Revelation 1:2-8 | He Is Coming Again

Revelation 1:2-8 | He Is Coming Again

Revelation 1:2-8
He is Coming Again

I. Introduction

  1. Four methods of interpreting Revelation.
    1. Idealist – This view regards this book as simply allegories or fictional symbolism that communicates the idea that eventually God will triumph over evil.
    2. Preterist – This view sees the book of Revelation as a record of the conflicts of the early church against Judaism and Rome, with a final record of Christ’s victory.
    3. Historicist – They see everything that is recorded not as a future account of what will take place but as a history of what has taken place in the Church. They see revelation as being fulfilled.
    4. Futurist – This view sees the book of Revelation as a prophecy to be fulfilled in the last days of man’s history on earth.
  2. The book can be understood by looking into the Old Testament.
    1. It contains more than 500 allusions to the Old Testament; 278 of the 404 verses in Revelation (almost 70%) make some reference to the Old Testament.
  3. We believe in taking a consistent, literal, historical, and grammatical method to interpreting Scripture.
    1. This means we do not use allegory to avoid the literal conclusion to words like Israel, forever, one thousand years, and the throne of David.

II. vv. 2-3 A promise of blessing.

Revelation 1:2-3 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those[1]

  1. v. 2 John emphasizes that what he is about to share is what he truly saw!
  2. v. 3 Revelation promises a blessing to those who hear and obey this prophecy.

III. v. 4a A Revelation for the Church.

4John, to the seven churches which are in Asia

  1. This letter is addressed to seven churches in Asia.



  2. Seven is the number of completion.
    1. The number 7 is used 31 times in the book of Revelation.
  3. These churches in Asia are representative of much more than what was taking place in their fellowships.

IV. vv. 4b-5 A message from the Triune God.

Revelation 1:4-5 4 John, to the seven churches which 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 from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood

  1. John is the one who penned the letter, but the letter is from the Holy Trinity.
  2. Who is and who was and who is to come—God the Father.
    1. The idea is that of the eternal nature of God.
  3. The seven Spirits—God the Holy Spirit.
    1. From the seven Spirits who are before the throne.
    2. We are not to understand that there are seven Holy Spirits, but rather we are to see seven as symbolic of the fullness of the Spirit.
      1. Isaiah 11:2 is often used here, but the prophet only mentions six ministries of the Holy Spirit.
      2. One possibility is to see this as a reference to the lampstand with seven lamps in Zechariah 4:2-6.

        “The best approach seems to be identifying the background of the passage as Zech 4:2–6, where the prophet saw a solid gold lampstand boasting seven lamps. Zechariah inquired as to the meaning of the vision. After the usual humiliation suffered as a result of the angel’s evident astonishment at Zechariah’s ignorance, the prophet is informed that the vision is “the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”[2]
  4. God the Son.
    1. Faithful witness.
      1. Unto death (“martyr” is translated as “witness”).
      2. This reminder of the faithfulness of Jesus would have been particularly encouraging to those who were facing martyrdom themselves.
    2. Firstborn from the dead.
      1. Ancient Rabbis said that YHWH was the Firstborn of the World.
      2. Firstborn does not refer to chronology, but rather prominence.
      3. “That is, He was the first to be resurrected with a new body that is immortal and incorruptible, never to decay, deteriorate, or die. The term ‘first-begotten,’ or ‘firstborn’ (prōtotokos), also speaks of rulership.”[3]
      4. Although Jesus suffered martyrdom, He has risen from the dead.
    3. Ruler of the kings of the earth.
      1. His Kingdom is not of this world, yet we will see that when He returns, He will set up His Kingdom.
      2. This would have been especially comforting, seeing as how the kings of the earth were greatly harassing the believers who would receive this letter.

V. Explanation of how I will approach the book of Revelation as it relates to Christ’s future rule over the kings of the earth.

  1. Three views of the millennium.
  2. In the history of the Church, there have been three main views of God’s plans.
    1. Within each view, there are distinguishing factors.
    2. These three views are known today as premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism.
    3. These views each have their own interpretation about the timing and nature of the promise given in Revelation 20:1–3.

