Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Revelation - Chapter 1:4-6


Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Grace and peace to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come.“  John imparts a greeting to the churches from God Himself.  He is today, He was before, and He is coming again.  How encouraging this has to be in all of our understanding.  We must be lifted in our spirit when we are able to read this and repeat it to ourselves.  He always has been and He lives today and He will be our Lord forever.  He loved us before we were, He loves us today and He loves us forever more.  You were precious to Him before you were born, you are just as important to Him today as you will ever be (it does not matter where you are or what you have done) and you will always be the His most prized creation.  He is, and was and is to come.

It is important to discuss the importance of the number seven as this is used many times in the coming texts.  When the number seven is used in the Bible, it is a reference to completeness.  It does not always represent perfection.  Sometimes completeness is perfection, but not always.  In particular, seven refers to God’s covenant and work in Israel.  A few examples.  The Sabbath and worship are all connected to the seventh day.  Jericho was circled seven times; Naaman had to dip in the Jordan River seven times; there were seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Joseph’s time in Egypt; Nebuchadnezzar was insane for seven years, there are seven beatitudes in the New Testament; there are seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer; there are seven parables in Matthew 13; seven loaves fed the multitude; Jesus spoke seven times from the cross; and in the book of Revelation the number seven cannot be considered accidental.

The greeting is also “from the seven spirits before His throne.”  The seven spirits are also mentioned in Revelation 3:1; 4:5; and 5:6.  The seven spirits are not specifically identified, at least in clear language.  This verse mentions that the seven spirits are before God's throne.  3:1 indicates that Jesus Christ "holds" the seven spirits of God; 4:5 links the seven spirits of God with seven burning lamps that are before God's throne; and 5:6 identifies the seven spirits with the "seven eyes" of the Lamb and states that they are "sent out into all the earth."  The interpretation that seems the most relevant is that the seven spirits of God are symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  As mentioned above, the Bible, and especially the book of Revelation, uses the number seven and it refers to completion and perfections.  If that is the meaning of the “seven” in the "seven spirits," then it is not referring to seven different spirits of God, but rather the complete and perfect Holy Spirit.  This greeting then becomes the only one in the New Testament that imparts grace and peace to the reader from God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and from the Son Jesus the Christ and this seems fitting when applied to the revelation to come.

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,  and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”  This is the 3rd person of the greeting and He has seven aspects to Him.  He is:
  1. The faithful witness   
  2. The firstborn from the dead  
  3. The ruler of the kings of the earth  
  4. Him who loves us  
  5. Him who freed us from our sins by His blood  
  6. Him who made us to be kingdom and priests to serve His God and His Father  
  7. Him who receives the glory and power forever and ever
Jesus is the complete and perfect sacrifice for our sins and He loved us so much that He shed His blood and was raised from the dead so that we might be able to be free from our sin.  He lifts us up from destitution so that we can be a kingdom, a church of peculiar people, who serve Him and represent Him.

No comments: