The Blessing of the Revelation (Rev 1:1-8)

Good morning Harmony!

Today we’re starting the book of Revelation.

There’s a lot of different thoughts when it comes to doing a series or going through the book of Revelation. Many look at it as a doomsday revelation that tells us how it is all coing to end and how all of these judgements are going to occur as we wind down to the end of the world as we know it.

And when you tell people that you’re going to go through the book of Revelation a lot of folks will think hell, fire, and brimstone preaching is coming. And while I can clearly see those elements in Revelation, those aren’t the main point of Revelation, and when we focus on that, we loose sight of what the main purpose is.

And the main point of the Book of Revelation as a whole is this:

TO KNOW GOD IN HIS GLORIOUS JUSTICE AND MERCY AND LIVE WORSHIPFULLY BY FAITH.

It’s not to scare us, its not about the judgements, Its so we can know and enjoy His grace because we know our outcome when we trust Him by faith. it’s meant to be encouraging to the believer as the world is just this terrible evil place all around us.

And that’s what I want us to stop and pray for as we get started in the book of Revelation today.

Let’s pray.

Ok, so we know the main point of the book of Revelation, to know God in His glorious justice and mercy and live worshipfully by faith, but as we break this down into smaller parts we also have to see the main points of those parts as we go through.

Today’s Scripture is Revelation 1:1-8

Revelation 1:1–8 CSB

The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near. John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

And the main point of today’s scripture is this:

MAIN POINT: GOD REVEALS HIMSELF SO THAT THOSE WHO KNOW HIM ARE BLESSED AND WILL PRAISE HIM REGARDLESS OF THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES.

God reveals Himself to us so that we are blessed and will praise Him regardless of our circumstances.

That’s the main point. And the first thing we see is

1. THE BLESSING. vs 1-3

And as we get into this, there’s some context that needs to be laid out.

John is writing this from a prison cell.

The emperor Domitian is on the throne.

Now many of us wouldn’t see that as a big deal, Paul was in prison a lot, right?

But to really understand some context, the ruler Domitian left his brother for dead because of an illness. He had Cornelia, the chief vestal virgin, buried alive when he found out she had a lover, and her lovers were beten to death by rods. He had Aelius Lamia killed for joking remarks that were made way before he took the throne. He sduced his niece, and then killed her by way of making her have an abortion to get rid of his child. And, he insisted on being addressed as “Lord and God”.

So when we look at the context of the matter, we can see that it was pretty bleak. It definitly wasn’t any better than it is today - so really using our bad rulers or bad laws as reference to the end may not be the most useful measurement.

And as we get ready to pour through Revelation it’s important to understand that the culture of that day was not at all influenced by Christianity. Evil was all around them as the early Christian was persecuted day in and day out. There wasn’t anything that really shouted hope and peace in the world around them. So it’s important to understand and recognize the obvious - persecuted people with feel persecuted. And so as we look at the book of Revelation, through the eyes of culture, we would think that persecuted people would not be inclined to praise God, because they certainly felt persecuted. It’s not normal.

These early Christians are praising God as their homes are being taken away, family members killed in front of them, their very lives threatened, and yet, they’re still praising God.

Their faith is tested in ways we couldn’t even dream about today and they remain faithful and praising God.

That’s what the Book af Revelation was for, that’s it’s purpose. Look at verses 1-3 again -

Revelation 1:1–3 CSB

The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.

First let’s address something, “the revelation”, in the greek, it’s apokalypsis, where we get the word apocalypse, it means revelation, or uncovering - it doesn’t actually mean the end of the world, it simply gets that in our english because the book of revelation is revealing the end times, but that wasn’t the original greek meaning of the word.

In this sense this is God, revealing or uncovering something previously not known - while yes, in this case He is revealing the end of the world, He’s doing so to show Himself -

The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave to show His servants - that is us folks. To show us what is going to take place -

We don’t have that kind of persecution that the early church had here, today, but even so we still have those around us that think we’re a bit out there. They’ll call us arrogant, or narrow minded, or self-righteous, or bigoted, or any number of things to try and get us to lose our faith in Christ, because that’s what the enemy wants us to do.

Satan wants us to doubt and lose faith because he knows there’s only one way to get to God, and the more faith we have the more people get to know and see Jesus in our everyday lives. He’s willing to do anything he can to get into your head to cause you to doubt and lose faith, to make you question the truths of God’s promise.

Because if Satan can make you doubt that promise, if he can make us question our faith, it lessens our testimony to how good God is.

And so to reveal to us, to show His servants, what is going to take place, so that we can be encouraged by it and see His glory revealed, God sent his angel to John to show us this revelation.

To testify to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus - John is viewing this as it is going to happen, directly from God - it’s not something that could happen, it’s the Gospel truth. These events are going to take place.

