved His heart when He had to drive them from the Garden and place cherubim at the gate with a flaming sword to keep them out. Never will God forget the way He cried that day. God cried again the day the ark door was to close. Those outside were given one last chance to repent. As God stood looking at the ark so long in the making, He knew a multitude of people were steeped in sin, darkness. All their thoughts were evil continually. God, shedding the tears of His great love, His burning tears of great compassion for lost humanity, the unseen hands of His angel took hold of the ark door and pushed it shut. But when the ark door was sealed, it was a tearless God who poured down the rains from heaven and opened up the fountains of the earth. It might be that the people began to pray. But they found no compassion, no tears of God, no crying; for their prayers contained no love for God but were filled with fear and anger. Without a tear, God brought judgment on those outside the ark of safety. God will not shed tears when He brings final judgment to human beings; they would be useless tears. God sheds tears when those tears can help. If people shut themselves out of reach of His tears, if His tears will not move them, God cries no more. It’s over and done with. How would we feel were God to look at us without the tears of Calvary? Imagine what it would be like for those who are in sin. Too many think they can find the Lord anytime they want – and they can as long as He has tears for them. But one day those tears may not be there, and there will be no hope of Heaven left at all. The only escape is in the tears of Calvary, the only love, the only faith, the only salvation. Without those tears...Do not think it makes God sound too vulnerable to say that He cries. He cries because our unbelief causes us unnecessary grief and sorrow. Our sin is committed against greater light. We stand on a higher mountain and see more than any could ever see. We have a completed Word with a full and detailed record of God's trustworthiness. We have the written testimonies of testimonies generations of godly fathers and faithful others who have passed down to us unshakeable proofs of God's love. And what of the countless personal experiences. He cries because we fail to recognize who He is and rest in His promises. We make God cry. And when we hear God cry, we move to a higher reality of faith. And when we see God cry, we move into a new revelation of His love. Our being made in the image of God and knowing that our God cries lets us know that crying is not a sign of weakness but of strength. Crying is more than an emotion, it is having the heart of God. God’s cries and our cries are joined. God’s cry is a cry of invitation. There is this war cry coming from God’s people today. This is born from confidence that God is mighty and that He is with us. In these last days God will use our cries to help others overcome difficulties. Our tears will be a blessing to many. As the woman’s tears washed Jesus’ feet, our cries will strengthen hearts to be cleansed through prayer and repentance. Just as Jesus wept, not for the death of a friend, but for the lack of faith that his presence means life. They knew not that he was a Savior who dwells alongside, above, and within the creation itself. Our evils have afflicted God. That is why we worship a Lord who experiences all the emotions of the world so that we may relate and cleave to something who has borne our pain. We serve a God who cries. There is no faltering on the part of God in dealing with us in the spirit of fathership. He deals with us as His children. Christ was brought to the extremity which we shall never reach but as he cried in the spirit of sonship we see our God bitterest cry commence with “O my Father”. If we remain faithful, we will go through arduous trials. God will agonize with us. This was Christ’s own Godlike nature that leaped up in him. He is the divine original. This compassion is peculiar to Himself dictated by his originality. And so, we know God cries in the inwardness of His love which may serve us for a pattern, but of which no pattern had existed before. This suggest of the memorable intercession prayer of Jesus overwhelmingly showing the deity of his affection. This is the first cry of our Savior’s intercession for those who will be perfected. And his second cry was his intercession for his enemies...Father, forgive them. All His intercession is in a measure like the intercession of his prayer and on Calvary and his cries help us to reason the character of the whole of His intercession above. Our Savior prayed for persons who did not deserve the prayer, but on the contrary, merited a curse - persons who did not ask for the prayer and even scoffed at it when they heard it. Even so in heaven there stands the great High Priest, who pleads for guilty men...and so our God still cries. There are none on earth that deserve His intercession. He pleads for none on the supposition that they do deserve it. He stands there to plead as the just One on the behalf of the unjust. Not if any man be righteous, but “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.” God cries because His heart of love is entreating the favor of heaven on our behalf. Tears and cries of omnipotence. God cries out of His own personal sorrow for what sin costs, representing the richness and depth of His character. God is spirit. The Father and the Holy Spirit do not cry literal tears as we do. We cry over situations that are overwhelming or uncertain to us. God does not have that element of uncertainty to deal with. He is never overwhelmed, for He has all authority in heaven and on earth. How are God’s tears real? God stores our tears in a bottle. God’s esteem for our tears is an acknowledgement that our sorrow and our very lives are precious in God’s eyes. Christ will be glorious in the eyes of the Lord; and those who are Israel, who are in Christ are truly glorious that are so in God's eyes. We are His tears, just as we are His joy. