To The Angel At Ephesus

Greetings everyone from Deeper Waters. Tonight, we’re going to begin looking at the seven churches in the book of Revelation and see what we can learn about the person of Jesus in our Trinitarian Commentary. I ask for your prayers before that however. First, as usual, for my continued Christlikeness. (Which could be a good blog topic seeing as someone asked me what I plan to do after I’m done with the Trinitarian Commentary.) Second, for my finances. Third, for success in another area in my life. For now, we go to Revelation 2:1 where we hear how Jesus describes himself to the church in Ephesus.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:

When I was reading through Revelation last, I was struck by all the ways Christ described himself to the churches. Each description reveals something about who he is. As I have said earlier in this blog, there is plenty of eschatology in Revelation, but let us not forget that eschatology is secondary to Christology. Our eschatology should reveal to us something about Christ. That is what Revelation does as well. It glorifies Christ.

Christ here writes to this church and he states he is the one who holds the seven stars. This would refer to angels as there are seven churches who are getting this letter. The idea of holding indicates a strong grip that Christ has on them. The church is to hold on to Christ, but he has a stronger hold on the church than the church can have on him.

This should be a warning to those of us who are in some capacity of ministry. I find great comfort in the thought that God does not need me. If I was to vanish from the face of the Earth, his ministry would do just fine. I am in the place I am in by his grace only. That does not mean that I am infallible of course, but it does mean that I should watch myself and not think of myself more highly than I ought.

He walks among the seven lampstands also, which are the seven churches. We should take our churches seriously. Christ is the Lord of the church and as he is walking, he is capable of judging, which is indeed one of the threats given to the church at Ephesus. If they do not repent, they will lose their position. He will judge them.

What can be learned? Christ is Lord simply. The church is to do what they do for his name, as the Ephesian church endured hardships for his name. While this is not an outright claim of deity, it does lend itself to that as it refers to his likely omniscience in being in charge of the placing of leaders and to his omnipresence as being able to be present fully with each church for judgment.

Tomorrow, we shall see what is said to the church in Smyrna about Christ.

The Living One Who Was Dead

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. We’re going to be finishing chapter 1 of Revelation today in our Trinitarian Commentary. Before that, I of course ask for your prayers. The first is my continuing goal of Christlikeness. It’s been a real struggle in many ways today to try to change old ways of thinking and replace them with new and better ones that are more akin with the way of Christ. The second is for my finances which will be awfully tight this year and seem to be starting out that way already. Finally, I ask for prayers in a specific area of my life where I’m hoping to see requests one and two play out. For now, let’s go to Revelation 1:17-18.

17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Christ addresses John for the first time and describes himself. The terminology of being the first and the last would remind the Jewish reader immediately of Isaiah 48:12, where YHWH himself uses this description to speak of his own nature. It is what we have in mind when we refer to the alpha and the omega.

Christ also describes himself as the living one, apropos for speaking to the one who said of him in the prologue of John “In him was life.” Jesus is the living one by nature. He is not brought into existence but rather he has always existed.

To be sure that this is Jesus, he speaks of himself as having been dead. How does this work? Jesus never ceased to exist, but his body did cease at one point to have life in it. It is because his nature is life itself however that he could not be conquered by death.

This would be a comfort to the churches as it should be a comfort to all in the church today. Jesus conquered the grave. The early church was looking at an early grave simply for being Christian. There are numerous churches today that face the same situation in many parts of the world. Some people reading this blog right now might be in such parts of the world facing death. You are to be honored for your commitment and let us all hope we would do the same.

However, Jesus not only conquered death but he is alive for ever and ever. His resurrection was not like that of others where they rose only to die again. Jesus rose from the dead and because of his resurrection, will never have to taste death again.

Now, he holds the keys in his hands to death and hades. That which tried to conquer him is now that which he is the master of. Once again, what a message of hope this should be for us in who Jesus is. He is the one who is in charge of the worst enemy. For Christians facing death, they can realize they are facing a conquered foe because the God-man has already conquered death.

Tomorrow, we shall look at the first letter to a church in the book of Revelation to see what we can learn about Jesus.

Among The Lampstands

Welcome back everyone to Deeper Waters. I hope you all are ready to dive into the Trinitarian Commentary again. Before looking at our passage tonight, I do ask for the prayers of you, my dear readers. First, for my continued Christlikeness. I am learning more about being the man that I need to be. Second, for my financial situation, which I do thank a friend of mine for asking me about this tonight. Lastly, for an area in my life related to both of these that shall remain unnamed for the time being. For now, let’s go to Revelation 1:12-16.

