PENnED

November 6, 2011

Read: Revelation 1:9-17

“When 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” (v.17).

What are these comforting and assuring words for? Are they meant to calm John who has just seen an apparition? Or, is to bring encouragement to him and those that consider him a “brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus” (v. 9).  Or, both?

Whatever the case may be, the second option is the one that would truly benefit us. A life wholly committed to Christ can be hammered by suffering, but we are not to be afraid. Why? Because the One we follow has already won for us the victory over suffering and, yes, even death! Hear the words of Jesus, the Son of Man:  “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (v.18).

If you follow the One who is victorious, you will be a victorious one.