"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." (Revelation 1:10-11 NIV)
John, one of the first Christians had come
to Patmos to bear witness to Jesus and there
he meets his risen Lord in a vision. Jesus tells him that he should not be
afraid, and encourages him to write a message to the seven churches. The messages
were designed for each assembly’s special problems and circumstances. There are
different interpretations of how these messages should be understood, however,
as with the Bible in its entirety, these messages will only be made alive by
the Holy Spirit's enlightenment. Sometimes they have been interpreted as a
description of the various historical stages of the Church. Sometimes they have
been understood as addressing certain churches struggling with various problems
in the present. Above all the messages concern the individual, and the
conditions that you and I may end up in.
John´s assignment
was 1) to describe the problem, 2) to show what the situation should be and 3)
to tell how the reward looks like for those who are victorious over the
problems.
In Ephesus the problem was
that the church had lost its first love. "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have
fallen! But I have against you, that you have forsaken your first love. Think
about where you've fallen, and repent and do the same actions as before."
(Rev. 2:4-5)
God knew about
all the good people of Ephesus
still made and he commended them for being resilient and for having withstood
much for Jesus' sake. But the motivation, the love of God and men, no longer
existed.
The promise to
those who turn back and again let their lives be guided by the divine love, is that
they will eat of the tree of life - the
tree that provides eternal life.
Prayer
Lord, if my love has grown cold, I want to
come close to You, so close that You can reach me with your Love and light me
anew.
No comments:
Post a Comment