Revelation - Letter to a Friend (2)

LETTER I continued...

The central figure of Revelation is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. We see Him in the first verse, we see Him throughout the book, we see Him in the conclusion. Revelation is a letter written to seven churches. We may speak of the “letters to the seven churches” when referring to chapters 2 and 3, but Revelation is actually one letter to the seven churches, and within the one letter we have specific messages that Jesus sends the churches in chapters 2 and 3.

 

Within this letter Jesus Christ is revealing Himself to those who are His. More specifically to His slaves, to His bond-servants, to those whom He has purchased with His blood, those who are no longer their own but who have been bought with a price.

 

Seeing the Lamb is seeing Revelation. If we are not seeing the Lamb, if we are not being drawn into deep relationship with Him, if we are not following Him wherever He goes, then we are not seeing the book of Revelation, we are not seeing what Jesus Christ had John write to the seven churches. Why look for the beast and its cohorts of chapter 13 when we ought to be seeking the Lamb? We only recognize the false when we know the True; if we aren’t in relationship with the Lamb nothing we can do will help us to identify the antichrist.

 

I think that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 – 11 can be instructive here. Those who do not receive the love of the truth come under a deluding influence sent by God – it is foolish for people to think that they can reject Jesus and yet discern the antichrist. There really is no middle ground, there is no individual autonomy. We either serve the Lamb or the enemy.

 

Do we have the Name of the Father and the Lamb written upon us (Revelation 14:1 – 4; 3:12)?

 

We should also note, regarding the beast, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain” (Rev. 13:8).

The only security against the deception of the beast is the Lamb, Jesus Christ. But note, that the saints will be overcome, and yet, in being overcome they will be overcomers (Rev. 13:7; 12:11).

This revelation is given to slaves, to bond-servants, to those who belong to Another. When we read, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7), I wonder if this may not refer to the ear which has been pierced with an awl, indicating that the servant has become the forever bond-servant property of his or her master (Deut. 15:17).

 

Since the revelation is given by God to His bond-servants, it is unlikely that those who are not bond-servants can understand and “see” the revelation, which again is Jesus Christ. In other words, whether it is Boris or anyone else, if we are not “in Christ” as His bond-servants, the revelation is not given to us, it is not written to us. In addition, as 1 Corinthians Chapter 2 makes clear, without the Spirit of God we cannot understand the things of God.

 

Also, note that in verse 1 we read “the things which must soon take place” and in verse 3 we read “for the time is near.”

 

This means that, whatever else we may think, if we cannot “see” the present reality of Revelation when it was written, that we cannot see the present reality of Revelation today; furthermore, if we cannot see the present reality of Revelation today, we cannot see the reality of Revelation tomorrow and in eternity. In other words, Revelation is transcendent and its transcendent reality can only be experienced in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

 

In Revelation, God gives His bond-servants holy and heavenly imagery to counter the imagery of the world and the enemy. In Revelation, we are called to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. In Revelation, we are called to not love our lives, even to death. In Revelation, we are called to live in the City of God and not the city of man, not in the political and economic systems of man, not in the religious systems of man. If we do not see these things and respond in obedience to the Lamb, we can read all the “signs” we want to between now and death and at best will be puppies chasing our tails. At worst we will find ourselves on the side of the enemy.