Revelation: An Introduction Part 2

Revelation 1

Last week we began our look at the Revelation of Jesus Christ by way of introduction to the Apocalyptic, Prophetic Letter written by John the Apostle to the seven churches of the Romans province of Asia which is modern day Turkey or Asia Minor. We did discuss things we would not be spending time on, I’ll not go back over those since we will not be spending time on them, but it was noted that we would be seeking to see and experience the wonder, the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ the One revealed in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We talked a bit about the type of literature the Revelation is; it is an apocalyptic, prophetic letter. So we see that as apocalyptic literature it is a revealing of the glory of Jesus that will bless us when we read and listen to it. It is a prophecy that will inform us of coming events but more than that it also encourages us as to the victory of the Lamb and His bride. And it is a letter that instructs us as to how to live in the time before He comes to take us to His home. And finally we talked about the five historical ways of understanding the Revelation; Preterist: everything has already happened in the past. Futurist: everything is going to happen in the future. Historical: Some things have happened in the past, some things will happen in the future. It is somewhat of a roadmap of the history of the church. Idealist: Revelation is not a series of events but instead principles that have been and continue to be applicable to the church as it struggles between the work of God in His church and the work of Satan to destroy the church. And finally the newest of the approaches to understanding Revelation ;the Eclectic approach. The eclectic approach combines the various approaches in such a way that the visions in Revelation can be applied to the past, the future and in our lives today as we await the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And one last thing that we did talk about is the fact that we need to be sure and show grace to one another as we delve into the Revelation of Jesus Christ because there can be so many ways to understand this book but they are all secondary to the person of Jesus Christ.

That pretty much covers our introduction to Revelation part 1 and today we will continue the introduction to Revelation with part 2. We will be looking at Revelation 1:1-20 with an eye towards drawing out some of the major themes of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Let’s pray then we will get started.

In our look at the first chapter of the Revelation we are going to look at five of the major themes in the entire book. God is Sovereign and rules and reigns over history; The Trinitarian nature of the Revelation with Christ as our Prophet Priest and King; Christ is Ruler over His bride the church and there will be struggle between the world and the Church; Jesus Christ fulfills the Old Testament Prophecies (Daniel 7); He alone is worthy to be worshiped. With all that said let’s read Revelation 1:1-20 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.4 John, to the seven churches which 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 from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. 19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.[1]

Verses 1-3 are generally referred to as the introduction and benediction but in those three verses along with verse 19 we see that God proclaims Himself to be sovereign over history. God told Jesus, Jesus told the angel, the angel told John and John is told to write it down for us to be blessed by if we read it and listen to it. But what is the “it” I just spoke of? The things that must shortly take place, the things John saw, for the time is near. God began the process of saving for Himself a people before the garden of Eden (Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world) and it will culminate with the coming of Christ to take His people to live in the new heaven and the new earth, new creations living together as the new Israel in new Jerusalem. He told His disciples in John 14:1-4 14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”[2] We have those words from Jesus and here in Revelation we have God the Father’s own words bearing this out. From the Garden to the Cross to the culmination of history in the New Heaven and the New Earth God rules history. He is not just an actor in the process: Isaiah 46:9-10 9Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand.[3] Throughout the Revelation we will see that no matter what the enemy does God has already triumphed. God is ruler over history.

Let’s look at verses 4-8 4 John, to the seven churches which 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 from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

These five verses could have been the entire text for our sermon this morning because in it we find the Trinitarian nature of our God. We find the threefold work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see that Christ will judge the world and we see that He is indeed God; not less than the Father. God is writing this letter to His churches through John declaring that it come from God the Father (Him who is and who was and is to come), God the Holy Spirit (the seven Spirits before His throne) and God the Son (Jesus Christ). I’m not going to spend much time on symbols, we will look at them as they come along, but here we see our first one in John’s description of the Holy Spirit. Obviously there are not seven Holy Spirits, only one, so what is John saying? The number 7 is used many times in Scripture to denote completeness. It could be that John is saying that the completeness of the Holy Spirit is present before the thrones and before the seven churches the letter is written to. In John’s Gospel he used the number seven a lot. Not that he numbered them as 1-7 but there were seven signs or miracles that John listed, there were seven people that had significant stories with many of them being women, there were seven last words of Christ on the cross, and there were seven I AM statements by Jesus. I know this is a letter from God to the church but John’s personality is all over it.

