Free Bible Commentary
“Revelation 1:4-8”
Categories: Revelation“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, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, 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, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
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The Apostle John wrote this letter to seven churches in “Asia” which constitutes the western part of modern day Turkey (verse 4). While he wrote to literal congregations experiencing very real problems and challenges, the number seven is a carefully selected, symbolically rich indicator of that which is “perfect” or “complete” or “whole”. There were at least three other churches of Christ in Asia Minor at the time of John’s Apocalypse which were located in the cities of Troas (Acts 20:5), Colossae (Colossians 1:2), and Hieropolis, but John chose “seven” particular congregations to represent the Lord’s church as whole.
John extended greetings of “grace” and “peace” to his audience from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Grace is God’s undeserved spiritual blessings and favor bestowed upon His covenant people, and peace is the harmony with God and serenity of mind that ensues upon receiving God’s grace. God the Father is the great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14) “who is and who was and who is to come.” There is only one Holy Spirit, but the term “seven Spirits” indicates the perfection of His work in Creation (Genesis 1:1-2), Comfort (John 14:16) and disclosure of Truth (John 16:13). Jesus is “the Christ,” the “anointed” One who came to die for the sins of the world.
John calls Jesus “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (verse 5). Jesus is here depicted as Prophet (witness), Priest (firstborn from the dead after sacrificing Himself), and King (ruler of the kings of the earth). As the faithful “witness” (“martus” in the Greek) Jesus is also the original “martyr” of our faith, having lived perfectly and faithfully, and having been killed unjustly and brutally—the innocent for the blameworthy who deserved it. But, the grave had no power over Him who became “the firstborn of the dead.” The Lord himself had risen others from their deathbeds (Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son and Lazarus), but Jesus is the first to arise from death to never die again. He arose victoriously over Satan’s domain of death as the supreme “ruler of the kings of the earth.”
Jesus lived for us, died for us and arose for us for the simple reason that He “loves us”. “The depth of the love can be measured by the greatness of the gift (John 13:34)” (Harkrider). The only way we could be “released” from “our sins” that kept us enslaved by Satan, spiritually dead and separated from our Creator, was for Jesus to redeem us “by His blood”. Having been loosed from the bondage of sin through Christ’s sacrificial blood and our obedience, Jesus, in turn, brought us into His “kingdom” to reign with Him and made us “priests” to serve and sacrifice with Him (verse 6). John and all his brethren in Christ were already in the kingdom of God (verses 6 and 9) which Christ established on the first Pentecost following His resurrection, and were serving God as priests having no need of the intercessory work of a separate, human priesthood (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:5, 9).
Quoting Homer Hailey from his Nevada Publications commentary on “The Book of Revelation” about verse 7: “‘He cometh with the clouds’ points to His coming to judge and execute. Although this passage includes His second coming (cf. Acts 1:10-11) and the great judgment of that hour, it also includes the idea of His coming on clouds in all judgments before that great event. The idea of coming on clouds or a cloud was also used to describe Jehovah’s coming against Egypt (Isa. 19:1; Ezek. 30:3; 23:7) and the judgment against His own people (Ezek. 34:12). Jesus promised that He would come ‘on the clouds of heaven’ in judgment against Jerusalem (Matt. 24:24-30; Mark 13:24-30). So now He would come against the Romans, and ultimately He will come to judge all. He said repeatedly, ‘I come quickly’ (2:16; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20), indicating that at a time ripe for judgment He will come to judge the forces of evil and to defend His own people (14:14-20). The expression ‘He cometh with the clouds’ points to the final coming and judgment but also includes all His comings against His enemies before that time, for all judgment has been given unto the Son (John 5:22).”
When Jesus returns, “every eye will see Him.” He did not and will not return to this earth invisibly and secretly as some religious groups claim that He has or will. He will also not mysteriously and invisibly whisk His faithful followers away to heaven for seven years while the people on earth experience an ordeal of “Great Tribulation”. Jesus will return in “a cloud” in the same manner in which the Apostles saw Him ascend from the earth (Acts 1:9-11). “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) “The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
When Jesus returns for Final Judgment, every eye will see Him, every ear will hear Him, every righteous, obedient soul will be taken home to glory, and every ignorant, disobedient rebel will be condemned for eternity. The only matter of eternal consequence is whether we choose to faithfully serve “the Alpha and the Omega,” the One “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (verse 8). Notice please that the Lord Jesus possesses the same perfect, powerful, eternal attributes as the Almighty Father (verse 17). Equal and all praise, glory and honor be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Please read Revelation 1:9-11 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
-Louie Taylor
