Rev 1:4-8 Repent Jesus is Coming
Notes
Transcript
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
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.”
The passage we’re going to study today’s main point is that Jesus loves us, He freed us from sin and made us priests. Therefore, we must live in accordance with who we are in Christ.
If your sin is exposed are you going to justify or are you going to repent and turn to Jesus?
The book of Revelation urges us over and over to repent and to see reality the way God sees it. John started this letter by saying that this is a revelation of Jesus Christ and blessed are the ones who read, hear, and keep what is written in it. Then in v 4 through 8 we have 4 main things:
1. John’s greeting (4, 5a)
2. Doxology to Jesus (1:5b, 6)
3. Jesus is coming (1:7),
4. Pronouncement from the Father (1:8)
John addresses “the seven churches that are in Asia” (1:4; cf. 1:11; 2–3). These are not the only seven churches in the province of Asia, but they are representative of all the churches in Asia. By the location of the churches we can see as well that this letter had a circular route, indicating that this letter was addressed to all the churches.
Image of map of 7 churches
This section in verses 4–8 stars and ends with this phrase to the one “who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4, 8). The first of these comes when John writes in verse 4, “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.” The one “who is and who was and who is to come” is God the Father. In v8 shows us clearly that this is a reference here to God the Father, the Almighty.
1. John’s Greeting (v4, 5a)
Before John mentions Jesus, John says “and from the seven spirits who are before his throne (1:4). Here is the first difficult phrase to understand in the book of Revelation. ½ of the commentators say that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit, because of the placement of the phrase between Father and the Son. 2/3 of the commentators say that this is a reference to seven archangels who stand before God’s throne. The remaining commentators say that they are not sure if it is a reference to the Holy Spirit or Archangels.
After studying I’m leaning towards believing that this is a reference to seven archangels who stand before God’s throne. Especially because the only other three times the seven spirits are mentioned in Revelation 3:1; 4:5; and 5:6 seems more difficult to interpret as the Holy Spirit. There is also an early Jewish tradition that make reference to seven archangels that stand before God’s throne.
However, either way, John continues in v 5 by saying “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.”
John identifies Jesus in three ways in 1:5, Jesus is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. Jesus is, first, “the faithful witness.” John has identified himself as one who “bore witness” (1:2, cf. 1:9), and other Christians in the book of Revelation who are described as witnesses are, like Jesus, slain—Antipas in chapter 2 verse 13, the two witnesses in 11:3, 7, and those on whose blood the harlot was drunk in 17:6. Jesus is “the faithful witness,” and his people follow him by faithfully bearing witness even to death.
The second way in which Jesus is identified in 1:5 is as “the firstborn of the dead.” This phrase points to the way that Jesus has pioneered the resurrection from the dead. He is the first whose resurrection is not merely the resuscitation of bodily life. When Jesus rose, he rose in a glorified body. Revelation 20:4 indicates that those who are faithful unto death like he was will be raised from the dead like he was. The third description of Jesus in 1:5 is that he is “the ruler of kings on earth.” However powerful any president or king or any other ruler might be, they all answer to Jesus. He will call them to account. Jesus is the King. There is a day coming soon when every knee will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord. Some will joyfully bow and confess others will do it sorrowfully.
John continues focusing on Jesus in the rest of v5 and 6 when he says
“5b 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”
2. Doxology to Jesus (v5b, 6)
In the middle of verse 5 John begins a doxology that will carry through verse 6. This doxology is addressed to Jesus, and John summarizes what Jesus has done for his people in three statements: Jesus loves us, freed us from our sin, and made us priests; then in response to these three things he ascribes glory to Jesus.
John starts the doxology with “To him who loves us” (1:5b). This is the first thing Jesus has done for his people. Notice that this statement is made in the present tense. Jesus loves his people. While we were still his enemies He died for us.
Jesus’ love for his people led him to lay down his life, and what Jesus accomplished by laying down his life is identified in the final words of verse 5: “and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” This is the second thing Jesus has done for his people. The blood of Jesus frees us from our sins in the sense that his death cancels our obligation to pay the penalty of our sins to the Father. Those who sin deserve to die. Death is separation from God. Jesus died that death so that his people could be reconciled to God and live. Jesus’ death was a penal, substitutionary atonement.
The word penal points to the fact that he paid the penalty. The word substitutionary means he died in place of his people as their substitute. The word atonement means that his death reconciled men to God.
