In Revelation 3:7-8, Jesus claims to “hold the key of David,” which is a direct reference to Isaiah 22:22. It tells a story of God replacing a selfish steward, Shebna, with a godly one, Eliakim. God placed the “key to the house of David” on Eliakim’s shoulder giving him divine authority over the coming and goings of the king’s palace. Poetically stated: no one can close a door he opens and no one can open a door he closes. No one sees the king without going through the steward and his word is final.
Eliakim served King Hezekiah of Judah, while the Lord Jesus could only be steward to one, God the Father. If Jesus is the steward of heaven, then it follows he controls who enters and who doesn’t. This is essentially reinforcing the concept of the predestined elect! The door is open for this church in Philadelphia even though they are at some risk of losing their crowns. Even if their crowns were stolen, the door would still be open; no thief can cause a door to shut that Jesus opened!
This is the best news! The door is open for those of us who believe in Jesus. It doesn’t matter how we feel about it. It doesn’t matter how much stuff we got wrong. It doesn’t matter who we think we are. It doesn’t matter what we fear. No amount of guilt can shut the door Jesus has opened! We don’t need to walk under those burdens, there is freedom, victory, and confidence in Christ as well. Salvation is constant and firm and completely safe, it is simply not dependent on us. That’s enough reassurance for a lifetime!
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38, 39
Jonathan Duncan
EFCC Member