12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and 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. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Revelation is a book rich in imagery and it assumes that the reader has a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament. This passage is no exception. John is seeing Jesus for the first time in the book. What does his description tell us about how he saw Jesus?

The lampstands refer to light and worship as they were essential to the Old Testament system. Seven is a number of completion as well, which will be seen often in Revelation. Perfect light and worship reveals the one who is like a Son of Man, a reference to the figure that shows up in Daniel 7:13-14.

Why does it mention the dress Jesus has? Probably to refer to the garments that the high priest would wear. The uniqueness of this outfit shows Jesus to be the truly unique high priest, especially considering that the sash is golden.

The whiteness of his head and hair is not meant to tell us the race of Jesus, but to tell us about the purity of Jesus. White is often a symbol of purity and Jesus having a white head and white hair is pure in his authority and in his thought. (As well as everything else.)

His eyes were like blazing fire. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the Earth. Fire is a symbol of both purity and judgment. The eyes look with judgment on those who are opposed and they look with purity on those who are in good favor.

The feet of bronze could remind one of the heavenly beings that showed up in Ezekiel 1. Often times when there was a theophany, which I think was really a Christophany, in the OT, only the feet and waist would be seen. The face was not normally seen.

The reference to a voice of rushing waters would bring to mind Ezekiel 43:2, which was also quite apocalyptic. The text reads as follows:

2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.

The glory of God is depicted as a person. In Revelation, this makes sense as Jesus is the glory of God.

The seven stars again give an indication of completion. Stars can refer to the heavenly bodies or as they sometimes do in Revelation, to angels. Whichever one it means, the passage indicates a lordship over the group that is being referred to.

The double-edged sword is a sword of judgment and it comes from his mouth. This means that his voice is the voice of judgment. Whichever way his word goes, there judgment will be met. We do not have Jesus meek and mild here, but Jesus the judge.

Finally, his face shone like the sun in all its brilliance. Jesus is the greatest light of all. The reader could think back on how Moses’s face shone when he had been in the presence of God. Jesus’s face shines greater as he is in fact the presence of God on Earth.

Altogether, we have a glorified view of Jesus as fully God. We shall look further at who he is tomorrow.

Sherlock Holmes Review

Welcome back everyone to Deeper Waters. Last night, I put our Trinitarian Commentary on hold because it was New Year’s Eve and I wanted to celebrate the New Year with a blog. Tonight, I’m putting it on hold because last night, I also saw the movie Sherlock Holmes. So I will be giving you readers my take on it. Before that, I do ask again your prayers as I continue on the path of Christlikeness. I also ask your prayers for my financial situation as I do have to make some decisions in that area very soon. Finally, I ask for your prayers regarding another area in my life related to both of these. I pray for the work of the Holy Spirit there. For now, let’s get to the review.

The movie starts with action immediately with Holmes and his assistant Watson. One scene early on has Holmes studying a man he’ll need to get past in combat and he analyzes his condition and how to best attack in a step-by-step procedure. There’s a reason Holmes was an inspiration for the creation of USA network detective, Adrian Monk. (Ironically, I finished reading “Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop”, right before I went to see this movie.

The mystery in the movie involves the case of a criminal who has recently been caught and then lo and behold, a few days later it is claimed that he has come back to life by the powers of black magic. He makes his presence known and tells the people that a new age is coming to England and he is in charge.

Hence, one of my friends wrote to me asking about non-Christian overtones and I would say they are there. Holmes, of course, is quite naturalistic not believing in anything supernatural in the movie apparently. Of course, I have no problem with seeking naturalistic explanations.  I have a problem with ruling out all other explanations a priori.

The mystery itself is quite difficult to figure out and the viewer must pay attention to everything that happens and I do mean everything. It does make great use of flashbacks to go back and show earlier events that happened so the viewer can realize all the connections that he should have made earlier.

For those who want action, there won’t be a lack of it. Sherlock Holmes does have skill in combat, which is something that surprised me in the movie. Granted, I haven’t really read the mysteries of Holmes, but I don’t picture a detective like that being a fighter. However, he does fight more with his mind where he plans how he’ll attack and how his opponent will respond and how he’ll counter-attack, again in a step-by-step procedure.

