Episode 370: I’m Talkin…Warrior

I’m Talkin’, episode 370 for May 18, 2025.

This is Joel from the I’m Talkin’ microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking warrior. So I’m not sure if warrior is a common word, but it is a word that we use and we understand what it means.

And I was thinking that in today’s world, where we’re not having a lot of hand-to-hand combat where you might think of a warrior in that sense, but maybe you think of warrior as in basketball if you’re a Steph Curry fan.

Or maybe you think of a warrior as someone who is willing to fight for something.

And it might not be punching somebody or hitting somebody.

It’s just willingness to step out and stand up for maybe the oppressed or stand up for a cause or something like that.

And they might call you a warrior in that sense.

And they also may call you a warrior if you exude power.

And so there’s all of these pictures of the warrior and power and fighting for something and triumphing maybe.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians. So the word warrior is not in the verses that I am memorizing this week.

And this goes back to next week as well in Revelations 19 verses 11 through 16.

I’m going to say those verses a little bit later and you’ll see why the word warrior comes out of that.

It’s a description of Jesus upon his return, very much a description of a warrior.

And it can cause a problem for those of us who call ourselves Christians because how do we balance that power with the other attributes of God?

And let me explain that in a little bit more detail.

So I had a few examples.

And one of the things that we know as Christians is that God is love, the very definition of love.

And how do we balance the fact that that is a definition of God in a sense versus the punishment that comes because people do wrong?

And we also know that God is a God of grace and over and over again in the Bible it talks about the long-suffering nature of God where he puts up with people doing wrong for long periods of time.

But how do we look at God’s grace versus judgment?

And the other thing we know for a fact is that God forgives sins.

We know that because we are forgiven and get to spend eternity with him in heaven.

And how do we take that forgiving nature of God or Jesus versus the accountability of our actions?

It is very difficult to do those contrasting comparisons.

And I will admit that I don’t fully understand that balance.

And it is hard, hard to explain to non-Christians where you get the I don’t believe God who is a graceful God, a forgiving God, a loving God would allow, and then you can put anything at the end of that sentence.

Well, I think Revelations 19, 11 through 16 sheds some light on that subject.

And so I will quote that now.

So Revelations 19, 11 through 16 says, Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse standing there.

Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.

His eyes are like flames of fire, and on his head are many crowns.

And a name is written on him that no one understands except himself.

He wears a robe dipped in blood, and his title is the Word of God.

The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, follow him on white horses.

A sharp sword comes from his mouth to strike the nations.

He will rule them with an iron rod.

He will release the fierce wrath of God the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress.

And on his robe, at his thigh, is the title King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

So these verses give a picture of Jesus returning as a triumphant warrior, ruling the nations with an iron rod.

But it starts out with the fact that he is faithful and true, and he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.

Those are the things that we don’t fully understand.

But he is coming back as a reigning king, king of all kings, lord of all lords.

But he is not going to do anything against his nature.

All of the battles where it says he will release the fierce wrath of God the Almighty, those are things that are for those who have not claimed Jesus Christ as their savior.

There is punishment for sin.

We talked about it a few weeks ago when I was looking in Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

We may not ever understand righteous judgment because we can’t do that as fallen creatures.

But we can stand on the fact that the perfection of the God we serve has every right to judge the world that he made, and he will do it fairly, and it will be a righteous war.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talkin’ microcast.