John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Rev 1:4-6
Several years ago, I went to visit my Dad after he married his new wife, Pam. I got a chance to talk to her one afternoon while my father was at work and she was telling me how much she enjoyed living with him and showed me the gift she got him as a wedding present, a new recliner. After a few minutes of conversation she looked me in the eye and said, “Do you know why I love your father and I know he loves me? Because everyday he gets off work at 5:00 and by 5:15 he is here at home sitting in his recliner.” Now to most women the idea of a man coming home and sitting in front of the TV after work would mean just the opposite of affection but to her, knowing where her man is was the most important thing in the world to her. She never had to go drag him out of a bar or call his friends looking for him, in other words she could trust him because of an established track record.
John prays for peace
Here in the opening of his letter to the 7 churches in the area that we will meet in Rev ch 2-3 John prays for grace and peace upon the Christians worshipping at each of the churches that this letter is addressed to. Do you see the reason he can pray for this peace? It is because he is asking for peace to come from the God “who is and who was and who is to come”. John can ask for this peace because there has never been a single second in time that God has not been ruling over creation and there will never be a time that God’s control over His universe will be lessened. Some of these churches were going through some rough periods of persecution but even in the middle of incredibly hard times they could know peace because Christ was still in charge of everything.
It’s still true today
God is still in control today. There is nothing that could ever happen in your life that is outside the plan of God. Nothing ever takes Him by surprise and nothing ever happens but by His sovereign hand. Therefore we can have peace in the middle of even the most trying and stressful times because God is in charge and He makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him. We who have been called according to His purpose, who have turned from our own way and declared Him to be our rightful King can trust that He will do what is best for His followers. He has a long track record of faithfulness and there will never be a time when He won’t still be faithful. The same God that formed our bodies in the womb and redeemed our souls at Calvary will bring us safely home to be by His side forever. He is truly faithful, “yesterday, today, and forever”.
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