      1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
  3. Premillennialism
    1. Premillennialism is the view that expects the promises of a literal kingdom to be established upon the earth at the Second Coming of Christ.
    2. We believe that it will last for 1,000 years and will fulfill the many promises given to Israel that she will have a descendant of David to rule over them and usher in the glorious promises that were never realized by historical Israel.
    3. There is solid historical evidence that premillennialism was the view that was held for the first 250 years of the beginning of the Church.
    4. Dr. Whitby provides a historical summary: “‘The doctrine of the Millennium, or the reign of the saints on earth for a thousand years, is now rejected by all Roman Catholics, and by the greatest part of Protestants; and yet it passed among the best Christians, for two hundred and fifty years, for a tradition apostolical,’ noting it was held by fathers including ‘Papias (in Phrygia), Justin (in Palestine), Irenaeus (in Gaul), Nepos (in Egypt), Apollinaris, Methodius (in the West and South), Cyprian, Victorinus (in Germany), by Tertullian (in Africa), Lactantius (in Italy), and Severus, and by the Council of Nice’ (about A.D. 323).”[4]
    5. Premillennialism is a view that is the natural outcome of interpreting Scripture using the literal, historical, grammatical method consistently.
  4. Amillennialism
    1. Amillennialism teaches that the Kingdom will only be a spiritual rule of Christ, and this rule is presently in place.
    2. This view holds that this rule is presently taking place, and it will not take the form of a literal political kingdom upon earth.
    3. Grudem summarizes amillennialism, saying, “Those who are said to be reigning with Christ for the thousand years are Christians who have died and are already reigning with Christ in heaven. Christ’s reign in the millennium, according to this view, is not a bodily reign here on earth but rather the heavenly reign he spoke of when he said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’ (Matt. 28:18).”[5]
    4. Thus, amillennialism believes the 1,000-year rule of Christ to be a figure of speech that represents a long period of time, not a literal designated period.
    5. At the Second Coming of Christ, the Kingdom will come to an end, and the events of the future eternal state will then be fulfilled.
    6. Premillennialism was the orthodox view of the Church from the first to the third century.
      1. This view was displaced by the Amillennial view.
      2. The significant names in church history that changed this view are Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and Augustine.
      3. They believed in an allegorical method of interpreting Scripture.
      4. “The history of amillennialism is significant. It can be traced to the Church Fathers, and particularly the approaches to Scriptures of Origen and Clement of Alexandria, who believed that the Bible was to be interpreted allegorically, with the true meaning discovered beneath the surface. Augustine applied this especially to prophecy.”[6]
      5. “The Reformers abandoned the allegorical method of interpretation (characteristic of Roman Catholicism) in all areas but eschatology. Amillennialism is the prophetic viewpoint of the Catholic Church, and a non-literal millennium was also the prophetic viewpoint of the Protestant Reformers. The reason that many of the Reformers retained the amillennialism of Catholicism was due to the time in which they lived. They did embrace a grammatical-historical interpretation of the Scripture in regards to soteriology and ecclesiology. Since eschatology was not a major issue during the Reformation, the Reformers did not have the opportunity to apply their hermeneutic consistently.”[7]
      6. Amillennialism was the position of the Church from the fifth century through the seventeenth century, at which time postmillennialism began to be embraced.
  5. Postmillennialism
    1. The third view is known as postmillennialism.
    2. Postmillennialism states that Christ’s rule will be ushered in by the Church as she takes the gospel into the world. After establishing the kingdom upon earth, Jesus will return in His Second Coming.
      1. The notable feature of this view is that the Kingdom, “will not be established through the supernatural intervention of Christ into history at His Second Coming. Instead, it will be established through human effort…”[8] 
    3. This view thrived until the two World Wars gave man very little to be hopeful about.
      1. Rather than an optimistic view that the world was getting better, a living witness of war declared that man was evil, and he now had the potential to destroy himself like never before.
      2. According to Renald Showers, “The hopes of the world improving were dashed, and the postmillennial view was now being espoused by very few.”[9]
      3. This gave rise to a revival of premillennialism in its dispensational form towards the end of the nineteenth century.
  6. Calvary Chapel believes that dispensational premillennialism most faithfully interprets the teaching of Scripture.
    1. This view is faithful to a consistent, literal, historical, and grammatical method hermeneutic which is the method used to establish all other forms of theology.
    2. It honors the everlasting promises God made to Israel (Jer 31:35-36; Rom 11:1, 25–26).

      Jeremiah 31:35–36 35 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 36 “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.”

