A Letter from Patmos — Fear Not

Meditations on Revelation 1

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Kings and Priests

“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” — Revelation 1:4–6

There has been a societal emphasis on self-esteem and feeling good about ourselves. Children with a distorted concept of themselves grow into troubled adults. Without a sense of value and worth, people disrespect themselves and tend to disrespect others. Sometimes this disrespect leads to crime or anti-social behaviors. It is self-destructive and manifests itself in unhealthy families. It is visited upon children and children’s children.

But the remedy is not found in superficial affirmations of our essential worth or in the denial of sin and darkness. It is to be found in God and His esteem for us. He loves us because of His amazing grace, tender mercy, and sovereign choice. All of this was bestowed while we were yet sinners. He saw what we could be.

God has called us out of darkness. He has freed us from sin by the blood of His Son so that every impediment to our becoming who we were intended to be, has been removed.

The outcome is that God’s vision of us as His people is an elevated vision. He does not look upon His children, who have received His grace, as miserable sinners. He sees us as a kingdom of priests who serve and exalt Him. That is who we are. All other visions of self are false and deceptive. We are kingdom people, and we are priestly people with a high calling and a sanctified standing. It is by grace, and it is complete. God’s glory is manifest in His loving esteem for us.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. — verse 7, NIV

Alpha and Omega

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. “ — Revelation 1:8

Everything is wrapped up in the babe who was wrapped in swaddling clothes. In a tiny bundle of newborn humanity is the sum total of all truth and meaning. In that crude cradle of creation lay the Creator of the universe. His Incarnation condensed into one representative human life the start and finish of history and the cosmos. Though He presented Himself in time and space as a participant in our history, He is beyond history. He is the Lord of eternity, the Almighty. And we knew it not.

The grand spiritual, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” say it succinctly, “We didn’t know it was you.”

But it was Him and is Him and always will be Him? What child is this? Oh, so much more than we could ever imagine. He is Alpha and Omega, the A and the Z. He starts things and finishes them. He always was and yet, is present. And He always will be. Divine mystery is flesh. John wrote that we could touch Him, the Word of Truth.

“What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss” to come and live among us? We didn’t know who He was and John, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ allows us to see what He saw, and He conveys to us His vision of the risen and exalted Christ, the Eternal One.

And Grace, My Fears Relieved

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last …. — Revelation 1:17

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. — Romans 8:15

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It is not enough to learn to fear. Once we have learned the hard lesson of reverence, grace relieves our fears and comforts our troubled, weary souls.

First, we fall as dead before His magnificence; then He touches us in compassion and commands us to fear not.

First we go down into Egypt and experience bondage. There we learn to know Him and in the wilderness, we learn His Name. We are slaves to sin and then to the law, but we are redeemed and released. And we are adopted. And in that adoption we learn to cry, “Abba.”

Bondage brings fear and God uses the bondage of the law as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Bondage informs us of what we are missing because our longings become the pangs of want. Somewhere in the process of learning fear, we come to grips with the deepest desire of our hearts. If we are honest and open, we realize that our desire is for God who alone can meet our needs and grant us redemption and freedom.

Grace taught my heart to fear and my fears relieved many years ago. Yet, I must return to that turning point again and again, sometimes in the singing of the song of Amazing Grace. There I remember. In that moment, I give thanks. In those chords I am realigned with his purposes communicated through His loving kindness which is better than life.

Grace, my fears relieved. I cannot begin to describe the relief, the pure, sure calm that has come over my soul. That can be yours as well.

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. - vv. 9–17, NIV

Alive for Evermore

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” — Revelation 1:18

See Jesus. He stands before you with outstretched, nail-pierced hands and declares, “I am alive,” and you know that His life is the most profound reality in the universe.

“I was dead,” He continues, and you know that it is over. Death has been stared down and has been the first to blink.

Been there; done that — as the colloquialism goes.

And death is done. You have to choose death now to die forever. Yet, people choose death every day. They choose death by rejecting the life of grace that is freely offered. Through sin, we have all made the choice against life.

