150913 Even So, come Lord Jesus!

Revelation 1:4-8 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, ⁵ 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 ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. ⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The book of Revelation describes a vision and a prophecy. First off it is written to seven churches that were in Asia. This was a province of Rome, not the continent that we know. It is located in the Western region of modern-day Turkey. Jesus Christ gave this vision to the apostle John who is one of the three closest to Jesus during his lifetime. So far as we know, John was the last surviving apostle of Jesus Christ at the time of this vision. It is reported that he had such a powerful influence among the people that the government did not feel free to take his life. Instead, they exiled him to the island of Patmos. John speaks of grace and peace to the seven churches.

That grace and peace is God’s formula for his relationship to the church. God gives grace as we are told in the Gospel of John chapter 1, John said there that when they saw his glory it was full of grace and truth. Moses gave the law but grace and truth came from God through Jesus Christ. Yet here in the book of Revelation the entire Godhead is included. God’s grace came to them and peace came from him. Most of Paul’s letters have a similar formula. These spiritual gifts came…

From God the Father. Let’s look at the use of these ideas. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 1:2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see the formula used in most of Paul’s letters and also in John’s writing. Grace came to us and peace came from God through Jesus Christ. Since before time began, as we know it, God the Father was prepared to pour out his grace upon the human race. There is a good deal we will never know about the grace of God and the peace of God simply because it is beyond our understanding. The phrase, “him who is and who was and who is to come” is reminiscent of God’s encounter with Moses in the wilderness. When Moses asked for God’s name so he could tell it to the Israelite people he received what could’ve been a surprising response. When asked for his name God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” and then continued with, “I AM has sent me to you.” Probably the closest we can get to an English transliteration of the word for “God” is “Yahweh”. Its basic idea is eternal existence. God is the One Who is Who was and Who is to come. That is an oversimplified explanation of God the Father who gives us a grace and peace that also comes…

From the seven Spirits. The seven spirits are mentioned four times in the Bible and only in the book of Revelation. Let’s look at another reference Revelation 4:5. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And another at 5:6. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

John sees seven burning torches and tells us they are the seven spirits of God. And then later in the book he sees Jesus as the Lamb that had been slain with seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God. Only here they are not just being displayed before the throne. They are being sent out, by God, into all the earth to do his will. I have often said there are no “number codes” in the Bible however we must recognize that some numbers have special meaning. And the number seven appears to be the word for perfection. So the seven spirits of God are the perfect Holy Spirit who is identified always with the Father and the Son. Grace and peace is given us by the Father and the Holy Spirit and these gifts are also…

From Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Philippians 2:9-11. Therefore God has highly exalted him (Jesus) and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Revelation 1:4-5 reveals the eternal harmony and unity of the Godhead! The one who is and was and is to come is God the Father. The seven Spirits are none other than the Holy Spirit and, of course, Jesus Christ the faithful witness joins with his Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is described by John in Revelation 1:5 as “the faithful witness” the Bible speaks of him bearing witness before Pontius Pilate. When the Father gave the Son and the Son gave the Holy Spirit all that is God became engaged in the life of the church. Jesus Christ is the Son of God…

He who showed his love. Let’s look at the demonstration in Romans 5:8. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus, the faithful witness, loved his people to the point of death. Long before we put our faith and trust in him, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. His substitutionary atonement gives us an opportunity at salvation. Love is not a noun and it does not describe a feeling! Love is an action word, a verb, and describes actions not feelings.

When Jesus died for us on the cross of Calvary he took our sins into his own body and nailed them to the tree so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. His death was more than a symbolic act it was an action that demonstrated how much he loved us and showed us that he freed us from our sins by his blood.

It was absolutely essential that Jesus’ love for us to be so demonstrated. There are a few references in the Bible to people who came back from the dead. However, they all required the presence of someone who had faith for their ultimate healing. But we need to remember that all these were brought back to life only to die again. Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Father and remains alive eternally. When Jesus rose from the dead he was the “first fruits” of a new kind of human life. His life — Resurrection Life — was with a perfect body that is no longer subject to weakness, aging and death! Jesus returned to life with a body like that of Adam and Eve before they sinned. When God created the earth and all that’s on it, including Adam and Eve, God himself said, “behold, it was very good”. When we receive our resurrection bodies we will live on a renewed earth in which righteousness dwells. We will have bodies that are as much superior to our present bodies as a full grown corn stalk is to the kernel of corn.