      Romans 11:1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

      Romans 11:25–26 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;”

    3. This view properly sees the Church made up of believing Jews and Gentiles in one body of believers. Yet this view still holds the promises of God to Israel to be alive and well to the nation.
    4. The Lord will return to this earth and establish His thousand-year literal reign upon the earth.
  7. Opponents love to point out that the pretribulation teaching was a new doctrine developed by John Darby around 1830.
    1. First, that is the wrong question. The question should be whether it is found in Scripture?
    2. Many who are glad to point out that pretribulationism was a late doctrine fail to inform others that covenantalism was also a late doctrine.
      1. Covenantalism is a system of interpreting Scripture that uses a dual hermeneutic of allegorical and literal.
      2. It rejects a pretrib or premill view, often associated with Reformed theology, and typically holds an amillennial view.
      3. Rather than a single establishment date, covenant theology crystallized as a formal theological system between the 1640s and 1680s through the combined contributions of Cocceius, Witsius, and the Westminster Assembly.
      4. Consider Geisler as he writes of this inconsistency, “… by the same token covenant theology, held by many who deny the pretribulationist and premillennial views, would be intrinsically false as well, since it didn’t develop until nearly sixteen hundred years after the time of Christ by Caspar O-lev-i-anus (O-lev-ee-anus) (1536–1587) and Johannes Coc-ceius (Cok-say-us) (1603–1669).”[10]
    3. So, the time between these two systems is only about 150-200 years.

VI. vv. 5b-6 Our great salvation.

Revelation 1:5-6 5 … To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

  1. v. 5 Loved by Jesus.
    1. The great story of Scripture is that God loves mankind.

      John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
  2. v. 5 Washed by Jesus.
    1. God’s love has been manifested in sending His Son to die upon the cross for our sins that we might be made clean.

      Colossians 2:14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
  3. v. 6 Made us kings and priests.
    1. This is not so much referencing our role during the millennium as what Peter spoke of.

      1 Peter 2:9-10 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

    2. We have been given a place of ministry to people, reconciling them back to God.
    3. We have been given a place of authority which will be realized in the Kingdom.
  4. v. 6b John declares that glory and dominion should be given to the Lord.
    1. Of Course, the Lord already possesses both, but we can join in acknowledgment that the Lord is deserving of both.
    2. To give God glory is to recognize how worthy and wonderful He is.
    3. To give God dominion is to invite His Lordship over our lives and all creation.
    4. The Lord already has both glory and dominion, but there are many who don’t. In this world today, many do not recognize the Lord as deserving of both.
      1. So, in this sense, John is anticipating the Lord’s establishing of His earthly Kingdom.

VII. vv. 7-8 The Second Coming.

Revelation 1:7-8 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

  1. Coming in the clouds and every eye shall see Him whom they have pierced.
  2. There will come a day when the nation of Israel and the whole world will realize their rejection of Jesus was the rejection of the God of the universe.
    1. Peter made it clear in Acts 2:22-23 that all are guilty of the piercing of Jesus Christ.
    2. Both Zechariah and Jesus refer to this event.

      Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

      Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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.
  3. It is at His second coming that the world will see the Lord’s glory and dominion.
    1. The book of Revelation gives us in detail what will happen seven years prior to Christ’s return.
    2. It details His return.
    3. It tells us of His Kingdom, He is coming to establish it upon earth.
    4. It closes by telling us of a new heaven and earth that will come down from heaven after Christ’s 1000-year reign upon planet earth with headquarters in Jerusalem.

VIII. Closing

  1. We should read this letter with the expectation that the future will be revealed to us.
  2. We should read knowing that these things can happen at any moment.
  3. We should read with the understanding that, no matter how bad things may get, we have the hope that Jesus will come again.
  4. We should rejoice that our sins have been washed.

[1] All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

[2] Paige Patterson, Revelation, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 39, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2012), 59.

[3] Ralph Harris, ed., Revelation, The Complete Biblical Library: Study Bible (World Library Press, 1989), 21.

[4] Daniel Whitby, A Paraphrase and Commentary on the New Testament, vol. 2, A Treatise of the True Millennium (London: W. Bowyer, 1703), 687.

[5] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 1110.

[6] Paul Karleen, The Handbook to Bible Study: With a Guide to the Scofield Study System (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 298.

[7] Ron Bigalke Jr., “The Revival of Futurist Interpretation Following the Reformation,” Journal of Dispensational Theology Volume 13 13, no. 38 (2009): 56.

[8] Ibid., 114.

[9] Renald Showers, There Really Is a Difference!: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology (Bellmawr, NJ: Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1990), 142–144.

[10] Ibid., 632.

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