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Revelation 1:4-6  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, 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.

What a powerful wealth of encouraging, spirit-enlightening truth the Apostle John packs into these three verses as he begins to unveil (apo-kalypsis – ‘out from what was hidden’) the mysteries of God’s Plan of Salvation, given to him in a vision by the Risen Lord Jesus Christ himself.

He is John, the beloved disciple, who spent three years in very close fellowship with Jesus during his earthly ministry and was present on the Mount of Transfiguration, at the Crucifixion, at the Resurrection and at the Ascension of Jesus.

He is writing to seven actual churches in Asia Minor in ‘real life’ situations, but the numbers throughout the vision carry symbolic meaning, ‘seven’ symbolising ‘completeness’, so the message revealed to him is intended to go out to the whole Church throughout time and space until Jesus comes again.

The ‘seven spirits’ are the heavenly ‘messengers’ who are commissioned to care for the spiritual life of the Church through the ages.

By conquering death and rising from the dead, leaving the tomb empty, Jesus has guaranteed the resurrection to eternal life to all who die trusting in him as Saviour.

Jesus is God’s final all-conquering King of whom he says in Psalm 2:8, “Ask me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, is the ultimate expression of God’s love and has freed from the power and penalty of sin all who come to him in repentance-and-faith.  In this way, Jesus has established them as a kingdom of priests to serve God in consecrated worship, to bring him glory and honour throughout the eternal ages.  I get goose-bumps just writing this!

“Oh the love that drew Salvation’s Plan, Oh the grace that brought it down to man, Oh the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary; mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiplied to me, there my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary.” (Gloria Roe, William R. Newell, Daniel B. Towner)

– Bruce Christian