Sunday: Hope for Lukewarm Laodiceans
Jesus addresses each of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 with a title of Himself that is appropriate for their spiritual condition.
The titles He uses in His message to the church of Laodicea ring with the assurance of spiritual renewal for all those who will heed His call. Read the following Bible passages (Rev. 3:14-15; 2 Cor. 1:20; John 3:10, 11; Col. 1:13-17). Why do you think that Jesus used the titles “the Amen,” “the faithful and true witness,” and “the beginning of the creation of God” to address the Laodicean church? In Revelation 3:14, the Greek word for “beginning” is arche. It can mean “beginning,” in the sense that the one to whom it refers is the beginner of the event or action. In this context, arche refers to Jesus as the Beginner, or the first cause of all creation. In other words, He is the Creator (John 1:1-3; Eph. 3:8-9). This is extremely significant. Jesus, the One who spoke and worlds came into being, the One who created the earth, the One who spoke life into existence-this same Jesus speaks hope to Laodicea. The all-powerful Creator can create new life. He can recreate new spiritual longings in our hearts. He can transform our spiritual lives. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:14-15. What do these texts mean to you personally? Why is the Laodicean message a message of hope? What is it about the introduction to this message of strong rebuke that encourages you? Which of the three titles of Jesus do you personally identify with the most, and why?
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What hope do we have? A lot but our hope is centered in what God can do for us for Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5 NKJV). He is the source for everything and without Him we are unable to do what He asks or even commands us to do. If we don't get that straight then everything else amounts to nothing.
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I am so grateful for this quarter's message of revival and reformation. It is timely and I pray that by the end of this quarter my church would be strongly and spiritually revived and reformed, to grow stronger in spiritual quality and bigger in the number of new saints.
Tyler, I like your reference to Jesus as the Vine to whom we must remain connected in order to have any hope. I am thankful for the hope in the message to the church of Laodicea. I find the title "Beginning" very meaningful. As He began our Planet, He will finish it. As He began His good work in me, He will complete it (Philippians 1:6).
The hope we all have is in Jesus.. as long as we allow Him dwell in us we will be revived!
Adventists needs revival and reformation now as the day of the Lord draws near.Never, never shall we be able to stand when our Lord Jesus will appear as a King and not as He was born in a manger in Bethlehem then. Let us all continue to pray to God so that this quarterly lessons should revive and reform us
You know this is a timely message for us. So much is taking place in the world and it's so easy to stray and get discouraged. We are the Laodicea church of today! Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that we aren't. We're not on fire for Christ the way that we need to be. With the world crumbling right before our eyes, we need to be on the mountain tops proclaiming God's word to a dying world. Nothing else matters more than this! The hope that God has given this lack luster church back in the days of the Apostle Paul, is ours today. A hope that tells us that although we're not where we need to be in our spiritual lives that God has NOT forsaken us and is still calling us to be true to Him and to our duty as disciples of Christ. It's not enough to say, "Thank You Lord for this wonderful gift!" but, we must act on it or else it's a hope that is wasted. It's time to get it together family of God and ask God on a daily basis to strengthen us and to help us to stay focused to what is important. It's time to wrap this up and help usher in the return of Christ. I want to go Home..don't you?
I thank God for this message of hope for us members of the Laodicean church.
Again through this lesson we can see God lovingly calling His church to commit itself to Him so He could revive and reform it to prepare it for His glorious appearing and empower it to do the task He entrusted to it. Let us pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will really be revived and, as a result, many souls will be led to our Saviour.
In my research, I recognized that Laodicia was the home of many affluent Jews. As a faithful and true witness, the Lord extends his grace and mercy to all that none should perish, but that everyone should come to repentance. God is initiating the process of change from spiritual lukewarmness. Are we faithful witnesses who are enthused to call people out of darkness into God's marvelous light? How inclusive are we?
I am so happy to have this lesson. It is coming at a time when I am seeking to draw closer to Christ. I want to be more like Jesus. I need him in the center of everything that I say and do. I'm tired of being luke warm and I want a spiritual revival. I praise God for today's lesson.
