I Am

 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me,
 saying, "That which you see, write in a book and send to the seven churches: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

And there I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands stood One like the Son of Man, having been clothed in a robe reaching to His feet and having been girded across His chest with a golden belt.
And His head and His hair were white, and like white wool, like snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire;  And His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;   He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was as the sun shining in its strength.

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. But He put His right hand on me, saying, "Do not fear; I am the First and the Last.

 I am He who lives, and became dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

 Write therefore the things which you saw, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.


There is a mythology about angels that holds them to be cute, fluffy and rather scatter brained in appearance.  This does not hold well with the Bible's account of same—where they usually begin their statements with, "Fear not."

How much more, then, does this blazing apparition strike terror in the Apostle John.  Not only is there the appearance of this one;  there is also the fear of seeing the Living God.  At a moment like that one tends to look at one's sins, and not with any pleasure of remembrance.  But our Lord puts John's fears to rest by his commanding power.

The Living One

Contrary to what you might expect, the word used here does not imply a spiritual life—but a biological one.  It's the Greek word used as the root of our word, zoo.  The point is simple:  He lives, in the biological sense, just as we do—and much more.

He was dead—not some ghostly retreat from this world, or some swoon, but stone, cold dead and in the tomb. 

But now he lives, and death has no further power over him.  He therefore lives forever.

More than that, he has power over death and hell;  he holds the keys, the symbols of authority.  This is just as we might present the key to the city to a visiting dignitary, but here, so much more.

Write

All this is preliminary to the command of Christ:  write.  He is to write what he has seen—to record faithfully the visions being given to him.  Let  others puzzle out their meanings, John;  you record them faithfully.  But I will tell you this much:

Some, at least, are words concerning what is now occurring.  They describe the present conditions of the churches.

Others are words of what is yet to come.

Many are the theories, strong the arguments concerning what these words mean.  To some it seems hopeless to try for an interpretation.  But among all the words there comes the clear message of just who has complete control over heaven and hell, life and death.  It is our Lord Jesus Christ;  to him we must listen.