1. Trinity (verses 4-5a)
2. Doxology (verses 5b-6)
3. Visibility (verse 7)
4. Sovereignty (verse 8)

Last week, we began our exposition of the book of Revelation. And if you remember, I spoke about how Revelation is written in the style of Apocalyptic literature. This is something, (that in general), we are not so familiar with. Apocalyptic literature is intended to lift the veil between heaven and earth, to reveal the mysterious reality of the spiritual world. with visits to heaven, and with strange visions of the future. One of the key things that I spoke about was that apocalyptic literature works about like our political cartoons.

I showed you some last week. I want to show you a few more this week. just to ingrain in you the idea that the image described in the Scripture, is indeed what John sees, but is not reality. For instance, in this cartoon, we have a panda bear sitting on a bamboo tree that is beginning to break under his weight? If you notice, the panda bear has a worried look on his face. What does this mean?

We have a hint, if we know that in political cartoons, often, panda bears represent China. So, something in China is wrong. This is apocalyptic literature. There is a picture that we see, but we may not quite understand everything. but we know enough to reason that something in China is wrong. something in China is nearing the breaking point. It could be any number of things. It could be the one-child policy. It could be the stability of the government. It could be the peace with North Korea. It could be the sovereignty of Taiwan.

But with a label, all becomes clear. This cartoon represents the worrisome trajectory of the Chinese economy. It’s in danger, and may break. That’s the meaning of the picture. It simply expresses a concern for the economy of China.

Let’s try another one.

Here we see some birds on a telephone wire. Five of the birds are staring at the sixth bird with a mean glare. The five are also doves, holding olive branches in their beaks, a clear sign that they are seeking peace. But the bird on the right looks like a mean, dark vulture, not interested in peace.

Now, without any other information, you could guess what this means, maybe it’s some schools in the NCAA trying to make peace with the dollars of a television networks. maybe it’s a coalition of congress seeking peace, but not getting it because of some opponent. maybe it’s some parents wanting to bring peace to the schools, but being turned away by the school board. It could mean any number of things. but the idea is the same. Some are seeking peace, but one isn’t.

When we put that labels on the picture, it all becomes clear. We are talking peace in the Middle East. According to the political cartoon, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, are all seeking peace in the Middle East, but Palestine is having none of it. Now, whether it’s true or not, that’s the opinion of the cartoonist. and that’s what the picture means.

Note again, how the picture is clear. but the meaning is difficult, without some help. OK, one last one.

Consider the picture of a large tree with three large branches. But top branch has a chainsaw in its grasp. It appears as if the top branch has lopped off the lower two branches with the chainsaw. What possibly could this mean? Now, I’m sure if you had some time, and enough imagination, you might come up with something. But I don’t think that it’s so obvious.

And just to teach you about Revelation, I’m not going to give you any labels to this picture. I know that the labels are. I know the meaning of this picture. If you knew the labels, you would quickly understand. Apart from me sharing with you the labels, I think that you would have a very difficult time figuring out what this means. But that’s how apocalyptic literature works.

That’s the way that the book of Revelation works. There is so much mystery in the ways of God, that we won’t know what every picture means. Oh, the picture will be clear, it’s a tree with three branches. one of the branches cuts off the other two. But the meaning isn’t clear. and apart from me telling you, I don’t think that you will know what it means. And you need to be content with this. There are many things in the book that will be unclear to us. and I’m not going to use my imagination and pretend that I know what they all mean. God knows what every image means. But I don’t. And I will leave it to the mysteries of God. and I will pray that you will be content with this.

I labor again this morning to put this sort of category in your mind, of how apocalyptic literature works. Because, apart from it, you will go astray in the book of Revelation. Furthermore, you need to be OK with unanswered questions, that’s why I’m not telling you what this political cartoon represents, because we don’t have all of the answers, and we need to be at peace with this.
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Now, having said all of that, let me say that not all of Revelation is apocalyptic literature. There are some portions of Revelation that read like epistles, like letters that Paul wrote. Straight-forward and to the point. And that’s what we will look at this morning. So, you can open in your Bible to the book of Revelation. And turn with me to chapter 1. The title of my message this morning is “The Greetings of the Revelation.”

You can see the greeting right there in verse 4.

Revelation 1:4
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,

This is a typical way that people in the first century would write their letters. They would identify their name. They would identify the recipients. They would give a brief greeting. We see the name, John. We see the recipients of this letter, “the seven churches that are in Asia.” We see the greeting, “Grace to you and peace.”

Today, we don’t do things this way. Our typical letter is different. We begin with the recipients of the letter. We then have the body of the letter. We finish with our name. We write, "To whom it may concern:” Then, we follow it up with the body of the letter. Then we finish with the author, “Sincerely Steve Brandon.” But that’s not how they did it in the days of the New Testament. In the New Testament, it was Author, Recipient, Greetings.