Blessed is the one who reads it aloud, blessed are those who hear, and blessed are those that keep -

Revelation is an exciting book for those that are in Christ. This information should be encouraging, this revelation is uplifting, when we read it aloud our voice is going to show how blessed we are, and it is going to bless others, who are going to keep that in their hearts as they depart from there.

Think about the different stories that you hear or movies that you watch and the different feelings they cause you to have. Those movies or stories that you enjoy tend to stay with you, right?

And depending on who is in the audience, some folks will be excited in what it is that is revealed, others maybe not so much.

Baby reveals, everyone’s excited, right? It’s good news for an expecting couple.

When car manufacturers are revealing new models or updated cars, there are those that are going to be excited about the new car.

This revelation, that would have been read all at one time was designed and crafted by God to help us to stay focused on the blessing that is greater than anything any of their persecution could bring.

And Christian, these words are meant for you - they aren’t directed toward the lost. That doesn’t mean that the lost can’t or shouldn’t read it or hear them, but the book of Revelation isn’t really going to be a blessing to those that are not going to recieve the blessing of God.

That baby reveal, there’s going to be those that are unhappy about the baby reveal, either by the delivery method of the announcement or by the gender of the baby.

That car reveal, there’s going to be those that don’t like the new shape or the horsepower or the colors.

So we who are in Christ are or should be excited about this revelation that God is showing to us -

Those who are not in Christ aren’t going to be so excited about it, because to them it’s not Good News, and so they’re going to dismiss it, or hate it, or hate us because the reveal isn’t the news they want to hear.

The Book of Revelation then is there to give you the power and the ability when persecution comes to be able to combat that and to remember the blessings of God outweigh anything man or Satan could ever do to you.

Someone calls you a name, you can still praise God because God is blessing you.

Someone throws something at you, or beats you, or accuses you falsely, you can still praise God, because God’s got better things in store for you.

Let’s say at some point in the future someone tries to kill you or you go to a foreign country and they find out you’re a Christian and they decide to kill you, or your family, and I’ll be honest right now, this one will be hard, but you can still praise Him, because you know the end and you know where you’re spending eternity and you know there will be no more tears, no more death, no more grief, you know the blessings of God are better than life itself.

That’s why Revelation is so important to us as believers in Christ - because that is exactly the type of stuff and worse that those early Christians are going through.

Diognetus, from the The Apostolic Fathers, talking of Christians of the day:

They love everyone, and by everyone they are persecuted.

They are unknown, yet they are condemned; they are put to death, yet they are brought to life.

They are poor, yet they make many rich; they are in need of everything, yet they abound in everything.

They are dishonored, yet they are glorified in their dishonor; they are slandered, yet they are vindicated.

They are cursed, yet they bless; they are insulted, yet they offer respect.

When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; when they are punished, they rejoice as though brought to life...

and so Christians when punished daily increase more and more.

They were able to understand and be blessed by this revelation and through that they were able to demonstrate that power to overcome all of that because we have a better hope, a better future, and it’s so good.

It’s like being excited for next month, when you start a new job, and you get to leave a toxic environment. No matter what’s going on this month, you’re able to look past it and see the hope of the new job.

Or maybe it’s retirement - retirement is so close that holding on to that hope allows you to endure to the end.

But this is so much more than that - because this is a hope that is better than any of that, and it’s a future that we’re told will be so good - no more tears, no more grief, no more death, eternity with peace and love.

So today, Christian, looking back at the context of the book and up to our current day, and as we ponder the future, Revelation is a book where the context remains applicable, because persecution remains applicable.

You can read and feel the excitement John has as he’s writing and as we continue into

2. THE DOXOLOGY. vs 4-8

And we aren’t talking about the hymn, though the lyrics of that reveal what a doxology is - it’s giving praise and honor to God. Here in John’s greeting is a doxology, and it begins with

a. John’s Greeting to the Church. vs. 4-5a

Revelation 1:4–5a (CSB)

John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

John greets the seven churches in Asia, which represent all of the churches in Asia, and then says Grace and peace to you from God the Father, then as many scholars believe from the Holy Spirit, represented by the seven spirits.

Let’s talk about seven. The number seven.

Now we’re going to see this a lot in the book of Revelation, with a lot of different numbers that pop up frequently. Here we see seven churches, when obviously there were more churches than seven, and we see seven spirits, and we know there is only one Holy Spirit -

But these sevens do represent something. As a matter of fact, it’s the most prominent number, and it represents totality, and is considered the covenant number. The seventh day, that was the totality of creation, and circumcision happened after seven days. Seven sacrifices ordered of Balaam in Numbers 23, and when Joshua marched around Jericho seven times with seven ram’s horns. in fact if you look back on scripture you see a lot of sevens that represent the completeness or the totality of something, and there are 21 sevens in revelation alone. So the seven churches is the totality of all of the churches that ever were and ever would be, and the seven Spirits are the completeness or the wholeness of the Holy Spirit.

