The Apocalypse: Sermon 2 The Alpha and the Omega

The Apocalypse Sermon 2 The Alpha and the Omega Bart A. Skroh [Introduction] This morning we are going to continue our series on the Book of Revelation. Or as we learned last week the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation is first of all the Unveiling of Jesus Christ. This morning we are going to see every three primary things: 1) A greeting from every member of the Trinity 2) A Kingdom of Priests 3) The promise of Jesus Second Coming Rev 1:4-8 ESV (4)  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, (5)  and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (6)  and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (7)  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (8)  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." [Pray] [John’s Greeting] vs 4-5 In verses 4 & 5 we see John’s greeting to the seven churches. This is a greeting from John and from every member of the Trinity. Historically, it is important for us to remember that the book of Revelation was written to seven specific churches in Asia Minor, what is modern day Turkey. I am not going to talk about the seven churches right now since I will cover each of the churches in depth in chapters 2 and 3. However I do want to bring your attention to the number of the churches. The Sevens in Revelation There are 7 of them. Why 7? I think that most of us know that seven to a Hebrew person is the number of completion or wholeness. You will notice as we go on that there are numerous sevens in the book of Revelation. There are seven churches, stars, lampstands, seals, thunders, and bowls of God’s wrath. I do not believe that anyone has yet come up with a truly exhaustive list of the sevens in the book or Revelation because in addition to the times where there are explicit things like I already mentioned there are also hidden or inexplicit things that you have to study carefully to find out. For instance, there are 7 beatitudes. For some of the sevens you have to count the words. Here are a few words that occur 7 times in the book of Revelation: Prophecy, Kingdom, “Jesus Lives” Judgment, earthquake, “the saints” and many many more. I believe that you could study the Book of Revelation all your life looking for these sevens and still find more. However, if you did find EVERY seven in the book my bet would be that the number of them would be a multiple of seven. I truly believe that all of these sevens are the fingerprint of the Holy Spirit all over this book. These further attest to this being a special book. Who was and is and is to come So in John’s greeting he addresses this to seven churches that are in Asia (minor). This greeting was not from John Alone. This greeting was from both John and our Lord God. All three members of the Trinity are present in this greeting. Verse four continues to say: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.” First of all, Grace and Peace. This phrase, “Grace and Peace” was a common greeting in the Christian epistles. Many of Paul’s letters include it in their greetings. Grace was a common greeting among the Greek speaking peoples. The word was Charis. Peace was the common Hebrew greeting. The word here of course is Shalom. It is the beautiful thing to combine both of these greetings to form a blessing. However, the truly astonishing thing is who this greeting is coming from. “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.” The one who is, who was, and who is to come is clearly designed to be identified as God the Father. This is a reference and an amplification of a verse from the Old Testament. When Moses was trying to come up with every excuse why he shouldn’t be the one to lead his people out of Egypt he asked God a very important question. Who shall I say sent me? (Exo 3:14 ESV)  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God identifies himself to Moses as the I AM. The very name of God YHWH basically means I Exist. It is basically the “be” verb. Remember from your high school English classes. “be” verbs. Am is was were be being been. This is the most basic verb in any language yet it is a profound truth about God. In verse 4 of Revelation we see one of those Revelations of Jesus that I mentioned last week. Not only does God Exist. But HE is the one who was: ha has always existed. HE is the one who is, He continues to exist now. And HE is the one who is to come, He always will exist. HE is Lord over eternity. PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE. This also teaches a very important lesson to us from both John’s perspective and from our perspective in church history. In a way this is a reference to Jesus actions in time. Jesus was; He came and explained the divine to us and died for our sins. Jesus is; He is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us. And Jesus is to come, He is coming back for His bride and to come back to rule and reign on the earth. The seven spirits The next part often confuses us. We have already seen a reference to the Father in this greeting the one who was, is and is to come. Now we see a reference to the Holy Spirit. However, this is not a familiar description of the Holy Spirit. It refers to Him as the Seven Spirits who are before his throne. This causes some apprehension for some people. “I thought there was only one spirit. What is this seven spirits stuff?” I hear you ask. Generally this