The Letter to the Church at Smyrna: A Description of Christ
"And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;" (Revelation 2:8 - King James Version)
This is the second of seven letters that Jesus sent to the churches of Asia by the hand of the Apostle John. For each of these letters, we are considering five things: a description of Christ, His comments on the church, a promise to the overcomers, the prophetic meaning and application for today. This post will cover the description of Christ in the letter to the church at Smyrna.
As I have written in previous posts, the phrase “the angel of the church” refers to the Pastor of the church. The original word for angel means messenger. The Pastor is to give God's message to the congregation to which he ministers.
Jesus describes Himself in this letter as the First and the Last. This phrase speaks of the eternal existence of Christ. He has existed from the beginning and will exist until the end of time. This would reassure this suffering church that the One they served was the true and living God.
Jesus goes on to say that He died and came to life again. Although He has always existed, Jesus took upon Himself a human body and went through the suffering of physical death for man's sin. However, death could not hold Him, He rose from the dead.
The death and resurrection of Christ are essential parts of the Gospel message. He mentions them in His introduction to this letter because the church at Smyrna faced great persecution and even martyrdom. As they faced death for their Faith, they could find comfort in these words.
Jesus had suffered death as well and as Jesus rose from the dead, they would also rise from their graves. For those who have accepted Jesus as Saviour, we know that we will rise from our graves because of Jesus.
This is the second of seven letters that Jesus sent to the churches of Asia by the hand of the Apostle John. For each of these letters, we are considering five things: a description of Christ, His comments on the church, a promise to the overcomers, the prophetic meaning and application for today. This post will cover the description of Christ in the letter to the church at Smyrna.
As I have written in previous posts, the phrase “the angel of the church” refers to the Pastor of the church. The original word for angel means messenger. The Pastor is to give God's message to the congregation to which he ministers.
Jesus describes Himself in this letter as the First and the Last. This phrase speaks of the eternal existence of Christ. He has existed from the beginning and will exist until the end of time. This would reassure this suffering church that the One they served was the true and living God.
Jesus goes on to say that He died and came to life again. Although He has always existed, Jesus took upon Himself a human body and went through the suffering of physical death for man's sin. However, death could not hold Him, He rose from the dead.
The death and resurrection of Christ are essential parts of the Gospel message. He mentions them in His introduction to this letter because the church at Smyrna faced great persecution and even martyrdom. As they faced death for their Faith, they could find comfort in these words.
Jesus had suffered death as well and as Jesus rose from the dead, they would also rise from their graves. For those who have accepted Jesus as Saviour, we know that we will rise from our graves because of Jesus.
posted by David Frank Wilson | 5:13 PM
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