Not only does his blood free us from the penalty of our sins, it also frees us from slavery to sin, which is elaborated upon in the next phrase. After stating at the end of verse 5 that Jesus “has freed us from our sins by his blood,” John states the third thing Jesus has done for his people: “and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (1:6). The statement that he “made us a kingdom” points to the fact that we now belong to King Jesus. Our obligation is no longer to the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of this age, Satan. Jesus made us His kingdom. We are his people. The blood of Jesus frees people from lust, greed, pride, anger, and every other enslaving sin. The blood of Jesus breaks the power of canceled sin. The kingdom of Jesus cannot be overcome by any worldly power. God made us a priestly kingdom, He is preparing us to serve Him for eternity
The next phrase in 1:6, “priests to his God and Father,” points to two things Christians do. First, Christians serve and worship God. Second, building on what John says in Revelation about Christians bearing witness to Jesus, our status as “priests” means that we mediate the knowledge of God to others. We proclaim the saving good news. We announce that God has put Jesus forward as a sacrifice of propitiation to be received in faith (Romans 3:25). This good news means that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).
John names these three things Jesus has done for his people in 1:5, 6, then responds to these things at the end of verse 6: “to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” We see here the pattern of all worship: God reveals himself, and his people respond with the praise due him. Glory and dominion belong to Jesus because 1) he “loves us,” 2) he “freed us from our sins by his blood,” and 3) he made us a kingdom and priests. He made the kingdom; so dominion over that kingdom belongs to him. He loves and frees; so those loved and freed give him glory. He gives us crowns and we bow down and cast our crowns at his feet praising Him.
What if your life will be exposed? Everything that is secret and in the darkness, every thought, word and deed. Will all these things show that Jesus is your Savior and the Lord of your life? Will your bank account, your internet browsing history, your neighbor’s dog, your phone be a testimony that you are living as if Jesus is your King and Lord?
Are you living like a priest, worshiping God and helping others know God? Does your life announce that glory belongs to Jesus? Are you being the light of Christ to those around you?
Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. However, our fruits will show what kind of tree we are. The difference between a true follower of Christ and the world is that the Christian repents, and repents. The closer we are to God the more we will realize how unclean we are, how much we need Him. How great is His grace to forgive us, to love us and to adopt us. The more we will realize that we don’t deserve Him.
Christ has cleansed us and called us to be a light to the world, we must be holy and fight temptations in Christ’s strength, we must urge all men to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus. Because Jesus is coming.
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.
3. Jesus is coming (v7)
In this verse John has masterfully brought together two statements that comprise major features of the Old Testament’s teaching on the coming Messiah. The first statement, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds,” picks up the Old Testament’s indications of a conquering Messiah by quoting Daniel 7:13. Daniel 7 portrays the Messiah’s receiving an everlasting kingdom, and this was the accepted messianic expectation in Jesus’ day.
The part that was not accepted is articulated in the next phrases of 1:7 in the words, “and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.” Here John quotes Zechariah 12:10 in order to put the idea of a suffering Messiah side by side with the idea of a conquering and ruling Messiah. This part of the Old Testament’s messianic proclamation seems to have been overlooked in Jesus’ day, and it seems from some things that Paul wrote that the dying and rising Messiah was a “mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Colossians 1:26).
Many Jews no doubt rejected Jesus precisely because they believed that the crucifixion proved he was not the Messiah, but John quotes these two texts in order to prove that what happened with Jesus is exactly what was predicted in the Old Testament. John proclaims that those who rejected him “will wail on account of him,” but John announces this in the hope that some will repent in response to this announcement of Jesus’ coming. You can be sure that he will come.
There is a day coming when Jesus will come in the clouds and everyone will see Him. This is when Jesus comes as the conquering King with His angels in glory and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him.
Jesus said in Matt 24:30
“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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”
The world thinks that this is foolishness and refuses to repent while there is still time. But God the Father says in v 8
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
4. Pronouncement from the Father (1:8)
The words of the Father in verse 8 function as a solemn verification of what John has written to this point in the letter. The revelation of Jesus (1:1), the testimony of John (1:2), the blessing on those who read, hear, and keep this prophecy (1:3), John’s wish of grace and peace for the churches (1:4), the doxology to Jesus (1:5, 6), and the warning of the coming of Jesus (1:7) are all attested to by the one who has always been and will always be.
The fact that he is “the Alpha and the Omega” means that he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, and this is explicitly reiterated when he identifies himself as the one “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (1:8). God is always and eternal, everlasting and almighty, and there is no escaping him. By giving his solemn self-attestation to what John has written, the Father is verifying its truthfulness. Nothing has been overlooked or unexamined by him. Nothing was before him, and nothing will outlast him.
God’s Word the Bible is certain the prophecies will be completely fulfilled, His word is inerrant, infallible, authoritative, reliable, totally true and trustworthy.