Christ the telos

so, yeah, we are going to tackle pieces of Revelation today.  well...not really tackle, more wade through them with has much humility as possible.  i like what Adam Clarke says about Revelation...

I am satisfied that no certain mode of interpreting the prophecies of this book has yet been found out, and I will not add another monument o the littleness or folly of the human mind by endeavoring to strike out a new course. I repeat it, I do not understand the book...

so rather than trying to reflect on the whole of the book, we are examining just a couple passage to reflect on what they aim to teach us about Christ's identity.  i dusted off the old Greek New Testament, that one I bought but don't open enough, and examined what little I can remember of Greek, and with the little help of a commentary (ok, who am I kidding, a LOT of help).  In chs 21 and 22, Christ is refers to himself as the beginning and the telos.  we translate it the end...when it is often translated as 'goal'.  Christ, the goal...

 Christ is not just our Savior, our Creator, but Christ is our goal.  As I let that simmer for a while, I could here Pastor Eric Mason echoing my head from one of his sermons on Colossians 1.15-18...Christ should be the goal of our life, not just our Savior...Christ is our goal.  Never heard a preacher with so much power and conviction talk about how central Christ is to who we are...not as the first thing in life, but central to all things in life.  Just as a happy marriage with Mandy isn't my goal, but Mandy herself is the goal of marriage, to know her, to be one with her...Christ is the end goal of all of life, all we do and say all we participate in, everything we are a part of...it's Christ...

...what if Christ is our blessing...

my rambling for today