Do you know how Christ identifieis Himself? Revelation 1-5

Revelation 2:1 (NASBStr)

 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

How do you describe yourself?  Tall? Skinny? Wide? Thick? Knowledgable? Humorist? Skilled? Athletic?  We all have an image of ourselves and what we see in the mirror we have come to appreciate, adore, ignore, hide and excuse all at the same time.  How a person thinks of himself/herself and defines himself/herself says a lot about them.   In these chapters of Revelation, Christ is speaking to the seven churches (some believe the seven churches refer to seven eras of the church and some believe it is seven attitudes Christ is correcting all churches, in any era, can reflect).  As He speaks to each church, Christ first identifies Himself; a characteristic He wants them to know about Him.  Note the characteristics:

2:1 - The one who holds the seven starts in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (the seven churches).

2:8 - These are the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.

2:12 - These are the words of Him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.

2:18 - These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.  

3:1 - These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

3:7 - These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.

3:14 - These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.

The official title of this book is the Revelation of St. John.  But, in reality it is the Revelation of Christ to St. John for us!   In this book Christ is revealing Himself and His plans for His church, even further than He did through the rest of the New Testament writers.  Christ wants us to know He is alive, living, in total control, strong, authoritative and much more.   When we read the Revelation we need to realize that these statements are not an avenue for "a message" of the book, but they ARE the message.  Christ is revealing to us Who He is.   He is all that above and much more.  Later in the book when it says He is worthy to be praised it is because He is worthy.   Read these seven statements again and you see why John fell on His face when He saw Jesus.