tying into the motif of the sevens on the book of Revelation. Again the seven spirits are a reference to the completeness of the Holy Spirit. Specifically this is a reference to Isa 11:2. I cant say it any better than David Guzik does in his commentary on Revelation. The idea of the seven Spirits quotes from the Old Testament. Isaiah 11:2 describes seven aspects of the Holy Spirit: The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. It isn’t that there are seven different spirits of God, rather the Spirit of the Lord has these characteristics, and He has them all in fullness and perfection. Jesus The faithful and true – Firstborn Finally the greeting turns to Jesus. The last member of the Trinity to be named in the greeting is Jesus and He is described by what He has accomplished: Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. First of all, Jesus is the Faithful Witness. “Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2 Tim 2:13). Jesus is our faithful witness. When Jesus put on flesh and became a human being to explain God’s plan to man, He was faithful in completing 100% of what He was intended to. He fulfilled every prophecy, delivered every teaching, performed every miracle that He was intended to. Most of all Jesus was faithful to die on the cross for your sins and mine. Another way that you could translate this phrase “Faithful Witness” from the Greek is “faithful martyr.” How do we know that Jesus was the Faithful witness? How do we know He accomplished everything He was intended? We know this because He is also the Firstborn from the dead! God would not have raised Jesus from the dead, indeed Jesus would not have been eligible for resurrection unless He had completed everything 100%. Jesus is also the Firstborn. Now, from the Hebrew the word firstborn does not necessarily mean literally the first born. The Firstborn is a title more so than a description. It is a title for the most excellent, the most perfect, the BEST. When Abel offered the firstborn of his flocks he wasn’t just offering the first one that popped out, but he was offering the very best of what he had. Also God made Jacob a firstborn even though his brother Esau was actually the first to be born. Even Jews today use the term firstborn as a messianic title. Finally Jesus is the ruler over the kings of Earth. I believe that this is a prophetic title because before we get to the end of the Book of Revelation we are going to see Jesus lifted up as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. [A Kingdom of Priests] vs 6 Now the End of verse 5 and verse 6 gets into the heart of what I want to discuss today. The end verse 5 gives one more title of Jesus. Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. Have you ever doubted that Jesus truly loves you? I want to completely put your mind at ease from all of those doubts this morning. Jesus Loves you so much that washed your sins away with His Own blood. (Rom 5:8 ESV) – “8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? What is all of my righteousness? NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD! Nothing but the blood of King Jesus. Notice the order here. Jesus loved us first then He washed us. Jesus doesn’t love us because we are not clean. His love for us is what motived Him to die for us. Jesus Washed our sins away AND He made US kings and priests to God the Father FOREVER! For those whom Jesus loved and washed He has made Kings and Priests. IT was not enough for him to just to love us he also elevated us in His Kingdom. We are a Kingdom of Priests! Do you realize that? The Kingdom of God is not a geographic region. Instead the kingdom is present where ever Jesus rules and reigns. So the kingdom of God is not about geography, it is about relationship. So for example, does Jesus rule and reign in your household? If so then the kingdom of God is in your midst! In our church and fellowship we believe in the priesthood of every believer. When Jesus says that we shall be a kingdom of priests he is referencing: Exo 19:6 ESV and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."  In his first epistle Peter also talks about us being a kingdom of priests. 1Pe 2:9 ESV But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the Old Covenant it was forbidden to be both a king and a priest. But not because of Our new Great High Priest Jesus we can be both just like Him. We understand that one day we will rule the nations with Jesus. But we can be priests right now. In fact we are called to be priests right now. What is the role of a priest? A priest has two major roles: 1) present sacrifices, 2)serve as a go between for the people and God. 1) Present sacrifices We know that Jesus made the once and final sacrifice. And there can be no other sacrifice for sins. That has already been 100% taken care of by Jesus death on the cross. However, Romans 12:1 says: (Rom 12:1 ESV)  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. As an act of worship and obedience we present ourselves to God. Just as Jesus offered His body we offer ours. We offer our bodies as an act of worship to God. We offer ourselves and die to self so that Christ may live in us. If we have died to self this is very liberating. If you are already dead what can any man do to you? [Henry Gruver Story] 2) Go between God and the people. It is very important to know that we all can make our petitions directly to Jesus. EVERY ONE can make