In the first part of verse 5 we see Jesus added to the greeting, so now we have Father, Spirit, and Son, and Jesus is the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of kings - He didn’t just come back from the dead, He is the first to be resurrected into the glorified body.

And every leader will answer to Him. Every king, every president, every boss; past, present, and future will answer to Him, no matter how much power they think they possess.

Next we see

b. John’s Praise to Jesus. vs. 5a-6

Now this is the main doxology that John gives in this section:

Revelation 1:5b–6 (CSB)

To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood,

and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Again, notice its to Him who loves us. Its written for those in the relationship, those adopted into the family of God, those He loved enough to shed His own blood to redeem us and set us free from our sins.

Free from sins - free from the penalty, because He cleansed us from all sin, and free from the bonds of continual sin - we don’t have to do that, He made us a Kingdom, priests to God - we belong to King Jesus now, and there’s no power on earth or in hell that can get in the way of that!

Again Diognetus, from the Agnostic Fathers, puts it this way:

“Do you not see how they are thrown to wild beasts to make them deny the Lord, and yet they are not conquered? Do you not see that as more of them are punished, the more others increase? These things do not look like human works; they are the power of God, they are proofs of His presence.”

And that priests to God points to two things we do as Christians - one, we serve and worship God, and two we bear witness to Jesus. We worship, and we bear witness.

We tell others through our spiritual gifts and relationships and our response to persecution what Jesus did for us-

Romans 3:25 CSB

God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

and that because of that we have Good News -

Romans 10:13 CSB

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Live like priests to God, worship Him and help others to know Him. Worship God by engaging His Word, connecting to the body of believers and just being an authentic Christian who wants to be able to be bold like those early Christians in the face of persecution.

We’re bold, authentic Christians who want to live out our lives, recognizing the truth that lies in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

2 Corinthians 5:20–21 CSB

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We worship and tell others as ambassadors for Christ, because we recognize

c. The Coming of Jesus. v.7

Do you understand that Christ is coming back? Jesus is coming back -

Revelation 1:7 CSB

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.

He’s coming, and everyone is going to know it. The way it’s stated has Old Testament roots - Daniel 7:13 -

Daniel 7:13 CSB

I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him.

coming with the clouds and portrays an everlasting Kingdom.

Zechariah 12:10 -

Zechariah 12:10 CSB

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.

They will look at me whom they pierced. All of this is now cleared up by Paul in Colossians 1:26

Colossians 1:26 CSB

the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

See they didn’t understand in their day all of this, but Paul and John and those who were those early Christians were able to see and understand those mysteries, because Christ had come and these things were revealed to them.

It’s says look, Jesus is coming back, everyone will see Him, and everyone who rejects Him is going to mourn or wail over Him, because for those that reject Him it’s over, there is no do-over -

John 3:36 CSB

The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

God’s justice prevails.

all of this leads up to verse 8,

d. The Father’s Pronouncement. v. 8

Revelation 1:8 CSB

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

I am the beginning and the end. I always was, always am, and always will be.

God is eternal, everlasting, and almighty - you cannot run from Him. You cannot escape His love if you have chosen to be in a relationship with Him, and you cannot escape His justice if you have chosen not to be in relationship with Him.

Nothing was before Him, and nothing will outlast Him.

Ancient historian Suetonuis writes of emperor Domitian that he “became an object of terror and hatred to all, but he was overthrown at last by a conspiracy of his friends and favorite freedmen, to which his wife was also privy.”

Domitian tried to take titles that were meant for God and Jesus - Lord and God. But no matter how successful he was in his short time on earth, God has the victory - because God always was, is, and will be.

Domitian lived by worldly standards, had everything, and tried to make himself god. Some of us know people like that. But he lost it all, betrayed by his friends and his wife.

Jesus, by worldly standards had nothing and lost everything when He voluntarily laid down His life for His friends.

John 15:13 -

John 15:13 CSB

No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus gained everything in doing so, vindicated by His Father, who raised Him from the dead by the power of the Spirit and gave him the name that is above every name.

Philippians 2:9 -

Philippians 2:9 CSB

For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

GOD REVEALS HIMSELF SO THAT THOSE WHO KNOW HIM ARE BLESSED AND WILL PRAISE HIM REGARDLESS OF THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES.

So no matter the persecution, no matter what others think or say or do to us, we have a God, who cares enough to show us we are blessed and that we are His. He’s got a plan for us, and he’s prepared a place for us, and He has made a way for us to be free from the penalty for sin and the bonds of sin.

Today, let’s praise Him regardless of our circumstances, regardless of the ailments of this world, regardless of the politics, regardless of all the world has going on right now, let’s just praise the Lord.

prayer