“In the beginning God…” Genesis 1:1

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.” Psalm 139:1

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matthew 17:5b

From Genesis to the Revelation, beginning to end, the message from God is clear:  God loves us and wants us to love Him back with a loving, intimate, relationship with his created humans.  It began with Adam and Eve, His first created, showing how much God enjoyed walking and talking with them in the garden created by Him for their enjoyment.  God didn’t want a forced, robotic, love; but a love returned that was in response to who He was—the Giver of Life! 

God who is Love, wanted us to love Him back as a decided choice not an obligation.  Adam and Eve were the first to make the wrong choice by yielding to God’s enemy, the fallen angel, who distracted them from God’s good and perfect loving relationship to deceive them by distorting the truth while presenting the idea that they could “have even more” by taking God’s place.  Sound familiar?

We still think we can be God and worship all that is not God as we live for self.  Like Adam and Eve, but we still fall for the Deceiver who distracts us from God with continued attempts to destroy our relationship with God.

Revelation 2, The Message

To Ephesus

2 Write this to Ephesus, to the Angel of the church. The One with Seven Stars in his right-fist grip, striding through the golden seven-lights’ circle, speaks:

^2-3 “I see what you’ve done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can’t stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out.

^4-5 “But you walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen? A Lucifer fall!

“Turn back! Recover your dear early love. No time to waste, for I’m well on my way to removing your light from the golden circle.

⁶ “You do have this to your credit: You hate the Nicolaitan business. I hate it, too.

⁷ “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I’m about to call each conqueror to dinner. I’m spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God’s orchard.”

To Smyrna

⁸ Write this to Smyrna, to the Angel of the church. The Beginning and Ending, the First and Final One, the Once Dead and Then Come Alive, speaks:

⁹ “I can see your pain and poverty—constant pain, dire poverty—but I also see your wealth. And I hear the lie in the claims of those who pretend to be good Jews, who in fact belong to Satan’s crowd.

¹⁰ “Fear nothing in the things you’re about to suffer—but stay on guard! Fear nothing! The Devil is about to throw you in jail for a time of testing—ten days. It won’t last forever.

“Don’t quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there believing. I have a Life-Crown sized and ready for you.

¹¹ “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death.”

To Pergamum

¹² Write this to Pergamum, to the Angel of the church. The One with the sharp-biting sword draws from the sheath of his mouth—out come the sword words:

¹³ “I see where you live, right under the shadow of Satan’s throne. But you continue boldly in my Name; you never once denied my Name, even when the pressure was worst, when they martyred Antipas, my witness who stayed faithful to me on Satan’s turf.

^14-15 “But why do you indulge that Balaam crowd? Don’t you remember that Balaam was an enemy agent, seducing Balak and sabotaging Israel’s holy pilgrimage by throwing unholy parties? And why do you put up with the Nicolaitans, who do the same thing?

¹⁶ “Enough! Don’t give in to them; I’ll be with you soon. I’m fed up and about to cut them to pieces with my sword-sharp words.

¹⁷ “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I’ll give the sacred manna to every conqueror; I’ll also give a clear, smooth stone inscribed with your new name, your secret new name.”

To Thyatira

¹⁸ Write this to Thyatira, to the Angel of the church. God’s Son, eyes pouring fire-blaze, standing on feet of furnace-fired bronze, says this:

¹⁹ “I see everything you’re doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day.

^20-23 “But why do you let that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet mislead my dear servants into Cross-denying, self-indulging religion? I gave her a chance to change her ways, but she has no intention of giving up a career in the god-business. I’m about to lay her low, along with her partners, as they play their sex-and-religion games. The bastard offspring of their idol-whoring I’ll kill. Then every church will know that appearances don’t impress me. I x-ray every motive and make sure you get what’s coming to you.

^24-25 “The rest of you Thyatirans, who have nothing to do with this outrage, who scorn this playing around with the Devil that gets paraded as profundity, be assured I’ll not make life any harder for you than it already is. Hold on to the truth you have until I get there.