their petitions to Jesus. The veil has been torn there is nothing that can prevent us from going right into the presence of God. And there is nothing that can prevent God from sending His presence to you. But when you are praying for your children who are not serving God or interceding for the lost, you are taking up your role as a Royal Priest. You are standing in the gap for those who either cant or wont do it for themselves. When the priest serves as the go between God and the people that sometimes means that they have to deliver prophetic words to the people. The Royal Priesthood of God must make a stand for what is right, what is true, and what is godly. We have to, at times be that prophetic voice for the Lord and say what is right and take a stand. [The Hope of the Church and the Doom of the World] vs 7-8 (7)  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (8)  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." BEHOLD HE COMES Verse 7 is reference to the second coming of Christ. This is not a reference to the rapture necessarily, but to the bodily return of Christ to the earth along with his saints. The good news here is that if He is returning to the earth that means that He has already raptured His Saints. John Says BEHOLD! This is an indication that Jesus return to the earth will be very much visible. From the perspective of the earth you will be able to see Him when He comes. This description of the coming of Jesus is based from John’s understanding of Old Testament promises of the Messiah’s return and Jesus’ own words about His return. For example, John knew that Jesus was coming back because Jesus said He was coming back. This is further described as visible when it says every eye shall see Him. This is the hope of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. We all long for the Day when Jesus will come back to the earth and set all things right. He will rule the world and bring in everlasting righteousness. But for the wicked and those who rejected him it will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Those who pierced him and the Tribes When it says even those who pierced him shall see Him return this does refer to those who specifically crucified Him. In fact it is a good bet that most of those who were actually were involved in the crucifixion of Jesus were probably already dead by the writing of Revelation. Revelation was probably written around 90 AD. About 60 years after the crucifixion. Not to mention the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 72 Ad killing over 1 million Jews. “Those who pierced Him” is actually specifically a reference to the Jews who rejected him. How do we know this? From the context of the verse Itself. Verse seven puts those who will see the second coming of Jesus into two categories. Those who pierced him and the tribes of the earth. From the Hebrew perspective there are two kinds of people there is Israel and all the rest of the nations. And so here we see those who pierced him and all the other nations/tribes. Those who pierced him refers to Zech 12:10 Zec 12:10 ESV - 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. Alpha and Omega In Verse 7 we see Jesus introduce himself. If you have a Bible that has Jesus words in red this should be the first verse in the book with red letters. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. These are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. Just like the phrase, “who was, who is, and who is to come” that we discussed earlier calling Jesus the Alpha and Omega is a declaration that Jesus is the beginning and the end. The ever existing God of eternity. Again David Guzik writes: If Jesus is both the Beginning and the End, then He also has authority over everything in-between. This means that Jesus has a plan for history, and He directs the path of human events toward His designed fulfillment. Our lives are not given over to blind fate, to random meaninglessness, or to endless cycles with no resolution. Instead, Jesus Christ who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End directs all of human history and even our individual lives. Jesus is the almighty! This harkens back to the book of Hebrews which tells us that Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power. The word almighty is in the New Testament 10 times. Nine of those ten times are right here in Revelation. This word literally means the one who has everything in His hands. [Close] We started out and ended today with seeing that we serve a God who Was who IS and who IS TO COME. He is our ever present God who has always been on the throne and always will be on the throne. Today our response to God’s word should be twofold. 1)Are you a part of the Kingdom of God? That can be a complex question. It is more than just are you saved. If you are part of the kingdom of God then you will have placed your life into the hands of the almighty (have you done that? Have you been cleansed by the Blood of the one who Loved you and died for you?). If you are truly a part of the Kingdom of God then you are allowing God to rule and reign over your life, your family, your home, your career, and every other part of your life. Are you a part of the kingdom? 2) Have you taken up your mantle as a Royal Priest of Jesus? Have you offered yourself as a living sacrifice? Are you standing in the gap for anyone? Your family , friends lost and dying world.