Over the past four years, there have been two themes that have come up over and over again in my study and meditation on Scripture, and also in my prayers: Remember who you are, and understand who Christ is. The two go together. Who I am, who God says that I am, is fundamentally linked to who Jesus is.
It’s from this perspective that I read this passage in my quiet time not long ago:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:4-5).
This section of Revelation is not part of “what must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1), but rather a statement of what was already true. Here in the first chapter, right in the very introduction to the book, we see not just that Jesus has risen, he is “the firstborn from the dead,” but also that he is “the ruler of the kings of the earth.”
Just one verse earlier John had pronounced a blessing on both those who read this book and those who listen to it, and I think that one of the keys to receiving this blessing is realizing that Christ is not only going to rule over the earth in the future, he is doing so right now, even though we don’t yet see him. Jesus is not reacting to the governments of this world, they are reacting to him. Whether they know it or not. He has been given “All authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). This is not “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” of the old hymn. This is Christ, the “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14).
In the eighth century BC, God was behind the Assyrian invasion of Israel (Isaiah 7:17, 1 Chronicles 5:26). A century and a half later, he used the Babylonians to punish Judah (Ezekiel 21). Still later he brought the Persians under King Cyrus to conquer Babylon (Isaiah 45:1). The God who did not sit passively, but actively ruled the world in the time of the Old Testament prophets, is still doing so today.
As I write this, there is war in Ukraine and revolution in Iran. There is rioting and lawlessness in Minneapolis. Over the past few years we’ve seen wars, fires, disease, crime and extreme weather. The world, in short, does not look like Jesus is in charge. It doesn’t look like anybody is. That’s why we need to let the Biblical authors pull back the curtain and show us that behind the reality we see every day is a deeper reality that we can only see in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). And because of this deeper reality, we can remain faithful even “though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:2).
The church I attend is about to begin our annual three week fast. This year I will not fast from food but rather, as I did once before, from news (except weather and emergency alerts) and from political commentary. More than exercising self-control, this will also exercise my faith. If Jesus really is, as the Scriptures say, “the ruler of the kings of the earth,” then I can trust him to manage the world without my supervision for a while. And I can also trust that if anything occurs that I really need to be aware of, he will find some way to make sure I know about it.
Understand who Jesus is. And from that understanding, remember who you are.