^26-28 “Here’s the reward I have for every conqueror, everyone who keeps at it, refusing to give up: You’ll rule the nations, your Shepherd-King rule as firm as an iron staff, their resistance fragile as clay pots. This was the gift my Father gave me; I pass it along to you—and with it, the Morning Star!

²⁹ “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus came to John via God’s Messenger Angel in a vision reminding us of God’s Love, with a recap of who we are and where we stand in our loving relationship with God.  By the time of John’s revelation, believers in Jesus had been doing what was started in Peter.  “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell (also translated death) will not conquer it.” Matthew 16:18 

However, since church is made up of imperfect humans, it is revealed to John the deviations some have made from God will along with solutions to human problems created. “Listen!” is a repeated warning.  The vision includes evaluation reports of seven churches.  We can all learn from the sinful mistakes made, the apparent misdirection by deceivers, along with self-importance attempts followed by loss of love for God.  But because God so loved, we are reminded of how to be restored in Jesus Name for His glory! 

HERE’S THE RECAP IF YOU’RE JUST TUNING IN:

God’s One and Only Son, Jesus was sent to earth to save us from ourselves!  Jesus was sent to reconcile (reconnect) us back to the God who knows. This plan was designed from the beginning proven by The Word that points us to Jesus as the One who saves us! 

God knows our hearts because He made us!  God knows us inside out and loves us still.  God sent Jesus to demonstrate His love clearly and decisively to us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 

From the beginning, God sent prophets to speak for Him who preached the message God wanted people to hear with listening ears of faith believing.  The Message:  I love you with an everlasting love.  I am your God, the One who made you.  Love me with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. (Deuteronomy 6) And love others like your love yourself.  The two greatest of the top ten commandments is to love God and love each other like God loves us, according to Jesus.  With God’s love in us to transform our thinking and behaviors; we will become more like the image of Him He created us to be.

Jesus suffered torture and then died a human, physical death.  But death did not defeat Him.  By God’s Power, He raised Jesus from death to life, scars, and all, defeating God’s Enemy, The Deceiver, once and for all time!  Since Jesus overcame the enemy, so shall we who truly believe!  This same power lives in us!  By the power of His Holy Spirit, we are more than conquerors with Jesus!  (See Romans 8)

Jesus remained on earth for a few weeks to encourage believing followers still in shock by what they saw Jesus do for them.  Jesus restored and gave needed sinew for their faith muscles to help these committed men and woman who would carry on the work of reconciling people to God in Jesus Name. His parting words before ascending in the heaven to return to His Father and ours as King of kings and Lord of lords were:

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

REALIGNMENT OF PURPOSE FOR THE SEVEN CHURCHES:

1. Return to our first love—God and His Son, Jesus Christ who saved us.
2. Don’t fall for the Deceiver, especially the ones in “church clothes”!
3. Be the Light of Jesus who affects society and the culture around us instead of allowing society to affect, deceive, and distract us. Jesus plus nothing more equals everything! A divided heart distracts us from pure worship of God alone.  Avoid the idols of our age and of our own making.
4. We are only be made right by Jesus.  “No one comes to the Father except through Me”—Jesus.  Be made right with Jesus who forgive us all our sins; then model His loving, compassionate behaviors with a desire to be more like Him. His Holy Spirit helps us for we cannot do this alone—we aren’t that powerful.  “I see what you’re doing, says Jesus to this church; but “every church will know that appearances don’t impress me. I x-ray every motive.”  “Hold on to the truth you have until I get there.”

Three more lessons to learn tomorrow…we must pause to take in what we have learned today.  What better messenger than John, His Beloved Disciple, to pass on the revelation of who we are in Christ while revealing what will come to those who remain in His love!

Lord,

Thank you for revealing who you are and what you desire from us who love you back.  From beginning to end—You are God and we are not.  Thank you, Jesus, for reconciling us to God by your work on earth. Thank you, Three-in-One, for loving us and helping us the way you do.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, transform our behaviors, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.

In Jesus Name, Amen