Key to Reward

Have you ever moved to a new home, opened a drawer, and seen a keyring with an abundance of keys on it? Did it cause you to wonder which door, cabinet, or tool shed they opened? After finding them, you found your curiosity awakened and began walking around your home, garage, and garden trying one key after another. Very often you found a key that did not pair with any lock, but you kept it anyway. Sometimes a key fit a lock, but when you unlocked the object, you found a bunch of someone’s junk. If you were very lucky, a key would fit a lock on a door or object, like a keepsake box, then you found a bounty of someone’s treasures through which to peruse, keep and share. This devotional tells us about a church who found the key that opens the door to something of more value than all of creation combined.

In Revelation 3:7-13, Jesus spoke to the church at Philadelphia. This messenger from Jesus spoke for Him. He told them, as John wrote, several things. First, He said, “I know all the things you do.” (vs. 8) No one can hide from God what they’ve said, done, or thought. God is everywhere at the same time and knows all things. Jesus continued speaking by saying, “I have opened a door no one can shut.” (vs. 7-8 [NLT]) Which door would this be? Let’s continue reading to gain an understanding to where it leads. Jesus said to the Philadelphians, “You have little strength (you are mere mortals, this writer’s interpretation), yet you obeyed My word and did not deny Me.” (vs 8) Jesus knew them, and He had a reward for them because of their obedience to Him and not denying being His follower. By which door will the reward come?

In Revelation 3:10, Jesus continued telling the church at Philadelphia what He would do for them. He said, “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world” (to test those who refuse to trust in Jesus as the Messiah). Jesus commended these believers of Philadelphia and made a promise to them because of their obedience to Him and perseverance in keeping His commands. Jesus promised protection. There’s more to protection that hiding, shutting doors and gates, or defending yourself. Why is He promising to protect them? Who does He promise to protect?

Verse twelve gives more details about Jesus’ reward to the believers of Philadelphia. It held more than protection; it held a promise for eternity. Jesus told the church of Philadelphia of the door opened to them that cannot be shut and how they would persevere in obedience to Him and His words even though they were mortals. He said in Revelation 3:12 [NLT],

“All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens of the city of God-the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.”

Jesus said He is the door (vs 8) [the which is the answer to who] to the temple of God. By Him, each person who believes and perseveres to continue to obey and not deny Him despite persecutions and temptations, is victorious. [The who He promises to protect.] Believers will become pillars in the temple of God [the how]. These persevering believers as pillars would have a firm and abiding place in God’s temple and will never have to leave it. As pillars in the churches on earth, these saints uphold other believers by encouraging, teaching, and praying for those who go through trying times. On these pillars, when they enter through Christ God’s temple in God’s kingdom, Christ will write the name of God on them, similar to His writing His laws on the hearts and minds of His people in Hebrews 10:16. Once people become His disciples, remain obedient to Him, and do not deny Him, then enter God’s temple in His kingdom, they will always be citizens of the city of God, the new Jerusalem. God protects believers eternally in His kingdom and as His children live on earth since Jesus is the head of the church on earth. (Colossians 1:18)

These promises give hope, but they should lead each person to ask, “What is the key to receiving these rewards?” This question is answered by the Who. Jesus, the Son of God, who is wholly God and was wholly man, is the key. Isaiah 53 tells us about this Son of God. Isaiah 53:11 tells us God’s words to His prophet. He said, “As a result of the anguish of His (God’s) soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge, the Righteous One, My servant, will justify man, as He will bear their iniquities.” [NASB]

Jesus makes each believer in Him just/righteous [the how] so they can be in His presence and have a relationship with Him eternally [the why]. He is our door into God’s presence. (John 10:9 [ESV]) Jesus is the key to salvation and the kingdom of God. He will welcome each believer into God’s temple to be pillars, strongholds and towers of strength. The next question is how does Jesus do this for us?

As we read more of Isaiah 53, we recognize how Jesus did this for all people. Isaiah 53:10, tells us Jesus made it possible for us to enter the door into God’s kingdom. It says, “But the LORD (God) was pleased to crush Him, putting him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper His hand.” [NASB] Do not read this as God was happy at His Son’s death by men. Sin caused Jesus’ crushing because those men in their fear and jealousy begged Pontius Pilate to sentence Him to death. Still, God was happy His Son was crushed because it was His plan to redeem humankind from their sins. Each person who trusts Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross as the substitute for his/her own sin penalty and confesses his/her sin, will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