Overall, my mind was distracted last night, so I’m not sure how much I was able to enjoy, but it was a pretty good film. I really don’t think many people will solve the mystery before the movie is over, but then, I suppose that’s what made Sherlock Holmes such a great detective.

Tomorrow, we continue our commentary.

New Year 2010

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. Tonight, we’re going to not do our usual Trinitarian Commentary simply because this is a special event as we have just rung in a new year and a new decade. I would also like to think my most recent commenter. I do appreciate the comments. Before we get to tonight’s blo, I do ask for your continued prayers that I will become a more Christlike man, the man that I need to be for the future that lies before me. I also ask that you pray for my financial situation as this will be an expensive new year for me. Finally, I ask for prayers in a certain area of my life in which there is much to overcome. Now let’s blog.

2009 has been an interesting year. It had me awfully nervous at the start seeing as I am an incredibly strong conservative. However, what’s a guy to do? I could either cower and say things will never work out, or I could look in the face of danger and say I’m going to make the most of it.

Many readers who know me know the major events that have taken place in my life this year. There have been happenings I never would have dreamed of happening that happened this year. It’s amazing how much things can change so quickly. This year has seen a lot of growth for me and I’m pleased with that.

I looked back some as I watched the ball come tonight and thought of how far things have come. Maybe you did the same. I had a friend with me who remembered the time when 2000 was the big year everyone was looking for. Well now we’re a decade past that year. There were many things some of us were worried about in 2009 and now, we look back and wonder why we did at all. It’s amazing how we make temporary problems so eternal.

Now, we have a whole new year ahead of us. 2010 looms before us with promise. Some of us have some plans of things that we hope to accomplish in this year. We don’t know where this year will go, but let us not look at it with doom and gloom and fear of what lies ahead. Let’s instead take this new year and embrace and celebrate it. Would that we not just do that with each new year but with each new day.

There will be joys and there will be sorrows. There will be victories and there will be defeats. There will be difficulties and there will be celebrations. These are all part of life. Let us realize that. Let us also realize that we cannot change the circumstances in our lives. However, we can change the way that we respond to those circumstances. Let us make it a point in this new year that we will not be overcome but we will overcome. As Christians, this is our duty. We are salt and light in the world and we are to make an impact for Christ.

It’s a new year. Do something great for the kingdom. Enjoy this year to the glory of God.

Coming With The Clouds

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are continuing our Trinitarian Commentary through the book of Revelation. We’re still on the first chapter as there’s much in here about who Jesus is. However, I ask for your prayers first in my continued path of Christlikeness and becoming the man that I need to be. I also ask that you pray for my financial situation. Finally, I ask for prayers in another important area of my life. For now, let’s get to the commentary. We’re going to be looking at Revelation 1:6-7.

6and 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.
7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

John (And for the record, I am going to be assuming that John the apostle wrote the book of Revelation) is continuing his description of Jesus. As has been said, this blog in going through Revelation is not going to focus on eschatology but is instead going to focus on the doctrine of the Trinity and it is everywhere in this book.

John has just described the role of Jesus and what he will do. He has come to build a kingdom of priests. The service will be to God and the glory is his. Jesus is the main agent in the world in bringing the glory to God.

He goes on to speak of coming on the clouds. Clouds were often a symbol of deity. YHWH would ride on the clouds when he defeated his enemies. In the same way, Jesus’s coming on the clouds is the language of deity when it is used.

For instance, in the trial of Jesus, he tells Caiaphas about how Caiaphas will see him coming on clouds. At this, Caiaphas tears his robes knowing full well the ramifications of what Jesus has said. He has claimed deity for himself in referring to coming on the clouds.

This was definitely an allusion to Daniel 7:13-14, which is a passage that we looked at earlier. Jesus is saying in that passage that he is the Son of Man that is coming. There can be no doubt that John had the same passage in mind when he wrote this letter.

Jesus is the centerpiece in this grand drama. At his coming, whichever time you put that in, we are told that every eye will see him and that all the world will mourn. The reference to being pierced refers to the crucifixion of course, but also refers likely to Zechariah 12 where it says “They will look upon me, the one they had pierced.” Note that when that was being said, it was YHWH speaking.

John is thus starting off his epistle right in telling his readers who Jesus is. If we do not grasp that, then we will not understand the judgments in this book. Whatever timeframe you put the judgments in, they are judgments because they are based on the rejection of Jesus Christ and who he is. John wants to make clear we haven’t made that mistake when we start reading.

