Revelation 1:5b-8
I. REVIEW
• Last time we saw the 3 authors of the book; The Trinity is the sender:
- God The Father: “…Him who is and who was and who is to come” (1:8)
- God The Holy Spirit: “the seven Spirits who are before His throne” (Is. 11:2;Rev. 4:5 y 5:6)
- God The Son: “Jesus Christ” the promised Messiah (Mt. 16:16)
• We saw 3 titles of Jesus:
1. The Faithful Witness: Jesus testifies faithfully about all the things John is.saying in this book (John 12:49)
- The Firstborn from the Dead: (Col. 1:18)
- The Ruler over the kings of the Earth: (Psalm 89:27)
II. Greeting: 3 things Jesus has done for us:
1.“To Him who [always] loved us” John has been called the apostle of love, and the first thing he emphasizes is precisely that Jesus loved us. In fact the foundation of all that God is going to say and do in this book is His deep love for us although many things may seem di cult to understand.
Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
In view of the following revelations of the judgments that will come upon humanity we must understand that God does all this because He loves the world.
Is. 26:9 “For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness,”
It is precisely His love that led Him to wash us from our sins…
2. “[He] washed us from our sins in His own blood” If Jesus had not shed His blood for us, we would be under the wrath and judgment of God.
Rom. 3:25 “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past.” (NLT).
The word “washed” in Greek (luo) has a broader meaning, it includes not only washing us but also getting rid of sin. This term means releasing a person who is bound; It is dissolving something or destroying it, and that’s what Jesus did when He shed His blood for us, removed the addictive and destructive e ect of sin. Some ancient manuscripts say: ‘he who washed us from the stain of our sins.”
3.“and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” Jesus has made us a kingdom (corporately) of priests (individually) and this is also what Revelation is all about; of how we are going to reign with Christ and minister as priests before God the Father. Jesus can and wants to give us the highest position we could ever have: to be kings and priests for God His Father.
Rev. 22:4-5 “ They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”
As Gentiles [non-Jews] we are; we do not realize how glorious this double function is. In the Old Testament the kingship and the priesthood could never be combined in a person but Jesus came to bring this new order into God’s Kingdom because He himself is King and Priest and has made us part of His reign.
Hebrews 7:1 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God…”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Our Heavenly Father takes us back to His original plan in Genesis, rule the earth and have full access to His presence.
Rev. 5:9-10 “…And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
After Jesus returns we will reign on earth during the Millennium and minister to the Father..
Rev 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand year.”
Is. 61:6 “But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast.”
4. “to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever” The minimal response that arises when receiving these truths and this plan of the Father and the Son, is to give them glory and recognize His empire and dominion forever saying…
• “Amen” Which is the answer that corresponds to all the truths and plans that are expressed in Revelation; is repeated 9 times in this book and means: ‘so be it’ The first ‘Amen’ in this portion is from John testifying the truth of these proclamations about Jesus (5:14; 7:12 19: 4; 22: 20] ‘The Amen’ is also a title of Christ.
Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.
III. THE THEME OF THE BOOK:
v.7 “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes [nations] of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen”
The subject of the book is the final victory of Jesus Christ over all enemies and the establishment of His earthly kingdom. This great text announces the climactic event in Revelation: the return of Jesus Christ to earth at His second coming (19: 11-16).
- “Behold” This term draws our attention to what is coming and indicates the divine intervention; It occurs 26 times in this book.
- “He is coming with clouds” Jesus will physically return to earth, in the same way that He ascended physically to heaven and this phrase refers to the glory of the Father with whom the Son comes and the army of His angels and His saints.Dn. 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven…”Mt 16:27 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
- “every eye will see Him” The coming of Jesus does not happen in a hidden place but it is a public and gradual procession in which He will travel the whole earth and everyone will have the opportunity to see Him.Ps. 68:24 y 33 “They have seen Your procession, O God, The procession of my God, my King… 33 To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old! Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice…”
- “even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him” This text talks about the reaction of Israel and all families or tribes of the earth when they see Jesus coming in heaven after everything they did with Him.Zechariah 12:10-14 “…then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem…. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself… 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves….”Mt. 24:30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
- “Even so, Amen” The second “amen” is from God the Father confirming the prophecy that John has just given with a solemn affirmation of His eternity and omnipotence:
v.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.”
The “alpha and omega” indicate God’s total control over all things, including time: past, present and future; He is faithful to His promises and predictions (v.21: 6, 22:13). That is what the four living beings that are around the Throne proclaim:
Rev 4:8 “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
God is the author and finisher of all things. He not only knows and regulates the events that will happen, but He is also powerful enough to make sure that what John prophesied will be perfectly fulfilled. His words about the future are safe. He is “Almighty” to make each and every one of His plans happen.
Isaías 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.”
Just as Moses in the first book of the Bible [Genesis] emphasizes that God is the Almighty; also in the last book of the Bible John the apostle recognizes the omnipotence of God [Revelation 1:17; 2:23; 21: 6; 22:16].
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- What response do you have to what Jesus will do for you and with you?
- What do you think Christ’s return to earth will be like?
- When you hear that God is the Almighty to fulfill all this, how do you feel? And how do you think you should live your life?
Other Sermons In This Series
Revelation 1:1
May 21, 2015
Revelation 1:4-8
April 19, 2018
Revelation 1:1-7
April 19, 2018