Revelation 1:4-8--Greeting to the Seven Churches

Revelation 1:4-8
English Standard Version

Greeting to the Seven Churches
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.”

---

We have more introductory remarks in this passage as Jesus and John greet the Seven Churches.  These are actual churches that actually needed to receive these messages, but I think the number seven here has some significance as it represents the entirety of something holy (the image is used of the Golden Lampstand from the Tabernacle and Temple that had "seven lamps"--this is mistranslated in many versions as "seven lampstands," but it is a clear references to the Golden Lampstand from the Tabernacle.  Jesus is our High Priest who walks among the Golden Lampstand and tends to its lamps (keeps the oil--the Holy Spirit--filled and keeps the wicks trimmed so that the Lampstand always provides light both day and night).

I mentioned that the number seven has to do with holiness, so the sevenfold Spirt (not seven different spirits) is the Holy Spirit.  You'll see the Holy Spirit described in seven different ways in the book of Revelation, but they are all the same Holy Spirit.  It is the Spirit that is at work within the Seven Churches (which represent the entirety of the Church past, present and future as you'll see when we get to Jesus' messages to the Seven Churches).

These passages tells us that this message comes from all three persons of the Trinity.  The one who was and is and is to come (the I AM) is the Father, and Jesus, the Son, and the sevenfold Spirt, the Holy Spirit.  We focus in on Jesus who is the faithful witness (Jesus being Faithful and True is something that will be repeated in the book of Revelation, so this theme is being introduced here).  He is Firstborn of many brethren from among the dead--this is not to say that He was the first to ever be resurrected, but that He is preeminent and best among these and it is true that all others who will conquer death do so through the power of His Resurrection, even if they are Old Testament saints who are awaiting His return who only hoped for the Resurrection that is coming.

By His blood we have been freed from our sins (we'll see Jesus not only as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world).  We cannot understand the book of Revelation without understand that it is the conclusion of the story of redemption that started back in the Garden--as soon as Man fell, God promised to send a particular Descendant that was called "the seed of the woman" to crush the head of the serpent (Satan) and his kingdom.  The promise to make us a kingdom of priests comes as a direct fulfillment of God's purpose for the nation of Israel in Exodus 19 which they were unwilling and unable to fulfill because they knew their sin separated them from Him and would cause His holiness to lash out against them--they knew they could not draw near to Him as He desired.  So, Jesus came to deal with the issue of sin that separated us from God and the barrier between His priests and His presence has been removed.

Then there is an allusion to Daniel 7 (which Jesus referred to during His trial in front of the High Priest).  He is the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and authority to establish His Kingdom, and He will reign forever and ever.  However, John continues to see Him as the one who was sacrificed for our sins.  We'll see that when we come with Him in the end, we will be clothed in pure white, but His robes will be dipped in blood--yes, this is something warriors back then did, but I think this also shows us that He will always be seen by the Father and by us, the Church, for the sacrifice that He made.  Because of His blood we are white and pure, spotless and without blemish, but we will look at Him and see that He was the one beaten and pierced for us.  It will be a sight that will cause all the peoples of the earth past, present, and future to wail when they see what He went through for them (and the punishment that they deserved which He took upon Himself).

Then Jesus speaks to John saying, "I AM the Alpha and Omega," the Beginning and the End.  The one who was and is and is to come (that is why I capitalized I AM because He is pointing back to God's covenant name when He spoke to Moses from the burning bush).  Jesus is the Creator who spoke everything into existence, He is the Sustainer, and He is the Righteous Judge and Conquering King that will bring an end to all wickedness and will destroy all His enemies and will make all things perfect once more, never to be corrupted by sin or death ever again.