To the Church Part 1: Greetings

INTRODUCTION

The impact of a letter can be very profound, especially in light of it’s Author.

A letter from an advertiser doesn’t have the same impact on your life as a letter from the utility company.

A letter from a political official doesn’t have the same impact as a letter from your grandma.

The one who sends the letter matters!

In most modern letter structures, the recipient is listed first, then the body of the letter, then the one who sends it identifies themselves at the bottom. But in the Ancient world, the sender is identified first, then the recipient, then the body of the letter.

Why? Because the one who sends the letter matters!

Revelation 1:4–20 ESV

4 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.” 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

1) The Triune God sends this letter. (v. 4-8)

John communicates the tone of the letter: Grace and Peace.

He makes clear that this letter is from God who is Triune in nature. He is:

“Him who was and who is and who is to come”,

“the Seven Spirits who are before His throne”, and

“Jesus Christ the faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth.”

We care about who its from because He “loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”

He deserves all glory and holds all dominion forever and ever!

He is also the Highest Authority who has the last word over all world events and history

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds (Dan. 7:13) and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him (Zech. 12:10)”

“He is the Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”

This is not the God most in our culture and churches think of.

He is not a God to molded, engineered, or fabricated by our imaginations (i.e., “to me God is…” or “In my belief God is…”)

The Triune God doesn’t need you to define Him, He needs you to listen to how He defines and reveals Himself!

He needs you to know and understand who is sending these letters!

2) The Glorified Christ Authors this letter. (v. 9-19)

Look again and try to imagine what John saw:

Like a son of man

clothed with a long rob and golden sash

pure white hair

fiery eyes

refined, burnished bronze feet

face was radiant like the sun unhindered

voice like the roar of many waters that pierces like a sharp two edged sword.

John’s response what to fall at His feet.

This is John who followed Jesus, who served Jesus, who was with Jesus is some of His most intimate moments.

This is John who beheld a glorified Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-29)

What John beholds, is next level, unlike anything he had ever experiences.

The majesty, glory, power, authority, and holiness of Jesus, the Glorified Christ was overwhelming to the point He dropped.

He is the Living, once dead but forevermore alive, possessor of All authority on heaven and on earth, first and last Glorified Christ!

We cannot cheapen our understanding of Jesus

We must no longer regard Him as the humbled, mild, and meek Jesus who came to the earth for the purpose of atonement and sacrifice. He has accomplished that purpose, but His purposes are not done.

He is the Conquering King who will call to in to account all peoples of all nations and tribe.

He is the Holy King who has the highest authority and is set apart.

He is the Righteous King who is ever watchful over His creation and mindful of the hearts of men.

He is the Immortal King who lives forever and ever and of whose Kingdom there will be no end.

He is the Saving King who is mighty to rescue, redeem, and restore those who place their lives into His hands.

He is the Triumphant King who is not thwarted by evil but rather even evil seeking to rebel against Him ends up serving His purposes.

He is the CHRIST KING who is not to be dumbed down, redefined, and put into a box for our own feely good purposes.

He is the CHRIST KING who is not to be tolerant of sin and accepting of evil as a mockery of His love.

He is the CHRIST KING who is to be held in the highest regard and recognized as HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!

John wants you to know that it is the Glorified Christ who is authors what He is sending out!

3) He Communicates from among His Church. (v. 13, 20)

He is not far off and distant but He is near to His Church.

He knows all of what is going on in the hearts and lives of His people.

He holds the spiritual realities of the Church in His right Hand.

His righteous right Hand.

His right hand of authority and power.

He is not communicating from a place of outside looking in.

He is writing to us from a place of inside, intimate knowledge.

He is writing to communicated to us the realities that even we are blinded to and cannot see.

As He writes to the seven churches He is not only relaying important concerns to a people in a geographical region, but to the heart of a people who is not confined to geography or even confined by time.

The Triune God who is sending this letter authored by the Glorified Christ is writing to the conditions of our hearts as the people who make up His church.

As we spend the next couple of months walking through these letters, let us not think of God writing from a distance of time and geography. Let us realize that He is writing to us here and now to address the conditions of our hearts.

And we will only take these things seriously, if we understand who the author of this letter truly is.

Closing

Do you have a high view of Jesus or is your view of Him coming from your own level in how you can define Him?