Sin is not defined by a list of unacceptable behaviors. Those are the symptoms of sin. Sin is staring at the One who is alive and was dead and then, turning away. It is trying to snatch the keys from His hand, to sneak in the back door, or to create our own religion of self-sufficiency. Sin is kidding ourselves by calling death, life. Sin is rejecting the One who holds the keys.

Easter is about Jesus standing before us still. He holds the keys in His wounded hands and rattles them as an invitation to life. They are engraved with the words, “Do not copy” and they cannot be copied. They are the originals no imitations will open the doors of death and hell. He is alive for evermore and deeply desires to make us alive with Him.

Worship Him today by acknowledging His unique and exclusive right and power to bring life. Trust Him. Follow Him. Invite Him to rule within your heart. He is Lord.

His Right Hand

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“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, ‘Fear not …” Revelation 1:17a

In a moment of profound confusion, possible terror, and overwhelming spiritual awe, for John, Jesus places His hand on him with reassuring intensity. All over the world where the gospel had been spread and believers gathered, there was severe persecution. Old now, John had been relegated to a place of exile. He was no stranger to trouble, no coward in the face of danger, and not a man to be shocked by anything God could or would do. However, this experience of seeing Jesus in all His glory was enough to knock Him over as a dead man.

It is not said, but one might wonder if John had grown dismayed, discouraged, or disillusioned amid suffering and seeming chaos. Had he grown weary in waiting for the promises of redemption from this world of sin? Certainly, he had remained faithful to his calling and steadfast in his faith, but had his confidence wavered? We may not know about John, but we can know about ourselves. Have you ever needed the boost that comes from a reminder of God’s presence? Have you ever been at that place where you just wanted to know that God had not abandoned you?

The whole church was there, and Jesus chose to speak to and through John and He placed his right hand upon him. Whatever John may have lacked in confidence, the right hand of fellowship restored. Whatever may have faded in faith was revived by His touch. Whatever seemed far removed and unapproachable in the vision of the exalted Christ was made intimately present through the personal reach of the crucified, risen Savior, who laid His hand upon an old friend with the compassion words, “Fear not.”

And so He comes to you and to me, dear friend, amid the noise of confusion and the beating waves of doubt an anxiety. His words speak truth and courage to our hearts, but it is His touch that is life giving and life affirming, Fear not!

Fear Not

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“… Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth and was dead; and, behold; I am alive forever more, Amen, and I have the keys of hell and death.” — Revelation 1:17b-18

At the start of Jesus’ earthly life the angel brings the same message to the shepherds that the resurrected glorified Christ gives to John on the Isle of Patmos, “Fear not.” He, who is the first and last, has the first and last word in this mater. We are not called to fear, but to faith. We are not designed for timidity, but for courage. We are not relegated to lives of restless anxiety, but to confidence in a Lord who surrounds times and envelops space, One whose purposes are eternal and whose promises endure forever.

He is indeed the first and the last. Nothing preempts His preeminence in all things. In the beginning, He is God. In the end, He is God. He created history and He will sum it up in the final analysis.

It would be enough to know that He is eternal, but He became temporal flesh and blood for us. We can expel fear because He faced our deepest fears in His own body. Death, our old nemesis, has stalked us through all of our years. He turned to death as if to say, “Just try to take me. Give it your best shot.”

And He died — horribly, as hideously as possible, but even in death, He had the last word, “It is finished!”

Sometimes you feel locked in and the walls seem to be caving in on you. Sometimes you feel locked out, unable to enter the place of security and joy. Whether you feel locked in or out, fearful of the unknown, apprehensive of the future, regretful of the past, I have good news for you. The keeper of the keys is extending one hand to you and dangling the keys to all the great mysteries and eternity itself in the other. Death and hell are in His hand. He has been there to release the captives and all we must do is follow Him.

But that is not all. He is alive forevermore demonstrating that death is not final for one who believes with heart and life in the Lord of life. But even that is not all — for even if we were to conquer the fear of death, there would be eternity to contend with.

And to that anxiety, Jesus exclaims, “Fear not … I have the keys.”

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