“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, …” Revelation 1:1-4

Dear Faithful Seed Sowers,

Today we begin a journey through the opening of the last book of the Bible called Revelation. I pray this series will give us vision, hope, healing, joy, grace, and peace like never before. This series is a study of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” After some discussion, the conferees had to agree.

The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eightfold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law—each offers a way for people to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love (grace) unconditional.[i]

This frustrating and fearful, confusing, and clouded, difficult, and daunting book called Revelation begins with “grace” and ends with “grace.”

The very last verse of the book and the very last verse of the Bible is about “grace.”

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” Revelation 22:21

Remember that Grace is the unmerited, unearned, undeserved, favor and love of God.

My acronym for GRACE is  ..

God’s

Riches – Relationship –Reconciliation – Restoration – Redemption – Ressurection

At

Christ’s

Expense

When we read verses five and six we get a quick glimpse into some of the glorious grace we receive.

“and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”

 

1. Jesus is the faithful witness or “martys” or martyr.
2. Jesus is the first born of the dead with a promise of those who believe in Him will have eternal life.
3. Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
4. Jesus loves us and freed us from our sins by His blood.
5. Jesus has made us to be a kingdom and priest to serve God.
6. Notice that all the work is done by Jesus … Jesus is faithful even when we are not faithless.

Jesus is the first born of the dead to give us the promise of eternal life.

Jesus is the ruler of all the kings of the earth. Just imagine all the conflicts, wars, and political power movers who believe that they have their kingdoms. It is Jesus who puts kings and rulers in their places. In the reading of the Old Testament we read how God used pagan kings to accomplish His goals and plans.

What a powerful work of grace that Jesus freed us from our sins by His blood shed on Calvary. It is all grace that Jesus makes us new creation and the old has gone. Listen, from 2 Corinthians 5:17, Jesus has made us NEW CREATIONS…the OLD creation is gone. We were lowly caterpillars before we knew Christ but now we are beautiful butterflies. There is no way a butterfly can return to being a caterpillar—and why would we ever go back? Jesus calls us to become priests and asks us to serve and worship Him.

PEACE

Ralph Sockman, a pastor, told the story of a New York lawyer who, when he first came to the city, would take his young son on long walks. In order to keep up, the small fellow would hold his father’s little finger. By and by the lad would grow weary, and his steps would lag. At last he looked into the face of his father and asked, “You’ll have to take hold of my hand now, Daddy, for I can’t hold on much longer.”[ii]

Is not this a picture of ourselves? We have been holding onto the little fingers of security so long that we are losing our grip on things that matter. Now we must ask God to take our hand and lead us. One of my favorite verses on peace comes from the Prophet Isaiah — “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:3-4

So What?

We come to the end of our time today. What do all these words and verses mean to us? How can these ancient words written back in 96 AD apply to our lives today?

I believe the book of Revelation is a book of worship.

We see who God is with all His names. We come to know Jesus through all His names listed in this book. We see and hear the unveiling, unraveling, revealing of the mysteries of heaven to worship Jesus who was, who is and who will always be. We come to worship because Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega of our lives.

Have you ever heard of Homecourt advantage?

Home court advantage occurs when the energy of the group magnifies what is happening on the court. With home court advantage, a basketball team struggling to put points on the board hears the energy around them and all of a sudden something feels something sparked within. All of a sudden, that energy enables the team to do better than before and push past the enemy’s oppositions. The fans in the stands are not physically going through the same thing the team is, but they are joining them in spirit and in a way that gives the team a sense of power they didn’t have before. Strength appears out of nowhere because of this mysterious home court advantage.[iii]

Many people ask why they need to come to church.

My answer is HOME COURT ADVANTAGE!

Worshipping with other believers allows us to push toward the same goal, to gather together in spirit.

Worshipping together sparks a view of God bigger than whatever situation folks may be going through. This book of Revelation is a letter that was written to the seven churches of Asia Minor. It was to be read out loud so that they could worship GOD together.

See you Sunday!

God loves you and so do I,

Pastor Dave

www,theseedchristianfellowship.com

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