Introduction
Open your Bible to Revelation 1. This book is not meant to be sealed up in confusion or fear, it is an unveiling. The very word “revelation” (Greek apokalypsis) means that what was hidden is now pulled back for us to see. And what is unveiled is not merely a timeline of end-times events; it is Jesus Christ Himself, His person, His people, and His plan.
As we continue where the study began, remember two anchors that help us read Revelation rightly. First, the events described will “take place shortly” (Revelation 1:1), not in the sense that they must happen immediately, but in the sense that when God’s appointed sequence begins, it will move with speed and gathering momentum toward its appointed conclusion. Second, Revelation communicates through signs and symbols, things John truly sees, but which Scripture itself teaches us how to interpret. Revelation is not “crazy” once you learn its language; its symbols are explained within Revelation or elsewhere in the Bible. God is unveiling, not re-hiding.
There is also a promised blessing attached to this book. Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.” The blessing is not for mere curiosity, but for receiving the Word, listening with faith, and keeping it, letting it shape real life because the season is pressing near.
Finally, Jesus provides an outline that governs how the whole book is to be understood: “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this” (Revelation 1:19). John will record (1) what he has just seen, Christ in glory; (2) “the things which are”, the message to the churches, for real congregations in John’s day and for the church through history; and (3) what takes place “after this”, the future events that follow.
With that foundation laid, we move into Revelation 1:4–9.
Module Content
John begins by addressing “the seven churches which are in Asia” (Revelation 1:4). The number seven matters throughout Revelation. It often signals fullness or completeness, not that individual things aren’t distinct, but that together they form a complete set. These seven churches are real congregations in real places, and yet they also speak to the whole sweep of the church’s life in history.
John’s greeting is tender and deeply theological: “Grace to you and peace” (Revelation 1:4). The order is not accidental. Grace comes first, because peace with God is never achieved by human effort; it is received through God’s gracious gift. As Scripture teaches elsewhere, we are saved by grace through faith, not by works (cf. Ephesians 2:8–9). Only after grace is received can peace truly be known.
Then John identifies the Source of this greeting. It comes “from Him who is and who was and who is to come” (Revelation 1:4). This is the language of God’s timeless self-existence. It deliberately calls back to the Lord’s words to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). God is not simply a being who travels from past to present to future like we do. He is the self-existent One, above time, in time, and beyond time. John’s wording presses us to reverence: God is not measured by our clocks.
John also says the greeting comes “from the seven Spirits who are before His throne” (Revelation 1:4). This can sound mysterious, but Scripture gives us the interpretive key. “Seven” points to fullness, and these “seven Spirits” are best understood as a sevenfold description of the Holy Spirit’s complete ministry and perfections, not seven different gods or a rearranged Trinity. Isaiah 11:1–2 supplies the cipher: the Spirit of the LORD, of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the LORD, a complete portrait of the Spirit’s fullness resting upon the Messiah.
Next, John centers everything in Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:5). He gives three titles that reveal who Jesus is:
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Jesus is “the faithful witness.” The word used points toward the idea of a martyr, a witness who remains true even to death. Jesus testified perfectly to the Father and sealed His witness in suffering and death. His faithfulness is not theoretical; it is proven.
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Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead” (Revelation 1:5). This phrase is sometimes twisted by cults to suggest Jesus is a created being, but that reading misses the point. “Firstborn” here is a title of preeminence and unique rank. It means Jesus is the first to pass through death, rise again, and never die again. Others were raised in Scripture, but they returned to death; Jesus rose to indestructible life. And the comfort is this: if He is the first, those who belong to Him follow after. His resurrection is the beginning of the harvest, and all who die in Christ will share in His life.
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Jesus is “the ruler over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5). Even before His kingdom is manifested in its full earthly display, He is already sovereign in reality and position. Earthly rulers may not acknowledge Him, but they do not escape His authority. His reign is not threatened by their resistance.
John then turns from who Christ is to what Christ has done for His people: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). The imagery of being washed in blood can sound unsettling if we picture it superficially. But spiritually it proclaims cleansing at the deepest level. Christ’s blood is not a symbol of grime; it is the price of redemption. His sacrifice removes the guilt of sin and makes the sinner truly clean before God. He does not merely improve us; He saves us from ourselves, and He takes away sin through His own life poured out.
And Christ’s work does not stop at forgiveness. John says Jesus “has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Revelation 1:6). In other words, believers are brought into a new standing, given dignity, belonging, and access. A priest stands before God on behalf of God’s people, drawing near by God’s provision; and here, through Jesus, His people are made a priestly people, welcomed into the presence of God, not as outsiders but as those set apart for Him.
Naturally, John breaks into worship: “To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:6). Revelation is not end-times trivia; it is doxology. Right theology about Jesus leads to adoration.
John then lifts our eyes to the certainty of Christ’s return: “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” (Revelation 1:7). The coming of Jesus will not be private or hidden. It will be public, universal, undeniable. Even those who rejected Him will confront the reality of who He is, and the world’s mourning will reveal that His appearing brings a decisive separation between rebellion and redemption.
Finally, the Lord speaks with unmistakable authority: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End… the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). History is not circular chaos; it is held by the One who stands at the first letter and the last letter, the origin and the conclusion. The One who “is and who was and who is to come” is not merely predicting the end, He governs it.
As we carry this forward, we are meant to feel the weight and comfort of it all: the Father’s timeless being, the Spirit’s perfect fullness, the Son’s faithful witness, cleansing blood, and sovereign rule, moving us toward the day when Christ is seen by every eye.
Closing Prayer
Father, as we open Your Word, we ask that it would open us. Let Your Word, living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, divide what is crooked in us from what is true in You. Give Your church ears to hear. Help us to see what You are showing and to receive what You are saying. Thank You for the grace that brings peace, for the cleansing blood of Jesus, and for the sure promise that He is coming. We praise You, Almighty God, Alpha and Omega, in Jesus’ name. Amen.