Jesus, being the firstborn from the dead, entered into a new quality-of-life. We will have a human body and the human spirit that are perfectly suited for fellowship with, and obedience to, God. In fact, the new kind of life we receive comes directly from Christ. In the mind of God we have been raised up with him and are already seated with him in the heavenly places. If you need more clarification read the first two chapters of Ephesians.

When we receive our new bodies the promise of Romans 6:14 will come true — “sin will have no dominion over you”. We will never be perfect in this life we have the promise that when he appears we shall be like him. Jesus demonstrated his love for us in such a way that…

He changed our allegiance. Turn with me to Colossians 1:11-14.  May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

When Jesus died on the cross he broke the power of cancelled sin and set the captives free. As Charles Wesley boldly stated in the hymn, “Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing”. We are born spiritually dead in the trespasses and sins that we inherited from Adam. Based on our own abilities we have no hope of life eternal. You see, a physically dead person can do nothing to help him or herself neither can a spiritually dead person do anything to help themselves. Without the work of God in our life we would remain dead in sin. You see we are not saved by works of righteousness that we have done. (Titus 3:5) We are saved by the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he gave his life he took our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12) He took our sin and buried it in the bottom of the sea. (Micah 7:19) Now we have been made alive together with Christ so that we can demonstrate the immeasurable riches of his grace and his kindness toward us. Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light. Our allegiance has been changed! Our true citizenship is in heaven with the saints and members of the household of God. The Lord Jesus is our true ruler…

And is owed glory and dominion. Turn with me to Romans 11:36-12:2. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Everything belongs to Jesus! Everything came from him everything was created by him and therefore everything belongs to him. We are to give him the glory for everything that happens! As Paul wrote to the Romans he said that we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. We are to be set apart in an acceptable manner to God. This is our true worship — recognizing him as our ruler! We are not to be conformed to this world but instead we are to allow God to transform us by the renewal of our mind so that we can tell what the will of God is.

It is God himself who qualifies us to share in the inheritance of the saints. We are no longer subject to the domain of darkness we were born into. We now have the responsibility to give our allegiance to the one who gave his life for us. We are the light of the world and we are under obligation to let our light shine before others.

We must remember…

He is coming with the clouds. Turn with me to Acts 1:7-11. He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

I have turned again and again to these words encouraging us to recognize the fact that we have received power to be Jesus’ witnesses in the world. John tells us that he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him. He indicates that both those alive on earth and those who have passed into Hades and Paradise will see him as well! He must’ve thought of that day many years before when he had stood watching the Lord Jesus ascending into heaven on a cloud. I have often used it as an encouragement to us to fulfill his instructions. When they stood watching him ascend two angels appeared beside them to question why they stood looking up into heaven. Jesus had instructed them to go and witness not to stare into heaven. I think metaphorically we sometimes stand staring into heaven when we should be busy witnessing on earth.

He is coming again…

And the world will mourn. Turn with me to Revelation 6:12-17. The Lamb is in the process of opening seven seals. When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. ¹⁴ The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

I was told once about an unsaved individual who said, “You Christians should be ashamed of yourself. You really can’t wait until we’re all burned up can you?” We should take that thought into consideration. We should confront the world around us with the gospel in such a way that everyone will have an opportunity! We must speak the truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15) Because when Christ does come they will have no hope. The only hope of the world is that they be saved before their death or Christ’s return. Please, think about your loved ones and friends and consider giving them the good news in a way that they will listen to.

Realizing that there would be much suffering over the whole earth John still said, “Even so, amen.” We must remember that even though the people of God will rejoice at Jesus’ second coming his enemies will not rejoice. Instead they will cry for an end to come to their suffering that will be caused by Christ’s return. From the perspective of the unsaved world the return of Jesus Christ will not be a happy event. What about you? Are you ready for him to come again? This could be the day of salvation for you. Put your trust in him.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.