The Book of Revelation, Chapter 1:1-6
The word revelation means to
The purpose of this book is to “show us the things which must shortly come to pass.”
• Shortly means soon, or imminent. Imminent means it could occur at any moment. According to John, those who give heed to the prophecies written in the book of Revelation will be
blessed. The blessing:
Verses 4-8 comprise the salutation. This book was written to 7 specific churches in Asia.
Vs. 4 This message of ‘grace and peace’ is from all three persons of the God-head.
It’s from God, who is referred to as “Him which is, and which was, and which is to come.” It’s from the Holy Spirit.
• The 7 Spirits that make up the personality of the Holy Spirit are listed in Is. 11:1-2.
• The Holy Spirit is:
The Spirit of the Lord
The Spirit of Wisdom
The Spirit of Understanding
The Spirit of Counsel
The Spirit of Might
The Spirit of Knowledge
The Spirit of the fear of the Lord
• It’s from Jesus Christ.
Verse 5 gives us a wonderful description of Jesus:
• He’s the faithful
• He’s referred to as the “faithful witness” because he was faithful in giving man a revelation of who God is, and what God is like.
• Jesus was also faithful unto death. Phil. 2:6-8
• He’s the first begotten of the dead.
• In other words, the first one raised from the dead, and given an immortal, glorified body. o Dead in this verse refers to spiritual death, not physical death.
• Jesus was the first person to ever spiritually die, and then become spiritually alive again.
• He’s the ruler over the kings of the earth.
• At His 2nd coming, Jesus will establish His rulership over all the kings of the earth,
continuing into, and throughout the Millennium, during which He’ll rule with a rod of iron as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The last part of verse 5 and into verse 6, John breaks out into spontaneous praise and worship, and in doing so, he gives us great insight into what Christ has done for us.
• Jesus has washed us from our sins, in his own blood.
• When we’re told that we’ve been washed from our sins, in His own blood…IT
MEANS…we’ve been washed from our sins, by His sacrificial death. Lev. 17:11 • We’ve been made kings and priests.
• As priests, we serve God.
• As kings, we rule with Christ on the earth, during the Millennium.
3/12/08
• What we rule over is determined by how
Rom. 1:7
1 Cor. 1:3
Is. 11:1-2
Heb. 1:3
John 14:8-11 John 5:19 Phil. 2:6-8 Rev. 20:12-14 Lev. 17:11 Matt. 25:20-28