Jesus is the first born from the dead only if there are going to be others after Him who are resurrected from the dead like Him = Hope

Hello Church Family: If you were to write a letter to encourage a struggling people what would you write?  If the people were being persecuted, their families were run from their homes, and some were even martyred for standing firm in their faith.  How would you encourage them?  This is why Jesus gave us His revelation.  He desires us to remain steadfast, to persevere, filled with hope, without any compromise.  He wants us to know that we will be victorious over anything that comes your way.  The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John for the Church encourages the Church with a greater understanding of who He is and that we will be victorious in all things through Christ.

Does your understanding of God encourage you to stand firm, persevere, hope, don’t compromise and win the battle against Satan and his world system?  Let Revelation inform you of who our Triunes God is.  Jesus is saying, look at me, know me and my promises and my attributes.  Look at My Spirit and My Father.  Jesus declares, know the Triune power of God and know that I will take care of everything that comes your way… everything!

Jesus reveals through John that He is the Triune God (Revelation 1:4-8).  Jesus declares that He is not a small God.  He is the uncreated One who knows you intimately and loves you completely.  Jesus reminds the Church that He is in control.  That our struggles are not eternal but He is.  Just one of the ways He describes Himself is that He is the “firstborn from the dead” (1:5).  Yes, death is our last enemy.  But, Jesus wants us to know that we have nothing to fear and that we are victorious over death through Him.  We are more than conquerors, even over death.  Jesus is the first born from the dead only if there are going to be others after Him who are resurrected from the dead like Him.  This means that those who believe in Him will be resurrected just like He was resurrected.  Jesus wants us to know that He conquered death, hell and the grave and so will His followers.  Death is an enemy but we are guaranteed something greater by our God who is able to deliver on His promise because He is, and He was and He is to come (1:4).  He is the sovereign Lord over all history and all creation and He will be victorious over all things.  We do not worship a small God.  We worship a God who is the Alpha and the Omega, The Almighty, The One who is, who was and is to come.  Jesus says, nothing exists without me, I am the new life and the end of the age, I start things and I end things, I rule and control all things, I order everything, I will not give up sovereignty over your life or this world for even one second.  So, persevere!  I am on the throne and do not take a break.  This is our God who informs our Hope.  Never lose Hope.  Never fear death.

This Sunday we will be meeting in person at the church building if you would like to join us in person at 10am.  And for those who will be staying at home, we will  be live-streaming on our Grace Community Church Topsail YouTube Channel. Push the blue link.  We can also be found at https://www.gracetopsail.com/We have been having issues Sunday mornings with our YouTube broadcast due to the overloading of the internet at that time.  We are trying several things that will help remedy the situation.  If you do not get a good broadcast at 10am, please check back later in the day or week for a recorded version.  I am very sorry about this.  

I look forward to worshipping our sovereign God, Jesus Christ with you Sunday. - Steve