This is the week that changed history forever, and it is summed up in these three words, HE IS RISEN!
The first thing we all need to know is who is the “He”, and John the Revelator gives us a good summation of who “He” really is.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
1) This is the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries], which God [the Father] gave to Him to show to His bond- servants (believers) the things which must soon take place [in their entirety]; and He sent and communicated it by His angel (divine messen- ger) to His bond-servant John,
2) who testified and gave supporting evidence to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to everything that he saw [in his visions].
3) Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things, which are written in it [heeding them and taking them to heart]; for the time [of fulfillment] is near.
Message to the Seven Churches
4) John, to the seven churches that are in [the province of] Asia: Grace [be granted] to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being], from Him Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne,
5) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who [always] loves us and who [has once for all] freed us [or washed us] from our sins by His own blood (His sacrificial death)
6) and formed us into a king- dom [as His subjects], priests to His God and Fa- ther—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the 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 the tribes (nations) of the earth will mourn over Him [realizing their sin and guilt, and anticipating the coming wrath]. So it is to be. Amen.
8) “I am the Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipo- tent, the Ruler of all].”
The Vision in Exile on the Isle of Patmos
9) I, John, your brother and companion in the tribu- lation and kingdom and patient endurance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, [exiled there] because of [my preaching of] the word of God [regarding eternal salvation] and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10) I was in the Spirit [in special com- munication with the Holy Spirit and empowered to receive and record the revelation from Jesus Christ] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
11) saying, “Write on a scroll what you see [in this revelation], 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 with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands;
13) and in the midst of the lampstands I saw someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching to His feet, and with a golden sash wrapped around His chest.
14) His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being].
15) His feet were like burnished [white-hot] bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many waters.
16) In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two- edged sword [of judgment]; and His face [reflecting His majesty and the Shekinah glory] was like the sun shining in [all] its power [at midday].
17) When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God],
18) and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead).
The Word of God, will always be victorious over death and hell.
We believe in you!
May you have a joy filled Easter season. He is Risen!
Your loving pastors,
Cleddie & GayNell Keith