More Comments on Revelation 1:1-8

The key words for this passage, and maybe even the entire book, are the first five: “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This could either mean that Jesus Christ is being revealed in this book, or it could mean that he’s the one doing the revealing. If you read what follows in the next couple verses closely, you’ll see that John means that Jesus is the one who reveals. He sent it to John by means of an angel. And at the end of verse 2, it’s called the testimony of Jesus. And that makes sense. As we talk about the revealing of hidden spiritual mysteries, that’s a major part of what Jesus Christ is about. He came into our world in order to show us what is beyond our world, and to give us the opportunity to experience it with him. He is the heavenly one who also became the earthly one. The only things we can know about God is what he chooses to reveal to us. While God does so in all sorts of ways (natural theology talks about seeing God through creation, Scripturalists refer to the Bible as God’s revelation), the fullest form of God’s self-revealing is through Jesus. It is through Jesus’ testimony that we know what we do about God.

Verse Five gives us three descriptions of who Jesus is.
1. THE FAITHFUL WITNESS: The Greek word for witness is martyr. If you’re going to testify, it may very well be at the expense of your life. In fact, the most faithful testimony that Jesus gave didn’t just lead to his death; it was his death!
2. THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD: In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes Jesus’ resurrection as the first-fruits of what is to come. His resurrection is one that all God’s people will share in, when our time (or the time) comes.
3. RULER OF KINGS: Philippians 2 predicts the time when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Psalm 2 describes the incredible power that God has over the kings of the earth who may try to break with him.

The second half of verse 5 and verse 6 tells us what the result of Jesus’ identity and action has been for all of us. First, it all starts with love. The very first commitment we can make about who our Lord is, what characterizes him, is love. Because of that love, he took something from us, and he gave something to us. What he took was our sin, the poison that kills our souls and destroys our world. Because of his love, he gives us the identity of a kingdom and of priests. We have an identity and a ruler. We are priests: those with direct access to God. And this is all possible because of his blood: the blood of his martyr-testimony.

When will all this happen? Verse 7 could make us think that it’s all in the future. Eventually, when Jesus returns, his promise will be fulfilled. But Verse 8 reminds us that Jesus holds the beginning and the ending—and everything in between—in his power. The distinction between future and present doesn’t really matter much to God. For him, that which is future is already present.