The art of letter writing is one that I perfected whilst in high school. Being in a boarding school, the main form of communication with my friends from other schools was through letters. We didn’t have access to our phones and social media was just becoming a thing (can you imagine a world without Instagram DMs?). Letters were so valuable, especially when you were sending them to someone you had a crush on or were dating. You ensured that the letters were extremely special. I’m talking about using a special writing pad, different coloured pens, calligraphy on the envelope and sometimes even spraying the letter with your cologne. Anything that would assure the person receiving the letter that they were loved and cherished. Then you would proceed to earnestly pray that the letters do not get lost😂.

In the book of Revelation, John receives revelation from Jesus Christ for events that were to take place. As part of this revelation, John is instructed to write down what he saw and to send it to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) – Revelation 1:11. These letters were extra special because they came from Jesus, the bridegroom and were to be sent to the churches, His bride. This is the bride that He loves so much and freed them from their sins through His blood – Revelation 1:5.

The messages of these letters served the purposes of encouraging, correcting, admonishing and exhorting the churches. Jesus’ love to the churches was not only shown through sweet words like the ones we used in the letters we sent in high school. Even words of correction and discipline from Jesus were an expression of His love to the ones He loved the most. These letters were not just meant to be read and filed away. They were meant to be treasured and taken to heart/obeyed, because the time of fulfilment of the messages was and still is drawing near – Revelation 1:2

Revelation is a book that most Christians avoid because of the symbolic language and imagery that can be a bit hard to understand. On the flip side, some Christians read the book for entertainment, just as they would a fictional novel. Doing so means that we miss out on the revelation that God wants to give us and we end up trivializing the messages, which are very critical in the times that we are living in. Whilst these letters should be read in the context of the churches they were written to, their relevance to the modern day church should not be ignored. The word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and shouldn’t only be read for information but also for revelation and application through the Holy Spirit which then leads to total life transformation for the one who reads and obeys it.

Please join me over the next 7 weeks as we dive into each of the 7 letters to the churches and understand, by the power of the Holy Spirit, what Jesus was saying to the churches then and what He might be saying to the us now.

Much love,

Victor