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD. Our tears are not lost on God. These tears cause God to be deeply moved. And we are called to be more than onlookers in this drama, to do more than pronounce our judgment about which people God loves and whether God could have done more to prevent certain tragedies. We too must allow the tears being shed around us to disturb us greatly and move us deeply. We need to recognize the tears that God is collecting and crying, and to choose to take part in God’s redemptive and restorative activity on behalf of all those who weep. God cries in our cry. Many have difficulties connecting God with emotional concerns that we have over situations. God’s Word tells us that we were made in God’s image and it also shows us that we can make God joyful, pleased, or sad. Do we think that our behavior has no effects to God’s heart? The spirit of God can be grieved. God is sorrowful when we reject Him. When we willfully forsake His way to walk somewhere else, due to personal passions, wills and ambitions. The spirit of God is not indifferent but sorrowful in such cases. The bible weighs in on what would appear to be the very first reference to the emotions of God in the Old Testament. God repented and He was grieved in his heart. God’s repentance and grieving gives reference to our understanding of Him. For since we cannot comprehend God as He is, it is necessary that, for our sake, He should, in a certain sense, transform Himself. For a God who knows every event that will occur can repentance really take place in God? With this consideration, nothing can happen which is by Him unexpected or unforeseen. God is celestial and sovereign in all His rest. God forever is like Himself, however, truth could not otherwise be known about how great is God's hatred and detestation of sin, therefore the Spirit accommodates Himself to our capacity to understand. God was so offended by the atrocious wickedness of men, it was as if his heart was deeply wounded with mortal grief. It is reality that both the image and the likeness of God were purposed to give us spiritual insight to the infinite realm of what holiness is. The mode of accommodation is for God to represent Himself to us not as He is in Himself, but as He must seem to us. Although He is beyond all disturbance of mind, yet He testifies that He is angry toward sinning sinners. Therefore, whenever we hear that God is angered, we ought not to imagine any emotion in Him, but rather to consider that this expression has been taken from our human experience; because God, whenever He is exercising judgment, exhibits the appearance of one kindled or angered. We learn this of our God...divine emotion is the quiet, understatement of God’s love for His people and His hatred for sin. This divine emotion spiritually bursts with hidden meaning. Here is our coming unto God and understanding the truth of His cries. Let’s discuss the drama of emotion to better understand how God cries. There is God and then there is us. A mystery is our created pattern in His image, His likeness. Emotion is either divine or undivine. When misused it is undivine and restricted to the physical and the shadowy mind. It’s an I, my, mine mentality. Any emotion that binds our conscience should be undone. Divine emotion should be pure in its source to expand our consciousness. When it comes from our soul, it tells us, "I came from God.” God is divine. His repenting, His grieving, God’s cries are divine. God’s cries open for His followers an expression of their inner aspiration. We become better soldiers in the fight against sin. We understand better why Jesus came to us as one of us. In Christ, as he wept, God cried and we feel that humanity is part and parcel of our consciousness, then we have divine emotion. We know why, we know how God cries. We are affected because we truly feel our own existence in the heart of humanity as is Jesus Christ our God. If we want to transform our lower emotion, then we must start feeding our divine emotion. We can consciously feed our divine emotion by feeling that each individual is God's child and humanity's embodied hope. Then we will have the inner urge to fulfil the divinity in humanity. The divine within us is totally responsible for us and for others. God risks revealing this character peculiarity in His crying to expand our consciousness, sweeten our existence and fulfil not only our life but also the lives of those around us who will receive the truth. For God to present a transform event of divinity and humanity, we come to see that the impure, earthbound emotion can spiritually be transformed. It will be thrown into the fiery sea of divine emotion, where everything is purified. We prioritize this “feeling” of closeness with God over the relationship itself, which is steeped in the truth of God’s Word. We come to all of the law of God with the love and grace of God. We cry ourselves to sleep desiring to understanding the hurt, the pain, the tenderness, the intimacy, of our God that extends beyond the comprehension of our Creator. Our God cries and He is the fountainhead of all wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And in His Being He becomes even more of a mystery to us. God cries. How could He create something in us that He doesn’t understand on the highest of levels or even possess Himself? It’s not that He doesn’t feel. Indeed, God feels - He feels in a perfect way, untainted by the curse of sin. Faith has us draw this inference...flowing out of the heart of God Himself is His image in us to experience His love, His grief, His joy as qualities of our own. God’s feelings for His people are deep and genuine - so perfect that such a feeling can never be possessed by fallen human beings, but only by the God who embodies within Himself the utmost perfection of emotion. Here is how God cries - Jesus wept. “Wept” doesn’t mean that His eyes got a little moist, or that He had to swallow a lump in His throat. And it certainly doesn’t mean He stood beside Mary and Martha as they grieved, with His arms crossed, disappointed in their lack of faith. “Jesus wept,” means that He felt the gut wrenching anguish that comes from losing ones you love and who you would die for, and displayed it in a very human way - by shedding tears. Knowing that he would raise one that was faithful didn’t stop him from entering into their pain and experiencing it with them. We must begin to show the marks of our divine origin. Our cries for others are not just tears. The Holy Spirit must elevate our servitude above duty fulfillment. We will see many abandon the truth. This will hurt us. We must be charged with sacred feeling for every soul, while having profound and tender regret for those who refuse the witness. We must let faith and truth be that powerful experience of godliness that is the seat of our emotion. Our God is an awesome God, and part of His awesomeness is His emotional-ness. Emotions are divine when we have true reverence for God. The emotive poetry written in the word depicts God’s heartbreak over the trauma of His broken relationship with His people is unmatched anywhere. What are we to do with this? We are to cry out to God!

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