So in these verses we see the Trinitarian nature of the letter but we also see the threefold ministry of Jesus. He is declared to be the faithful witness which is our prophet. He represents God to His people. Colossians says that He is the express image of God and as our prophet we see the nature of God declared. We are told He is the firstborn from the dead and it is He whose blood was shed to wash us from our sin. This makes Him our priest representing us before His Father having paid our debt and eternally makes intercession for us. According to Hebrews He is our great high priest who sacrificed Himself once for all time. We are also told that He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is our King. We are told in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in the heavenlies and the Ruler or King is Jesus. We will see this as we move through the Revelation, Jesus is crowned He his seated on a throne and He is obeyed. As our prophet, priest and king He gives us a kingdom to live in and makes us to be priests to our God. Only a king can grant a kingdom and only a priest can name a priest. And our Prophet, Priest and King has all the glory and all the dominion over His kingdom that He has given us.

We also see in verses 7 and 8 that when He returns as the mighty conquering King that everyone who has refused Him, those who pierced Him, will mourn because He will be the righteous judge over His creation because He I God. Jesus says the same thing about Himself that John said about God the Father: Jesus said “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning nd the End, who Is and who Was and Who Is to come, the Almighty.” All through the Revelation we will see Jesus proclaiming and proclaimed as the living God, same in essence as His Father and the Holy Spirit. We will see the theme of Jesus being our Prophet, Priest and King who has given to His own a kingdom and making us priests to our God and He will judge those who reject Him as the Almighty God.

Let’s look at verses 9-11, 20: 9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”… 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.[4] John identifies himself as a co-struggler in this time between. He says that he is a companion in both tribulation and the kingdom and the patience of waiting for Jesus Christ. I want to draw you attention to the fact that John put tribulation and the kingdom together, as if we live in tribulation and the kingdom at the same time. Why does he do that? Don’t we live in tribulation, in struggles of life and then when we die or when the Lord returns we enter the kingdom? No! Emphatically no! It is correct to say and to believe that we live in times of struggle as we live in the kingdom which Christ Jesus has given us. Remember Jesus told His disciples that they would have tribulations and when He said “the kingdom of heaven is like..” He always mentioned things that were going on in the present not someday in the sweet bye and bye. In His kingdom while we patiently wait on our Lord we will have tribulations, we will have struggles. Until we reach what is described in Revelation 21:4 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”[5], until we reach that there will be constant struggles between the world that would draw us away from our King and the Church. But with that the case we must remember that Jesus is the King the Ruler of His church even in the tribulation, while we wait for our Redeemer. In the letters to the seven churches that He is writing to He warns them of struggles, He admonishes them when and where they are wrong and encourages them to stand strong and not lose faith. Jesus rules over and cares for His church through all trials and tribulations.

In verses 12-16 we see that Jesus fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the last days. 12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. We are not going to spend much time here but if you were to go to Daniel, particularly chapter 7, and Ezekiel and even Joel, you would find much of the same type description and actions that are recorded here and in the rest of Revelation. Jesus fulfills the last days and day of the Lord prophecies.

Finally in verse 17 and 18 we see that He alone is worthy to be worshiped even in the face of the counterfeits of Satan. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Throughout the Revelation we will see elders, kings, angels and creatures great and small bowing down to the One who holds the keys to Hades and Death due to His work on the cross. There will be cries of Holy, Holy, Holy, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, there will be victory songs, casting of crowns before the Lord; all of this as acts of worship to God and His Christ, Jesus our Lord. But there is a conflict, if you will, between those who worship God the Father and the Lamb and those who worship Satan (the dragon) and his false messiah the Beast. Satan is a deceiver and a counterfeiter. Some will refuse to worship God and instead worship the counterfeit and his promises. But only God and His Christ, the Lamb slain, are worthy of all our worship and one day every knee will bow and worship Christ because He has been given a name above every other name. He alone is worthy of worship.

Overall what we see as to themes laid out in this the first chapter is that God the Father is the ruler over History. He has determined the outcome from before the beginning. The Holy Trinity has not only charted a course for history but has piloted the ship from beginning to end. He has given His Son to declare the goodness, mercy and grace of the triune God as our Prophet. Jesus has offered Himself as our sacrifice and makes intercession for His people always as our Priest. And He has given us a kingdom in which He is King and made us to be priests of God. He rules over His church, His bride, even in the midst of the struggles and when He returns as the conquering King He will judge those who opposed Him, those who refused Him. And it is He alone Who is worthy of all of our praise and all of our worship. Will you worship Him with Me? (Doxology) Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 1:1–20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 14:1–4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Is 46:9–10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 1:1–20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 21:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.