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 three
year old girl was talking with her grandmother and after awhile she asked, “Grandma,
do you know what you and God have in common?” Her grandmother was
eager to hear her answer, and after a moment her granddaughter said, “You
are both old.” That would only come from a little child. But God
has been around a lot longer than her grandmother. When we think about
God, what comes to our minds? Years ago, I was invited to a meeting between
a Mormon elder and a Christian woman. She had asked me to come to her
home and help her understand what Mormons really taught. During the meeting,
the Mormon elder said that they believed Jesus Christ was God. After
awhile I asked, “Don’t you believe that Jesus was a man who
became a god? You believe that we can become gods too!” The Mormon
elder paused for a moment and then said, “That is our deeper teaching.” The
Mormon’s view is that there are many gods and the god of our world
was once like us. He is having babies with his many wives. It is not
surprising that different views of God exist. A few are childish, some
are demonic, and one is correct. In this study, Jesus gives us several
unusual glimpses of Himself!First Glimpse of God. We saw in our last
study that the prophecies in this book were given to the apostle John
through God the Father to Jesus Christ, and then to the angels. But John
adds a personal greeting to the churches about whom his vision was given.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth . . . (NASB) Rev. 1:4-5a John welcomes seven churches that once existed in Asia Minor, in what
is now the country of Turkey. In our coming studies we will see that
these seven churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
They are also welcomed by Him “who is, who was,
and is to come.” The meaning of these Greek words is wonderful
because each of these three verbs - “is, was, and is to come” -
implies continuous action. The idea is that God always was in the past.
He continuously existed in the past, and continues existing in the present
and will continue to exist in the future. God is not old like grandmother
because He always exists. He never grows old. His eye is not dimmed nor
does He get tired. Yet, He is the Ancient of Days. He was not a man who
was born and then became a god. The Apostle John does not agree with
the Mormon view of our God. The Mormons serve a pagan god - a god of
their own imagination.
These things you have done, and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you . . . (NASB) Ps. 50:21 This is our first glimpse of God. He exists, but not us! We are physically
born and we physically die. We enter this world and we leave this world.
We often live for this world and not the next. Why? We come and we go.
God is not like us.
Second Glimpse of God. The Holy Spirit also
greets the seven churches. Here He is called the seven Spirits. This
is very unusual, but it is an Old Testament reference to the Holy Spirit
(compare Zech. 4:2-10 with Rev. 4:5 and Rev. 5:6). Then Jesus Christ
greets the seven churches. So God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit greet the seven churches but not the angels. Here is our second
view of God. God is a trinity. God is not like us.
Third Glimpse of God. The Apostle John then
speaks a very personal note to the one he loves - Jesus Christ. No introduction
to any other New Testament book starts like this. It is a memory of the
writer’s Master, a memory of the time that he had with Jesus when
He was on this earth.
. . . To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (NASB) Rev. 1:5b-6 This opening statement drips with love like water. The fourth gospel
tells us that John was the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (John
13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). John remembers the One he loves and the
One who loved him.
But he includes all of us when he says “To Him who
loves us . . .” John wants us to know that his Friend loves all
of us and has released all Christians from the debt of our sins! He has
promised all Christians that they will live in His kingdom and will spend
eternity with the One who “is, was, and is to come.”
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| Revelation: Prophecy of the Future | ||||||||