All humans have sinned since the time of Adam and Eve. God gives freewill to people. Adam and Eve were the first humans God created and were the first to sin. Because of God’s love, He gives freewill. Yet, He knew before He created humans they would rebel against Him, they would sin. So, He planned for their redemption before the first sin occurred. Redemption is paying the price required to redeem a person’s life from someone/something that enslaves him or her. Each person will die. They, each, are sinners and who sin against God. Their sins condemn them to die an eternal death of separation from God. So, a sufficient sacrifice to redeem sinners from the eternal death of separation from God is death, the sacrifice of greater value. Because of this, God sent His Son to earth to be born in human form, to live a sinless life, and to die a sinner’s death to release from the bondage of sin and death each person who trusts He is the Son of God and repents and confesses his or her sins. For this reason, “The LORD was pleased to crush Him (Jesus), putting Him to grief” as the guilt offering. (vs 10) As the guilt offering, the Messiah would see His offspring, those begotten by the redeeming sacrifice Jesus gave. Because of the anguish of Jesus’ soul for the weight of the sins of the world He carried upon Him into death, the Righteous One, My (the LORD’s) servant (Jesus) would justify the many. (vs. 11) Why did God plan for humanity’s redemption and why did Jesus choose to die for humanity? God loves each person. John wrote in his gospel, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 [NASB]_

Isaiah 53:10-12 answers the questions of Revelation 3:8, 10, & 12. It tells us by which door we will get our reward. It tells us why we will get a reward, because of obedience to Jesus and not denying Him since we accepted God’s love gift given through Jesus. Revelation 3:12 tells who will get this reward from God. The big question remained about how this can be since we humans are willful, rebellious, and sin-stained. Isaiah 53:10-12 tells us how Jesus redeems and saves us.  

• Are you one for whom Jesus will open the door to God’s kingdom that no one can shut?
• Have you used the strength God gives each believer to obey Him and not deny Him?
• Are you one whom Jesus calls victorious in Revelation 3:12?
• What will it take for you to become one of the chosen children of God?

Believe Jesus is the Son of God and confess that belief with your mouth. Confess and repent of your sins. You do not have to do good works, lead a good life, ask your ancestors to speak a good word on your behalf to God, or try to hide your sins. Nothing you do, say, or think is hidden from God. Nothing you do, say, or thing can earn you salvation from your sins and the penalty of those sins, eternal separation from Him. Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” (John 11:25)

Just like the Christians of Philadelphia had plenty of keys in life from which to choose but chose Jesus as their key, you have that same opportunity. Throw away the other options about how to have a happy life. Those keys only lead to dirty places, dusty options, and dying hopes. Instead, accept the key Jesus gives you and let Him open the door to life in God’s temple in His new Jerusalem. Who needs a keyring with a bunch of keys that lead to nothing but decay and emptiness? We each need a key that leads us to hope, peace, love, and eternal life with God.

Now is your time to examine your heart.

Now is the time to decide if you will believe Jesus is the Son of God, your Savior.

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,  but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:17-21 [NIV])

Lord, I know I do not deserve the price You paid just for You to redeem and save me from my rebelliousness towards you and other people. There is no way You deserved to die in my place. Please forgive me for being stubborn and willful. Forgive me for refusing to believe in Jesus Christ as Your Son and my Savior. Lord, I want to be Your child. I want to walk through the door Jesus opened for me and that He unlocked for me because of His sinless death and resurrection. I am not worthy, but I confess Jesus is Your Son and repent and confess of all my many sins. Please, Lord, look upon me with Your grace and mercy. Forgive me, redeem and cleanse me, and make me righteous so I can be Your child and be a pillar in Your temple in Your new Jerusalem. Thank you for your over-abounding love, patience, and forgiveness. Amen.

(ad)Ventures in a "New Thing"

Isaiah 43:6b-9a, 18-21 [AMP]:

“Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth – 7 Even everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made. 8 Bring forth the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears. 9Let all the nations be gathered together and let the peoples be assembled…18 Do not remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The beasts of the field honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen,  21 the people I formed for Myself, that they may set forth My praise and they shall do it.” 

Revelation 3:7-13 [AMP]:

^“7 And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open:  ⁸ I know your record of works and what you are doing. See! I have set before you a door wide open, which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name. ⁹ Take note! I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and learn and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have guarded and kept My word of patient endurance [have held fast the lesson of My patience with the expectant endurance that I give you], I also will keep you safe from the hour of trial (testing) which is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth. ¹¹ I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one may rob you and deprive you of your crown. ¹² He who overcomes is victorious. I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God; he shall never be put out of it or go out of it, and I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends from My God out of heaven, and My own new name. ¹³He who can hear, let him listen to and heed what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).” 

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Through the prophet Isaiah, God often reminded people He called them to Himself. In this passage of Isaiah, He did that again but He add a few things. God told them He made them for His glory. The Father told them He would do a "new thing," too.   