We shall continue tomorrow.

Revelation’s Greetings From Jesus

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. I wish to send my thanks first off to Jason for his kind compliments and his promotion of this blog on his site. I plan to soon be promoting his blog on this site as well in exchange. We’re continuing our Trinitarian Commentary going through the book of Revelation. Before that however, I ask for prayer as I continue the path to become a more Christlike man. There is much I’m having to learn and much I’m having to unlearn, but I want to do this right. I also ask for prayers for my financial situation. Finally, I ask for your prayers in another area in my life related to both of these that all will work out. For now, let’s go to the text. We’re looking at Revelation 1:4-5.

4John,
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, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

We’re focusing on verse 5 and wanting to see what it says about who Jesus is. First off, Jesus is referred to as the faithful witness. This is in contrast to all others who have failed in the past. Many did not reveal God, but Jesus revealed him as he is. He was faithful, as the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 3.

Jesus was the faithful witness because he himself has the nature of the one who he came to reveal. Jesus is the exact representation of deity. To see him is to see the Father. If you want to see what God is like, you are to look at Jesus.

He is also referred to as the firstborn from the dead. This would refer to his coming back from the dead as the firstfruits of the new resurrection. For the readers of Revelation, this would remind them that Jesus was the one who conquered death, which was always a threat to a Christian population back then who lived in terror from an evil Roman empire and today that lives in terror from other evil empires that seek to destroy the Christian faith.

Finally, he’s the ruler of the kings of the Earth. Now I’ve stated that I don’t intend to go into eschatology and I don’t. This is something that I think could apply to any time however. If you live in the Roman empire, it is a comfort to know that Caesar is not the one in charge. Jesus is.

Today, we can take comfort in knowing who is sovereign over the world. Who Jesus is is a message for all time regardless of what timeframe you think Revelation applies to. This also tells us about Jesus’s identity. In Psalm 2, the one enthroned sits and laughs and tells the rulers of the Earth to kiss the Son. Jesus is that Son. By being deity and the perfect witness of the Father as shown by his being the firstborn from the dead, he rightly rules the world.

We shall continue tomorrow.

Which God Gave Him

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. I hope you all had a great Christmas. I know I certainly did. A certain area in my life I asked for prayer for went well and now I have a whole new area. Thus, before I continue our Trinitarian Commentary, I will make the prayer requests that I have. For the first, that I will be courageous and positive and be more Christlike in my daily walk. Second, I do ask for prayer for my finances in this hard time. Third, I ask for prayer in the same area again as I am entering whole new territory. For now, let’s get to work. We will be studying Revelation 1:1 again today.

1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

As I said, we will not be discussing eschatology in this study of the book of Revelation, which is a rarity for studying Revelation. Instead, we will look at what the book has to say on the one it is revealing to us, Jesus Christ. I hope we’ll all be surprised by how much it says about him in this book.

There are a number of anti-Trinitarians who use this verse to argue against the deity of Christ. It is argued that this revelation was given to Jesus Christ and since the revelation was given, that means that it was received and since Jesus received a revelation from the Father, he can’t be God.

If you can somehow find an argument against the deity of Christ in there, then you’re seeing something I’m not. I instead see bare assertions that do not have backing.

Still, I do see the assumptions and they’re hideous. This idea is that this would be something that Jesus would receive because he was in an inferior position ontologically. However, if we simply say that Jesus was in a position of submission, we do not have a problem.

This is the way we would expect it to happen anyway. Jesus is the one who is the revelation of the Father as well and when he comes to give a message from the Father, he is the go-between. In ancient understanding, Jesus would be seen as the broker who is coming on behalf of the patron to present revelation.

The early church knew this well and saw no problem with the idea of Jesus being fully God, even in other passages such as Jesus being told that he has had a body prepared for him by God. It’s the same mistake that Arians often make when they see submission and draw out a conclusion about nature that is not warranted.

Simply put, I cannot see how this is a problem for me as a Trinitarian, but I wanted to say something on it as I’ve seen several Arians use this passage. If you’re in conversation with one, simply ask them to tell you what the problem is with this verse and see if they can see the absurdity of using it on their own.

We shall continue with Revelation tomorrow.

