The first set of 7’s contains many blessings for those who overcome. Christ overcame so we can obtain salvation through Him. When we look at the very beginning of Revelation, we need to stop and realize that this book is about prophecy and Adventists do a great job focusing on the importance of prophecy. But we need to also remember that the reason for understanding prophecy is to be prepared for the future and we do that by preparing our character for eternity. Let’s take a look at the opening passage.
Revelation 1:1-7 (CEV)
This is what God showed to Jesus Christ, so that he could tell his servants what must happen soon. Christ then sent his angel with the message to his servant John. And John told everything that he had seen about God's message and about what Jesus Christ had said and done. God will bless everyone who reads this prophecy to others,] and he will bless everyone who hears and obeys it. The time is almost here. From John to the seven churches in Asia. I pray that you will be blessed with kindness and peace from God, who is and was and is coming. May you receive kindness and peace from the seven spirits before the throne of God. May kindness and peace be yours from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Jesus was the first to conquer death, and he is the ruler of all earthly kings. Christ loves us, and by his blood he set us free from our sins. He lets us rule as kings and serve God his Father as priests. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds. Everyone will see him, even the ones who stuck a sword through him. All people on earth will weep because of him. Yes, it will happen! Amen
What is our role in overcoming?
What is it that we need to overcome?
How committed are we to accomplishing the goal?
What does it take to completely surrender to God’s will?
Take a few minutes and answer these questions for yourself: On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 = absolutely)
- How sure am I that I am saved?
- How committed am I to daily surrendering my will to God’s will?
If you are not absolutely sure you are saved, what do you think is keeping you from believing this?
But as it is written: “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
What do you think of when you hear this verse? Most of us regard this verse as a reference to what is waiting for us in heaven. Is that really the context of what Paul is writing about? Let’s back up and take a look at the whole story here by reading the entire chapter. Click here for a comparison chart of 5 Bible versions.
When we look at the whole context here, what we see is that Paul is talking about the blessings that are in store for those who receive the Spirit of God. When we are willing to surrender our will to God’s will, the Spirit dwells within us and then we can realize the marvelous blessings that God has in store for those who have the accepted the wondrous gift of salvation.We also see here that Paul is discussing the necessity of giving up our natural self and living a spiritually minded life. We have to be willing to overcome the things of this world and focus all on the eternal life that awaits us.
To be an overcomer means to daily submit our lives to Christ. The first section of Acts of the Apostles, Ch 55 summarizes this point well, please read the attached link before continuing.
Here is where I will make the connection back to our talk about the anti-christ. As we saw last lesson, John, in his epistles, is the only writer who used the term anti-christ. We saw that in 2 Thess ch 2 that Paul uses the term “son of perdition” which is the term used for Judas. Do you see that in AA, the two examples of contrast are John and Judas?
As we study prophecy to be prepared, we need to always keep Christ at the center of our focus and daily walk in the light we are shown in the Scriptures.
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