Consider Paul’s letters. I looked at every single one of his letters, and he followed this same form, every time. Paul, ...to all those in Rome. ... Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1, 7). Paul, ... to the church of God that is in Corinth. ... Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:1-3).

Paul, to the churches of Galatia, Grace to you (Galatians 1:1-3). Paul, to Timothy, Grace to you. Paul, to Titus, Grace to you. Paul, to Philemon, Grace to you. Every time, this is how Paul opens a letter. Now, it’s not that these are the only words that Paul said. Often, Paul used other words in the greeting to fill it out a bit, and to prepare the recipients for what he would write in the letter. setting it up.

That’s exactly what John does here. He sets up the entire book of Revelation in his greeting, by centering his greeting upon God! Just listen to his words,

Revelation 1:4-8
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 kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us 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. 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. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Now, next week (when we get to verse 9), we will talk about the author, John, who will describe who he is and how this Revelation appeared to him. When we come to chapters 2 and 3, we will talk about the recipients of this letter, the seven churches. But today, we will focus upon the greeting.

By way of outline this morning, I have four words that will (hopefully) give you a sense of what John is saying here. Here’s my first word:

1. Trinity (verses 4-5a)

In the first part of the greetings, we see John mention the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. First, look at his description of God, the Father.

Revelation 1:4
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come

This is a description of God. When God revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush, he made known his name to Moses. Moses essentially asked him, “What is your name?” And God said, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14). God is the God of “being.”

John expresses it perfectly here: “He is he was he is to come!” John will use this designation of God again. We will see it again in verse 8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” This is what the four living creatures say before the throne, Revelation 4:8 day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

There never was a time when God wasn’t. There will never be a time when God won’t be. He is the everlasting now!

Then, in verse 4, John moves on to speak about the Spirit.

Revelation 1:4
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

Welcome to apocalyptic literature. If we don’t understand apocalyptic, we might take this literally: the Trinity actually consists of nine members. the Father, the Son, and the Seven Spirits of God. This would deny all the rest of the Bible, that sees God as a Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Most commentators see that this description of the Holy Spirit perhaps representing his wholeness. George Elden Ladd simply says that John is describing “the Holy Spirit in his sevenfold fullness.”^[1] We will see the Spirit mentioned this way in future chapters of Revelation (3:1; 4:5; 5:6).

If you know your Old Testament, you may be drawn back to Zechariah, chapter 4, in which Zechariah sees a vision of a golden lampstand, with seven lamps on it. When Zechariah asks the angel what this means, he says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). showing forth the work of the Spirit, with seven lamps on the single lampstand. and here we have seven spirits before the throne of God.

OK, let’s move on in John’s greeting. We have seen the Father, "who is and who was and who is to come." We have seen the Spirit, "the seven spirits who are before his throne." And now, we see the Son. He is described with these words:

Revelation 1:5a
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

We see Jesus described in three ways. First, Jesus is “the faithful witness.” This is a messianic reference. It comes from Psalm 89, which talks about the promise of God to David, that his throne would endure forever. We read in Psalm 89:36 of how David’s offspring “shall endure forever.” just like the sun and the moon, which are “faithful witnesses in the skies” (Psalm 89:37), so also will the enduring offspring of David, be a faithful witness to the promises of God!

Second, Jesus is the “firstborn of the dead.” This doesn’t mean that Jesus was the first one who was raised from the dead. Elijah raised a few people from the dead, as did Jesus. No, “firstborn” is the place of prominence. Again, we can turn to Psalm 89, which speaks of the one who will fulfill the Davidic covenant. We read in Psalm 89:27, “I will make him the firstborn.” This took place through the resurrection, when God set Jesus on the throne, according to Psalm 2:6-7. Rightly is Jesus called, “the firstborn of the dead.”

Third, we see Jesus described as “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (verse 5). Again, this is a reference to Psalm 89. Listen to the rest of verse 27, Psalm 89:27 I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. It was promised of the Messiah that he would be above all earthly kings! That’s the promise that we see here in verse 5, describing Jesus as “the ruler of the kings of the earth.”

And so, right here in the opening greeting of Revelation, we see the primacy and supremacy of Jesus. Remember last week, how I said that the Revelation is about Jesus. and amidst all of our questions about when and how the return of Christ will take place. we must not miss the prominence of Jesus! And John, is right here bringing Jesus to the forefront! We see this, especially, in our second point:

2. Doxology (verses 5b-6)

“Doxology” means “praise.” And that’s what John does in verses 5 and 6. And it’s all praise to Jesus.