As relayed by mouth, the people of God told each generation - from father to child - God created humankind. Maybe at one time that meant much to them; yet, we as readers of Israelite history see they often forgot that one point. We note they started on a journey with Abraham. They stacked stones, we read, as a remembrance of where God met them and what He did. We notice they became impatient waiting for God to “show” Himself to their blind eyes. They danced and lived with people who bowed to other gods. In addition, we witness their repenting and returning to God. They repeated this cycle through the generations. As God’s people, their lives were a journey of faithfulness and unfaithfulness, of peaks and valleys of faith. God gave them food and drink and protected them from their enemies and themselves. As a protective Father, He slew their enemies from other nations. The Father provided a sacrifice for the enemy - death, which came through sin. This sacrifice is Jesus. 

In another episode of Israelite life, God said He created them for a purpose. Imagine the experience of a child when he learns he lives because his parents wanted and loved him before his birth. Now, imagine the Father when He was speaking to the Israelites. He called them His sons and daughters and said He had a purpose for them. The Israelites were not just an after-thought. God’s purpose was for them to be in a familial relationship with Him and to bring Him glory. Would this not make a child more apt to want to make the parents proud, knowing the parents wanted him or her before his or her birth? I imagine this loving relationship brought a response of love. It might have brought a response of regret when the child did not bring glory to the family name, just as a person feels in his or her relationship with the Father when he or she brings dishonor to God. God did not stop loving and providing because of the Israelites’ sin and regret. He could have left the Israelites sensing shame and remorse always, but that was not His plan. God’s plan is for His children to be in a relationship with Him. Yahweh states, “Behold, I am doing a new thing!” (Is 43:19a [AMP]) The Father desired their familial love, and they turned away. He would do a new thing. God provided a better way. It was a promise, a new covenant. 

Those of us who are in a relationship with God understand this “new thing,” the better way. We who have walked away from a close relationship to the Father know of His better way, too. For those who do not know and have not heard, the better way is through admitting Jesus is the Messiah, believing He died for each of our sins, and confessing wrong doings/sins. This is the simplest way to become a part of the family of God. Confession is not the easiest thing to do and we will not always be obedient to give ourselves to God’s ways. We are willful, strong-minded, and want our own ways and desires. This stubbornness on our part creates a wall between the Father and us; yet, He does not hold that against us and break off further relationship with us. The Father loves each of us and calls us His children.

Consider the first six verses of Revelation 3, the Spirit, through John, spoke to the church in Sardis who strayed from the lessons they learned. The Holy Spirit stated they must return to what they learned. Not everyone in Sardis, though, had strayed. To those whose names God wrote in His book, He calls them His children. Further in the chapter, we see the church at Laodicea vacillating between being workers for God and being lazy. The Father wants them to choose which they want to be – followers or not - because being both does not glorify Him nor give them a good reputation. God through the Holy Spirit reminded them they could do nothing for themselves; they would be poor and blind without Him. The church at Philadelphia working for the Lord, contrasts with the churches at Sardis and Laodicea. They did not shut the door the Father opened. The Philadelphians guarded His message, proclaimed it, and not denounced Him. In Revelations 3, John said God would make those who served themselves and Satan bow before the church at Philadelphia. That was the reward for the Philadelphian church’s faithfulness and obedience. He further promised to keep the congregation at Philadelphia safe from the trials and tribulations that will come and test the whole world. God makes His point at the end of Revelation 3. He rebukes, corrects, convicts, and convinces people of their wrong, not to castigate them, but because He loves them. He is the God of love. 

God loves us so much He did a new thing; He sent His Son, Jesus, to die because of the sin of humanity. The judgment for sin is death. The Father showed His power over death by resurrecting Jesus from the dead three days after His mortal death. God showed He has power over everything. That is the “new thing” alluded to in Isaiah and which the churches at Sardis, Laodicea, and Philadelphia learned.  

The Father asks you to be “enthusiastic and earnest and burning with zeal.” (Rev. 3:19b [Amplified Bible]) He does not want us to be sleepers or fence-straddlers as the people of Sardis and Laodicea were. God calls us to be as the church of Philadelphia, to be guards of His message, holding fast with patience and endurance (Rev. 3:8-10). He wants us to venture everything we have in total abandon with Him, with endurance. Remember, He who faced sin and died was powerful enough to defeat sin and death and live again. Jesus gives this power to you and me. His power makes our perseverance happen. This perseverance, because of our relationship with Him, because of our faithfulness in telling the Gospel, is what brings Him glory. Our being in a relationship with God is our purpose and brings the Father glory. “He who is able to hear let him listen to and heed what the Holy Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 3:22 [AMP]).