Jesus is King and Lord over the whole world. One of the most powerful illustrations of this comes from the 19th chapter of Revelation. For our first Death by Love Contest we are inviting everyone to draw a picture of Jesus from the description in Revelation 19. You can watch this video clip for inspiration.

Instructions

1. "Draw an awesome picture of Jesus from Rev 19." From Andy Cimbala (State College, PA)
2. Post it to the Death by Love Facebook group picture section. (Below the video)
3. The top three will get a book, and then we'll randomly draw at least two submissions for free copies of Death by Love.

Revelation 19:11-16

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." Revelation 19:11-16

Question 120 - Why has Christ commanded us to address God as Our Father?

Answer - To awaken in us at the very beginning of our prayer that childlike reverence and trust toward God which should be basic to our prayer: God has become our Father through Christ and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in faith than our fathers would refuse us earthly things.¹

¹ Matt. 7:9-11; Luke 11:11-13.

Question 83 - What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven?

Answer - The preaching of the holy gospel and church discipline. By these two the kingdom of heaven is opened to believers and closed to unbelievers.¹

¹ Matt. 16:19; John 20:21-23.

In this video from the Gospel Coalition, watch as John Piper gives insight into sin, the kingdom and what the good news of the Gospel means for life on earth and live on the new earth.

In this audio from the Gospel Coalition, listen as John Piper gives insight into sin, the kingdom and what the good news of the Gospel means for life on earth and live on the new earth.

John 10:22-30

Since coming to Bethlehem in July, 1980, I have averaged about one funeral per month. One of the things I regret about this experience is that all of you can't share it with me. I know that some of you would not live the way you do if once a month you had to spend three or four hours writing a funeral meditation about the meaning of death, and if you had to think and pray about what you would say to the family, and if you had to stand beside the open hole and the mound of dirt and try to make the decisive farewell significant for the bereaved. I regret that I am the one who does all this once a month, not because it is a hard job and I want someone else to do it, but because it is a gift to me and I would that all of you could share it.

There are two reasons why the ministry of funerals is a gift. One reason is that it keeps my mind and heart awake to the reality and certainty of my death and my wife's death and my sons' death and the death of all of you. It is easy to forget about our dying. Except for those in terrible suffering, death is not usually what we want to happen. It terminates some things we enjoy very much; it severs us from people we love. And for many it is an awful door leading they know not where. Perhaps to judgment and eternal hell, perhaps to utter nothingness. For many it is a great and terrifying unknown. And since our minds cannot endure such constant threat, we very naturally forget. Or, more fundamentally, we really avoid the thought of death by filling our minds with other things. When the Bible says in Hebrews 2:15 that "through fear of death men are subject to slavery all their life," it doesn't mean, of course, that human psychological experience is one of constant fear. It means, rather, that, since death is fearful, and since we impulsively flee fear, man is enslaved to perpetual flight apart from Christ. He may know periods of peace and happiness when for a season he has put the haunting thought of death off his trail. But he will awake and remember that he is a fugitive and must keep running. There is no true freedom where happiness depends on denying the inevitable; there is only slavery disguised in a thousand forms of fun and busyness. And therefore I count the ministry of funerals a gift because it keeps my heart and mind awake to the reality of death and protects me from the enslavements of being a fugitive.