Merry Christmas 2009

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Deeper Waters. We’re going to continue our look at Revelation next week. As it is, I am going to be out of town for Christmas and I won’t be doing another blog until Monday. For now, I ask for your prayers for my continuing path of Christlikeness. It is a process going on, but I see more signs of it happening every day. I ask for your prayers for my finances as well. I also ask for prayer in another area in my life that is of high importance to me. For now, let’s talk about Christmas however.

Have you ever considered Christmas as an invasion? It seems an odd way to view it, but it’s an accurate one. G.K. Chesterton wrote about this in an essay that’s found in a book collection of his called “Brave New Family.” Christmas was the world of Heaven invading the world of Earth for the battle for men’s souls.

Christmas is when the Word became flesh. How much we need to think about those words! The world of Heaven entered the domain that had long been dominated by the enemy and he fought opponent on his own turf. Christ took on the powers of darkness in a short time of ministry and conquered them.

This is what we celebrate. We celebrate the battle being shot. We often speak of the shot heard around the world. Christmas was the first shot that was heard around the world. Christmas was God laying down the gauntlet to satan and saying that he would no longer rule. His time was to be cut short. (Not to say that satan ever literally ruled the Earth, but evil had been a dominant influence.)

We don’t often see Christmas as a declaration of war, but it certainly was as it was immediately countered by the slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem and with Mary and Joseph having to escape away to Egypt on the advice of angels in order to protect the young baby. Christmas today is a happy and joyful time, but let’s not forget that it has its battle as well.

By all means, celebrate with friends and family. Enjoy carols and Christmas gifts and such. Don’t lose sight however of what has happened. Christmas is the day that turned the world upside down. However, that is not entirely accurate. It did not turn the world upside down. It turned an upside down world right side up.

Christmas began the restoration of all things. The hope of all mankind came on Christmas. Listen to some of the carols, particularly the older ones, and consider the words that they have. It is easy to sing them over and over again and not really listen to the words.

Christ has come. That is what we celebrate in Christmas and in evangelism, we continue the effort on the battlefront for our ultimate commander-in-chief. As you celebrate Christmas, remember that you are participating in a battle that must be won. Onward Christian soldiers!

The First Five Words

I am pleased to welcome all of you back to Deeper Waters. It’s exciting realizing we’re on the last book of the Bible and I want this to be a really informative and new look at this book. I’ll get into the details soon, but first, I want to ask for your continued prayers for my developing Christlikeness. I see it coming, but most of us know what it’s like to be in the refiner’s fire at times. I also pray for my financial situation. Finally, I ask for prayer for a certain area in my life which again, I shall leave unnamed. For now, let’s go to the text. We’re not going to cover the whole of this verse. I just want us to look at the first five words tonight. It’s from Revelation 1:1.

1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

There are many debates we could have on the book of Revelation. Is John writing about a future apocalypse? Is he writing about the church throughout history? Is he writing about events that largely took place in the first century? Is he writing a book simply about the idea of the judgment of God overcoming evil? Now these are all important discussions, but readers of Deeper Waters know we don’t get into that here, not even my own viewpoint which I do have.

However, when we approach the book of Revelation, despite our disagreements, we should all heed these first five words. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Revelation is a book primarily about Jesus Christ and revealing who he is.

As we go through the book in our Trinitarian Commentary then, we will not be examining eschatology. We will instead be studying what the book says about the Trinity and of course, a focus on who the person of Jesus Christ is. I have noticed in my reading of the book that we have missed over many gems of who Jesus is throughout this book as some of the most powerful imagery is used in Revelation to describe him. (And keep that in mind people, the book is called Revelation. It’s not RevelationS.)

The letters to the seven churches proclaim who Jesus is and when we get to the scene of the throne room in Heaven, we will see even more about who he is. I do hold that the author of this book is the same John who wrote the epistles ascribed to him and the gospel that bears his name. What did this intimate disciple of Jesus have to say about him?

We will get into all of that after Christmas. For now, I simply want it to be remembered when you read this book that regardless of your eschatological perspective, please keep in mind that this book is about Jesus. We need to come here to not only learn about eschatology, but to learn about Jesus. Eschatology is a fine topic, but Jesus is a much more important one and I would prefer you have the right Jesus and the wrong eschatology than the reverse.

All this will start after Christmas. Tomorrow, I plan on a Christmas blog and then I will be out of town and won’t be writing again until Monday. I look forward to us diving into this book and as we do, always keep in mind the first five words.