Amen! Equally i ve just found out how stray i had gone. My revival begin now in my filthy life...phil 1:6
Nothing can be achieved if we shall not abide in Jesus, Cause He is the Master and we are the leaner, sayed, who know me shall have internally life, indipendent
Of the three titles of God used in the introduction, I identify most with the Amen, 2cor 1:20. It speaks to me of the very character of God, the benevolence and love of God, the yes which is the basis of our relationship with Him. God's character reflected in my life forms the foundation of my quest for revival and reformation.
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I identify most with "the Faithful and True Witness," it is here that I can believe what He says...because He cannot lie, so much hurts us in this world that having a God such as this makes it easier to keep pressing on.
The three titles given to Jesus:the Amen,” “the faithful and true witness,” and “the beginning of the creation of God” they are the same with different etymological meanings.
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As a people we lack the enthusiasm needed to move forward in revival and it is only through the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer can we achieve that which we lack. Jesus needs to be in us for "greater is He who is in you (us) than He who is in the world" 1 John 4:4. When Jesus lives in us then He will shine out of us and revival will happen.
I see in the comments to the lesson above that many have seen what I too saw. The primary and excellent point that that the lesson makes is the promise of spiritual renewal for all who listen to Jesus' voice. The actual word used in the lesson is “heed” which has a better meaning than just hearing words. In this context it means to hear something “and” act upon it. It is not enough to know what Jesus says; we have to follow his Way too.
The titles that Jesus gives himself, as Ndayisaba Willy says in his post, are very similar. They can in fact be summed up by Jesus' statement “I am the Way, the Truth and the life” (John 14:6). The title “The Amen” could be translated as “The Truth,” which was an important part of Jesus' mission to bring to us. As, “the faithful and true Witness” Jesus is pointing out that his mission is not his, but that he was sent by God (Luke 4:17; John 7:28;). He is faithful to God and has executed his representation of Him accurately.
The final title, ”the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14) is the one which the lesson has focussed on to the greatest degree and, to my understanding, it has got it wrong. The Greek word for beginning, “arche” is used fifty-six times in the New Testament (KJV). It is not only used to talk about the “commencement” or “beginning” of something, but also as the “chief” (as pertaining to order, time or rank), “power”, “magistrate”, “principality”, “principle”, “rule” and also “corner” (See Strongs G746). The word is never, ever used to describe the “beginner of the event or action” as is stated in the lesson. If the word is never used in the Bible in this way, it is wrong for us to then assign this meaning to the word. An alternative and better translation is “Chief” or “first” as in the “first born” (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15). This rendering is used by several translations of the New Testament: “...the ruler of God's creation” (Rev. 3:14 NIV; Rev. 3:14 CJB); “... the First of God's creation..” (Rev. 3:14 MSG).
As the Head of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14 LITV) Jesus is the Way to the Father, and only by his Way can He be reached. (John 14:6). This comes back to what I and the many other's in above posts have said is the important point in this lesson. The promise of spiritual renewal by faithfully following Jesus. This is the point that gives us hope and the one that we should heed.
Lowell, you may be quite right about the meaning of the Greek, but it seems to me that the meaning of the biblical message is made clear by context. And Christ is consistently presented as the Creator of all.
Thus, I believe the "beginning of the Creation" probably refers to Christ's position at the head of creation. You also mention that the root may mean "rule," and this would make it possible to interpret the phrase as "ruler of creation." (Very appropriate.) "First-born" is a term that is also used for a position of pre-eminence, rather than to meaning literally the first to be born.
An interesting side note on this is that Joseph received the blessing of the first-born -- a double portion in Israel, because both his sons received a tribal inheritance. Yet he was not literally the first-born of the Jacob. Similarly, Jacob blessed Ephraim as Joseph's first-born, when Manasseh was actually the first to be born.
We need to begin again with Christ daily--by the moment. He is our new beginning! Repentance is a critical part of a new beginning.
This time round as christian, I f we abide in Jesus Christ we shall be Transformed
yeah indeed we need this revival but ours cant make us to divert from this revival but in Christ alone our hope is found