Grace and Peace from the Trinity. (Revelation 1:4-8)
FOCUS: Revelation. • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction.
Introduction.
We find the “salutation” of this prophetic book in front of us. We saw the last couple of weeks John’s introduction, purpose, and naming of the book of Revelation. Now knowing that John is writing about us seeing the unveiling of Christ in all of His glory, he begins the book of this prophecy with a salutation.
Often, when we writing letters, we state who they are from at the end. Typically we begin them with “dear so and so”. Followed by the body of the letter, and the ended with signing our name, indicating who wrote.
In the first century, they began with who wrote the letter; and they would immediately follow it up with who they are writing to (1 Peter 1:1 ; 2 Timothy 1:1, 2).
We that take place similarly here:
Who wrote it: John (Rev. 1:4). This is the second time John says his name in 4 verses.
Who is it writing too: the 7 Churches in Asia.
Asia is the Roman Province of Asia, rather than what we know typically as Asia today. Sometimes you will hear it called “Asia Minor”.
It is the region of Modern day Turkey, north of Israel along the north shore of the Mediterranean.
The Trinitarian Greeting.
The Trinitarian Greeting.
Following John’s introduction, he leads with somewhat of a greeting from the Triune God-head. Not only is there a greeting from John, but there is a greeting from each person of the trinity, confirming the prophecy that John was about to give. In this greeting there is “Grace and peace” offered from each person of the Trinity.
This seems to accompany the “blessed”-ness that accompanies the Reader, hearer, and doer of Revelation 1:3.
Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”
Seemingly “Grace and Peace” are part of the accompanying blessings that come from obeying what is said in this book.
“Grace”: We all understand this as God’s favor placed on us as undeserving sinners.
There is also an “empowering” grace, to live in this present time as we face the difficulty of being a believer in today’s society.
Remember what John came from on the island of Patmos. Remember what the Christians were facing in the first century.
They needed help and encouragement to face the onslaught of the persecution that they were facing.
“Peace” is another blessing from God that we are given, both with Him (Romans 5:1) and with each other as believers (Ephesians 2:14ff).
What God does not promise is peace with the sinful world.
Christ seems to promise the opposite actually: John 15:18, 19.
the Apostle Paul the same: 2 Timothy 3:12, 13.
We have had relative peace here in the west on the persecution front. We do see, however, the cultural pressures coming down the pipeline.
The blessing of the book of the Revelation, then, is seeing that our Triune God knows, and that Christ is the all-powerful King of kings, who is imminent to be revealed as the Crown-ness of the Universe.
As we finished the benediction today, that is what we are going to see.
God the Father (Rev. 1:5b).
He is seen as the God “who is, who was, and who is to come”.
This points to the attribute of God know as His “eternity”.
Ryrie: “The attribute of eternity means that God exists endlessly. His existence extends endlessly backward and forward (from our viewpoint of time) without any interruption or limitation caused by succession of events.”
God cannot cease to exist, and therefore has sovereign control over all events.
This gives “grace and peace” because we can rest assured that God is not limited by the events we have faced, that we are facing, or that we will face in the future.
He is bringing all things together for His glory in the Kingdom of His Son: Ephesians 1:9, 10.
He is working all things together for our greatest good, which is His greatest glory: Romans 8:28-30.
God the Holy Spirit (Rev. 1:5c).
The Holy Spirit is seen as the “seven Spirits” here.
We’ll see that the numbers place a huge role in the book of Revelation. What we find out here is that the number 7 in the number of completeness or fullness.
The Holy Spirit is seen in the book of Isaiah and Zechariah as a Spirit with 7 ministries.
Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Zechariah 4:1-10.
The Holy Spirit is the enabler of Grace and producer of peace in the heart of the true believer.
Ephesians 1:13, 14. Grace.
Hebrews 10:29.
Galatians 5:22. Peace
John 14:26, 27.
God the Son (Revelation 1:6-8).
It seems right that John would wait to address how the Son of God gives grace and peace to Christians, as the rest of the book unveils Him in all His glory.
“The faithful witness”—Jesus faithfully declared and showed to us the will of God the Father. He did not fail in His witness.
John 1:14-18.
Hebrews 1:1-4.
Had Jesus not faithfully showed us the grace and truth of salvation we would never have know it!
“the firstborn of the dead”—while Jesus was not the first person to be raised from the dead, He is the “highest ranking” one to be raised from the dead.
He never died again, therefore all those who trust in Him have died, and live with Him!
Galatians 2:20.
1 Corinthians 15:55-58.
He is the highest ranking King, who reigns forevermore: Psalm 89:27-29.
“the ruler of the kings of the earth”—Christ is sovereign over all the Earth, even now. We look forward to His return, and when He sets up His visible kingdom from Jerusalem, but He reigns even now.
Psalm 2:6-12.
Retribution is promised to all nations who do not bow to King Jesus.
Daniel 2:19-23. This is seen throughout history.
Daniel 2:26-43.
This gives great peace as we can trust the Lord with the affairs of this world.
“Loves us and released us from our sins by His blood”—How can we not see the beloved grace and mercy from Christ in this statement?
Genesis 3:15. The Seed.
Revelation 22:1-5. The Lamb.
Christ gives us grace and peace because He rules over the Kingdom that is not of this world.
John 18:36.
Philippians 3:20-21.
1 Peter 1:1.
“Priests”—in this Kingdom we have direct access to God, through Christ.
This idea of priests is an ongoing theme in Revelation.
Revelation 5:10.
Revelation 20:6.
The Imminent Return of Christ. (Rev. 1:7, 8).
The nature of His return (not rapture) is in all unmistakable power (v. 7).
Throughout Biblical History, God’s presence on Earth has been accompanied by a cloud.
Exodus 19:18; 24:16-18.
Christ’s return will be the same.
Daniel 7:13.
Matthew 24:29-31.
Revelation 6:12-17.
The seeming reason why all people will be able to see the Lord’s return is because it is a sign in the heavens, and it is full of terrible demonstrations of power.
The world will mourn over the returning Lord.
We see in Revelation 6:16, that the world mourns, but not unto repentance.
Their mourning is a mourning because they got caught in their sin: 2 Corinthians 7:6-10.
God’s people Israel will mourn and repent and be saved.
Zechariah 12:10.
Romans 11:25-27.
John says, “Let it be...”
That is what “Amen” means, “so be it” or “let it be done”, because he is ready to see his Lord!
The Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8).
This points to back to the verses about the 2nd Coming, putting God’s signature, saying that it is going to happen!
God calling Himself the Alpha and Omega proves that it is going to happen.
These are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet.
this then points to the omniscience of God, because it means he is the beginning and ending of all knowledge. He is not caught by surprise in the affairs of the world.
We then see Him cap off this account again by bringing up His eternity again. “Who was, who is, who is to come.”