The subject that we are about to embark on is not a light one. In fact, it is very heavy. It is one that challenges a great number of assumptions that typical Western believers have about the regular course of a “normal” Christian life. Yes, be prepared to have many of these shattered, and replaced with something far better: a glimpse of who God is and what we are to be in relation to Him. We so often get caught in a stupor of worldliness, partaking of the wares of the world, as if it is merely a matter of due course. We so often tend to be blind to what our present society takes for granted, as if such things are simply what life it about. Yet, the result is that God often becomes something merely tagged onto certain activities—as if that makes them glorifying to God—and there are yet many things that we have never considered as having any relation to God whatsoever. Is this really what the Christian life is meant to be? I have not even spoken about what has become acceptable sins, even in professing churches. Such things are seldom given a second thought, let alone the gravity that they deserve as being acts against God Himself. Such things persist because we have forgotten the magnificence and holiness of God. We have forgotten—and we even cheapen—the cost Christ has paid for our souls. The result is that we greatly diminish our estimation of the abundant grace God gives us in Christ. When we see it as such a small thing, the natural response is to treat His grace as a small thing. The Christian life is thus taken as a light or trivial matter, when compared to the regular hustle and bustle of everyday life. Christ’s message to the seven churches comes to demolish this perception, replacing it instead with the gravity proper to a Christian bought by His blood. In this first devotional, we will be looking briefly at Revelation 1:1-6 (I will be using the ESV version).
Revelation 1 opens by saying,
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near (Rev. 1:1-3).
By calling Revelation “The Revelation of Christ,” it is meant that the book of Revelation reveals something fundamental about who Christ is and what He has come to do. We can see also that John is speaking as a firsthand witness to Jesus’ life and ministry, meaning that all that is said in this book is in keeping with the faith and message of Christ. Therefore, all that has been written about Christ before Revelation also comes to bear on its message. In prior biblical revelation, the work and ministry of Christ has been prophesied ahead of time, His incarnation has happened, and He was resurrected unto new life. We are now waiting for the consummation of all things that will happen with His return. This latter aspect is what Revelation is all about, and it situates the gospel within the context of its absolute fulfillment at Christ’s return, revealing to us the sort of work that this gospel both is, and will be, in us. Therefore, being in perfect tandem with the purpose of the gospel, we are blessed when we hear and keep what is written in Revelation, since the time of His return is near. What, then, does this mean for the recipients of the gospel? How can we prepare for the Lord’s return? For those who have the power of the gospel working in them, they are called to hear and keep what it written in this book. Indeed, Revelation does not add anything fundamentally new to the gospel and its work in us, but highlights its original purpose held at the beginning: to make us fit for the kingdom of God through the power of Christ, and for the glory of God alone.
Verses 4-6 says,
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
In this passage, John is speaking on behalf of God. For God the Father is the familiar description of His from the Old Testament: “him who is and who was and who is to come.” He is the eternal God. Before getting to the seven spirits, I will note that Jesus Christ is mentioned in this list of three, giving a strong sense of the trinitarian persons. For this reason, many faithful believers have seen the seven spirits as a reference to the Holy Spirit. That would fit its placement and context. Furthermore, the “Seven Spirits” correspond to the seven churches (lampstands) and to the seven stars. Before we get hung-up on the number seven being used, it is important to remember what that number represents (numerology is, after all, all over biblical prophecy). On this verse, the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says, “The Holy Spirit in His sevenfold (that is, perfect, complete, and universal) energy. Corresponding to ‘the seven churches.’ One in His own essence, manifold in His gracious influences.” This usage fits what the Bible teaches about the one-to-one correspondence between God and His church. The whole point of the gospel, with relation to His people, was to make His people “one” to Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. By contrast, the number of imperfection (or, if you will, not being “one” to God) is 6. That is why the number of the beast is 666 (a threefold repetition of imperfection and thus the number of man). So, the perfect Holy Spirit rightfully corresponds to His church. Notice particularly that the Holy Spirit’s correspondence to His church also sets the standard for the church: perfection, oneness in word and deed to God.
In the verses that follow the mention of the Trinity is the gospel. Namely, that Jesus was the firstborn of the dead: the One who first tasted the fullness of what we can expect in our own resurrection, and who therefore stands as the guarantee of our own resurrection in the future. He stands for the promise of perfect godly dominion over all creation, restored to man and fully rooted in perfectly emulating God as His image. Christ’s work and ministry is then called His “love,” whose end it was to free us from our sin. Think about that for a moment. The love that Christ has for us was shown principally in His freeing us from sin. We cannot substitute a different essence for that love. Freeing us from our sin is to make us holy unto God—to be like Him, perfectly imaging God. This love, which is the freeing of us from sin, was done by Christ’s blood on the cross, paying for all our sin. The result of the gospel is that we are being made into His kingdom, priests forever to God. We are being made into a perfect class of priests under Christ, for the glory of God the Father forever and ever.
Thus, we have a few things that elevate what God expects of His church—all of which He supplies, but nonetheless we are expected to make use of. First, the seven spirits correspond to the seven churches, showing that the holiness and faithfulness expected of the one is also expected of the other—and that this correspondence is absolute: the church will correspond perfectly in this way. Second, Christ is the first-fruit of the resurrection, showing us what members of His kingdom will be like: perfect. Third, the “love” of Christ for us is defined by His making us like Him: perfectly holy and good. This means that sin is the opposite of love, and that sin is therefore contrary to the love of God, and thus to all that God desires of us. Fourth, we are being made fit for His kingdom: a kingdom that corresponds to God, and therefore reflects what He is like. The often-repeated covenantal phrase in the Old Testament comes to mind: “I will be their God and they will be my people.” Fifth, for us to be a kingdom of priests to God means that all of our lives are to be in service to God, being His representatives and advocates, interceding for God. Therefore, every aspect of our lives is to reflect this status, since this is what we are. There is no neutral territory, but all is to be for God. Sixth, all of the above is inherently for the glory of God. Hence, there is a very certain and fixed character of what we are to be: that which brings glory to God. That is what is to define our life and character before Him, in all of its many facets. All of this will be perfectly fulfilled when He returns, and that is to be our central aim in life.
This standard of perfection should always be before us. This does not mean that we will be perfect in this life, for God knows that we are weak, and He provides the grace for that weakness. Nonetheless, what we are to strive for as Christians is no less than perfect obedience to God in all facets of life, and that from the core of our being: our hearts (our whole inner person). There is no lesser standard for us as God’s people, and every trespass needs to be repented of, in due course. This means living a life of constant change and adaption to the holiness of God, recognizing that whenever we stop this process, that we are inevitably backsliding, and therefore no longer seeking to please God. Yet, we are not alone. God makes this possible. We are never forced to sin, and God making us a new creation in Christ now means that we can choose to either do good or evil, whenever we are tempted.
Next time, we will be looking at our partnership as believers in the gospel; partners while we live in the world.