Jesus Is Coming!

⁴ This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before His throne; ⁵ and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the Ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us. ⁶ He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God, His Father. All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen. ⁷ Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see Him— even those who pierced Him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for Him. Yes! Amen! ⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Revelation 1:4-8 (NLT)

The book of Revelation unveils some of the future events that will occur in the life of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1). God the Father permitted His Son Jesus Christ to reveal these future events through to His servant John in a vision; and then an angel was sent from heaven to explain the vision’s meaning (Revelation 1:1). In turn, John was to make this unveiling of truth known to the Church for moral and spiritual formation. To understand what is involved in a visionary experience, one may consider the Prophet Ezekiel’s vision of a valley full of dry bones from the Old Testament (see Ezekiel 37:1-4). Also, the Acts of the Apostles from the New Testament reports various instances of visionary experiences (see Acts 9:10; Acts 10:11; Acts 16:9; Acts 18:9; Acts 22:17; Acts 27:23).

John wrote the vision down—the words of God and Jesus Christ and everything he heard and saw (Revelation 1:2). The source of the Revelation is God, who speaks this truth through His Son Jesus Christ and He shows to God’s people things that are about to happen. Revelation is apocalyptic literature. Christian apocalyptic literature is mainly Jewish apocalyptic literature as they discuss God’s coming Kingdom. Both Christian and Jewish apocalyptic literature comfort God’s people, encourage them to remain faithful to God and assure that God is fully in control of the world and all world events. History is not a random sequence of unrelated events but a divinely decreed ordering by the true and living God.

Scholars note that apocalyptic literature is constantly “telescoping time.” Apocalyptic literature looks into the future through a telescope and sees the nearness of God’s coming Kingdom. Telescoping time does not invalidate John’s visionary work. John sees God’s Kingdom with clarity, but he merely misjudges the distance because of telescoping. One day, Jesus will return when the prophecy will all come true (Revelation 1:3).

The immediate recipients of John’s prophecy were to the seven churches in Asia Minor, which is modern day western Turkey (Revelation 1:4). Seven is a number symbolizing completeness; therefore, these seven churches are representative of the Church. In his letter, John greeted the churches with the source of grace and peace. All grace and peace come from the Godhead (Trinity) – the eternal God who is, and was, and is to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness who reveals all truth to God’s faithful people (Revelation 1:4-5; see also John 3:32-33; John 18:37). John writes to assure God’s faithful people that the Godhead – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is ever-present with them.

Moreover, John reminds the churches that Jesus Christ was the first to rise from death to die no more and the Ruler of all the kings of the world (Revelation 1:5; see also Colossians 1:18; Revelation 19:16). The churches must give all glory and praise to Jesus Christ because He loves us and graciously freed us from our sins by shedding His sacrificial blood for us (Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:9-14; see also Philippians 2:10-11). Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ (Revelation 7:10; see also John 3:16). Furthermore, Jesus Christ has made all faithful believers in Him a Kingdom of priests for God, His Father (Revelation 1:6; see also Revelation 5:10). At Mount Sinai, God promised that if the emerging Jewish nation would obey His voice and keep His commandments, He would make them a “kingdom of priest and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6; see also Isaiah 61:6). The early church understood itself to be in a genuine succession of Israel and thus the inheritors of all the blessings promised to Israel (see 1 Peter 2:5, 9-10). Corporately, the church is a Kingdom with Jesus Christ as Ruler and individually as priests. Therefore, all glory and power belong to Jesus Christ forever and ever (Revelation 1:6). Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, the Son of Man, Lion of Judah, the Revealer, and Word of God.

The focus and theme of Revelation is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the definitive establishment of God’s Kingdom at the end times. The book of Revelation promises that Jesus Christ will come again surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see Him, even those who pierced Him (Revelation 1:7; see also Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:69; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). John said that the nations would weep in sorrow and terror when Jesus comes! In reporting his visionary experiences, John uses various symbols, visions, and metaphorical language to describe Jesus Christ’s return and God’s Kingdom. Ultimately, John sees believers’ hopes fulfilled with Jesus Christ’s glorious return, God’s establishment of His Kingdom, and the final judgment of all sin. 

Based on Jesus Christ’s coming, the structure of Revelation involves a series of three seven-part judgments (see Revelation chapters 6 through 7; Revelation chapters 8 through 9, and Revelation chapter 16). Each judgment is parallel, yet ever progressing. Chapters 6 through 19 of Revelation are the most complicated, confusing, and the largest sections of the book. Most people avoid chapters 6 through 19 because of the sections' bloody, violent, and bizarre scenes of three judgments.

However, this middle section of Revelation repeatedly brings before the reader, but in climatic form, the struggle of God’s people but their victory over evil through the sovereign power and judgment of Almighty God and Jesus Christ (Revelation 6:15-17). Starting with chapter 6, Jesus as the Lamb breaks seven seals and judgment breakout on the earth. The judgments of Revelation are similar to the plagues sent to Egypt from the Old Testament book of Exodus. Even more, this middle section includes three interludes separating the judgment scenes – Revelation 7:1-17, Revelation 10:1-11:14, and then Revelation 14:6-20. In the interludes, John addresses faithful believers and brings comfort to God’s people during the time of judgment. Some scholars interpret these three sets of judgments from chapters 6 through 19 in a sequential fashion. However, most biblical scholars view these judgments as a recapitulation of the same judgment in three different vantage points. Essentially, each judgment retells the same story again but with a different emphasis or detail. Thus, most scholars believe John retells the same story with these three set of judgments in chapters 6 through 19 not as three sets of chronological judgments but the same judgment with three different vantage points.

Then in Revelation 1:8, the Lord God spoke to John and said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega . . . who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8, NIV). The true and living God is eternally existent, without beginning or end; and He is the sovereign Lord over the universe. We must love the Lord God with all our hearts, with all our soul, with all our mind, and all our strength (Matthew 22:37; see also Deuteronomy 6:5-6). In the book of Revelation, God speaks at the very beginning (Revelation 1:8) and the end of the book (see Revelation 21:5-6). Interestingly, John speaks about God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit interchangeably and without distinction throughout Revelation (see e.g., Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13).

References

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008).

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008).

Loyd, Melton, Ph.D., Senior Professor of New Testament (Due West, SC: Erskine Theological Seminary, 2016).

Metzger, Bruce. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993).

Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998).