Revelation 1:5b-6
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 1:6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This is praise to Jesus. “to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (verse 6).

Jesus is praised for the gospel! “To him who loves us.” This is the beginning of the gospel. God’s love toward us is what stirred him to act. as John wrote in one of his epistles, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Jesus is to be praised, because he loved us first. He loved us when we were in our sin. He loved us enough to come and die for us! And that’s how Jesus “Freed us from our sins.” He does so “by his blood.” And that’s exactly why John gives praise to Jesus,

Revelation 1:5b
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

How can you be freed from your sin? Confess your sin! Turn to Jesus. Trust in him! Believe in him! Believe that his work on the cross was sufficient to pay the penalty for your sins. And follow after the Lord. As John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“Believe in the name of the Son of God that you may have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Are you free this morning? Have you trusted in Christ? Have you experienced the freedom of being released from the punishment that your sins deserve? Of are your sins an ever-present bondage

If we would work our way through the entire book of Revelation, and miss this, and miss the forgiveness that is ours in Christ Jesus. then we miss the meaning of the book!

Revelation is all about Jesus. It’s all about him coming to rescue us from this present evil age. And that’s why we long for Jesus to come. That’s why we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

Verse 6 gives us reason to desiring the return of Christ.

Revelation 1:6
[To him who] ... made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

What an amazing statement! Jesus Christ has made us a kingdom and priests!

Now again, if you know your Bible, you will hear Exodus 19 language in these words. This is the language that God used before he gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 19:3-6
“Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God’s intent for the people of Israel, from the foundation of the law, was to make a kingdom from them a “kingdom of priests.” Through the giving of the law, God would teach Israel what is priest was and what a priest was to do! A priest was to be holy, and come near to God! The only way that you can have a kingdom of priests, is if they all have access to God. This can only be done when the veil of access has been lifted, which was done in Christ!

This was God’s aim. He wants a kingdom of Priests! That’s what Jesus did through his blood. That's why Jesus is worthy of our praise! We will see this in chapter 5.

Revelation 5:9-10
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

That’s why Jesus is worthy of our doxology to him, because he is making us into a kingdom of priests! OK, let’s move on to our third word.

3. Visibility (verse 7)

Revelation 1:7
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.

These verses describe the coming of Jesus. He will come such that everyone on the planet will know that Jesus has arrived on the scene! This is how Jesus described his coming.

Matthew 24:29-31
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

There are those who believe that Jesus is going to come in secret. He’s going to secretly come and rapture his people from the earth, and nobody will understand what happened. Perhaps you have seen it on the screen, or heard it described. That people are carrying on with their daily lives, and then, POOF! they are going to be gone! In an instance, all believers from this earth will be removed. And the unbelieving of this world are confused, when a bunch of people on the planet simply go missing. We should feel sorry for those in the plane, which is being flown by a Christian, because, in an instant, the pilot will be gone! and everyone on the plane will plunge to their deaths.

I don’t believe this. I don’t believe this because John describes the return of Jesus, just like Jesus did, a very visible event! "Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him." Jesus said, "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."

Again, if you know your Bibles, and Old Testament reference is screaming to you at this moment. Daniel 7, which describes the son of man coming on the clouds.

Daniel 7:13-14
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

This is what Revelation is describing! Revelation is describing the coming kingdom of Jesus, when he comes for all to see, when he comes to take rulership over the entire earth, when he squashes all rebellion through his judgement, and when he redeems all those who have trusted in him!

On that day, when Jesus returns, there will be much joy! This is why I am urging you in this series on Revelation to have this passion that longs for Jesus to return, praying "Come, Lord Jesus." Because, when Jesus returns, he will come as your friend.

Think about the illustration of Rahab, the prostitute who welcomed the two spies from Israel. Rahab made a pact with them, that she would hang a scarlet cord out her window, so that when Israel attacked Jericho where she lived, that they would save her and her family (see Joshua 2). So, when Rahab is there at her window watching the armies of Israel march around Jericho, was she scared? What about when the walls fell down and the people of Israel came to route the city? Certainly, there was some fear in her as her city was being overrun, but there also was some joy in anticipation that she and her family would be saved from destruction. Everyone in the city would be in utter terror, except for her, as she knew that he had a promise that she would be saved from destruction.

This is the idea of praying, "Come, Lord Jesus." Your salvation is far more secure than the promise that Rahab received. She received it from men, but you have received it from God. If you are trusting in Christ, you will be OK when he comes. This is nothing to fear. To be sure, he will wipe out all of your enemies, but you, as a believer in Jesus, will be safe.

Yet, there will also be sorrow. There will be sorrow from those who have rebelled against him! We read in verse 7, "all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen." Again, if you know your Old Testament, you will feel the allusions here to Zechariah 12:10.

Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Zechariah is talking about the unbelieving Jews, who put Jesus to death. There will be a day when their eyes are opened and they realize their guilt! They will realize that they have crucified their Messiah. They will mourn for their sin! According to Romans 11, there will be massive revival in Israel during those days.

Verse 7 expands the mourning to “all the tribes of the earth.” And this mourning here in verse 7 isn’t the mourning of repentance. It’s the mourning of coming judgment. It's the wailing on account of the destruction that awaits.

One of the things that we will see further in Revelation with the judgments of the seals, trumpets and bowls is the continue hardness of heart of those facing the wrath of God. With the sixth seal, men would rather die than repent (Revelation 6:16-17). With the sixth trumpet, we see those who were saved from dying in the plague sill not repent of the works of their hands (Revelation 9:20-21). And with the fourth and fifth bowl being poured out upon people, they maintained their defiance against the Lord, cursing him, but not repenting (Revelation 16:9-11).

This is the wailing that will come at the time of the return of Christ. But such will not be the case of those trusting in Jesus. For us, the return of Christ will be a day of victory and vindication! We will be safe and secure.

Often, when Revelation is taught, it brings fear upon others, as they are anxious of the difficult things that they may face. Next week we will look at John's life at the time of his writing. He was being persecuted "on account of the word of God" (Revelation 1:9). He was going through a difficult time. John was writing to a persecuted people, seeking to comfort them. John wasn't writing to scare people.

If you get done with Revelation and are scared, then you have missed the whole book. You ought to finish Revelation with a measure of relief, that you can rest and trust in Jesus, praying, "Come, Lord Jesus."

OK, my last point this morning.

4. Sovereignty (verse 8)

Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Again, this is apocalyptic literature. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter. God isn't saying, "I am letters!" God isn’t made up of two giant letters. But surely, you can embrace what God is saying here. He is the Alpha, the beginning. He is the Omega, the end. And he is everything in between. He is the sovereign one!

That’s merely another way of saying that the Lord “is and was and is to come.” God says, "I always am." He will bury every king. He was before every nation. He will be sovereign in the future.

Did you notice here how God is described in verse 8? He is “the Lord God.” That is, the "master" God. The "God who is in control" God. He is “the Almighty.” God is the strong one. God is the mighty one. Both of these are descriptions of sovereignty.

One of the things that is notable here in the greetings of of the Revelation is that John begins with a statement of the sovereignty of God (verse 4). And he ends with a similar statement of the sovereignty of God (verse 8). He begins and ends by stating, "He is and was and is to come." Often in Biblical interpretation, what you begin with and end with is the most important thing of the passage.

John has begun his Revelation with a great view of God! It must be important! The New City Catechism says it well. Question #2, "What is God?" Answer #2, "God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will."^[2] That’s the point in verse 8. It is all under God's control. It isn't as if the world is run amok and out of God's control. God has it all in his arms.

Of further note is that John ends the entire book of Revelation with a similar affirmation of the sovereignty of God. John began in chapter 1 and verse 8 with this declaration, "I am the Alpha and the Omega." And we find a similar statement in the last chapter of the book of Revelation.

Consider Revelation 22:12-13. In that verse, we read what Jesus says.

Revelation 22:12-13
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Here we see the Trinity (my first point). God says in Revelation 1:8, "I am the Alpha and the Omega." Jesus says the same thing in Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega." The only way that both God, the Father, and Jesus can say this is if they are one and the same. You cannot have two beings both claiming to be alpha and omega. This is only explained in the Trinity, with one God and three persons.

Now, since this phrase, "I am the Alpha and the Omega" appears both in the beginning and in the end of the book of Revelation, it surely has a prominent place in the interpretation of the book of Revelation. We must remember that God is sovereign and in control.

The beast may shake his fist at God. Babylon may think that they are so strong and mighty. But we read in Revelation 18:19, "In a single hour she has been laid waste." That's how long it takes God to wipe out the most powerful kingdom on the planet. When God wants to judge, he will judge.

The picture of Revelation isn't that God is battling with the devil on equal terms. No, Satan is stirring and warring, but God is over him. It's like a parent's power and authority over a three-month old. Such a child might rage and cry and fuss over some selfish desire. But the parent holds all the power over the child. So also God has this.

The world in his control. This is the God of history. It’s no accident that history is His-Story! That’s what Revelation is about. Yes it’s future. But it’s also history. Because it is His-Story. This is what the book of Revelation is about. It's about the sovereignty of God being exerted over the whole world. We must keep this in mind throughout our study of Revelation.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on April 23, 2023 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1972), 24.

[2] http://newcitycatechism.com.