Last time we looked at Revelation 1:1-6. We saw both the gospel that undergirds the book of Revelation, and that Revelation helps to fill out what Christ has yet to do. Furthermore, we saw that Revelation is a book for believers to hear and keep in light of Christ’s gospel. The standard that we are to strive for (by God’s grace) is no less than perfection. No lesser standard will do. Everything about who Christ is and what He has done for us points to that. We will see in the coming parts how the description of Christ in Revelation 1:7-20 coincides with that message, and how that is directed towards the seven churches (which also represent the multifaceted nature of the church). Today, we will be covering verses 7-11.
Revelation 1:7-8 says this about Christ’s second coming,
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
For starters, saying that Christ “is coming with the clouds” points to His deity (Ex. 19:9; 33:9; Dan. 7:13-14; Isa. 14:14), glory (Ex. 16:10; 24:16; 40:34-38), and wrath (Ez. 30:3; Lam. 2:1; Nah. 1:3; Ps. 97:2). The effect that it has on people is great trembling, being good news for those who are in Christ, but swift destruction for those outside of Him. For God’s glory and justice to descend upon the wicked is for them to be judged and destroyed: justice being carried out according to the standard of God’s own perfect glory. For God’s glory and justice to descend upon true believers is their salvation and being in the presence of their loving God.
The fact that when Christ returns, “every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him,” shows a deep transcendence in Christ’s return: there will be no one, even the dead, who can avoid seeing Him. No one, despite all efforts, can avoid the Christ who is coming in the clouds to judge the living and the dead. He will be coming to judge and damn the wicked, and to save the righteous. All talk or musing about whether or not Christ has come is done away with, when we understand that all—even the dead—will see His return, and that this return in the clouds of judgement and salvation will invariably cause all to tremble before the magnificence of His glory. All will either be saved or destroyed. This event is impossible for any human being to miss, from the beginning of creation until His return. Every tribe and nation will tremble and wail before Him, with a completeness surpassing even God’s descent on Mount Sinai.
“Even so, Amen,” means, in essence, “even though Christ is coming in force in the clouds for judgement and salvation, come Lord Jesus! May it truly be so!” “Amen” means “may it be so.” Sometimes God is even called the Great “Amen,” meaning that He alone has finality on all things; He is sovereign over all and determines how all things come to pass.
The response of the “Lord God” saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” (the beginning and the end) . . . “who is and who was and who is to come” (the eternal God) serves as an irrevocable stamp of God not only declaring who He is, but using His very name to guarantee that all of these things will surely come to pass. We see many times in the Old Testament, God using His name as a stamp, affirming that a thing will certainly come to pass (Leviticus 18 is a good example of this usage). God is not arbitrarily introducing His name, but putting the full force of His deity behind the prophecy of Christ’s second coming and all the details contained therein written by the Apostle John.
With the stamp of God’s very deity and name, John introduces His message from God for the seven churches:
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea (Rev. 1:9-11).
Notice, first of all, that part and parcel of being a Christian is being a “partner in the tribulation.” This was not some future tribulation, but was present in John’s time, and being shared by all Christ’s Church. By definition, if we are a part of Christ’s Church, then we will be a partner with the apostles in the tribulation that we face in this world. Jesus said of this tribulation,
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me (John 15:18-21).
We are tied to Christ and His name. The significance of this connection will also be brought out further in later parts of this devotional. Because we come in Jesus’ name, it is inevitable that we will face tribulation and suffering in this life. Our role is to partner with one another as believers in Christ’s name in the tribulation that we face in the world today. We are to face the present tribulation head-on, and together as full partners in the Faith. If we lack this tribulation, then that calls for us to do some serious reflection on our faith and how that faith is lived out. For all true believers, we are guaranteed tribulation and suffering. The only way out of this tribulation in this life is for us to deny Christ and His gospel, and therefore engage in compromise with the world. Yet, as Christ said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). There is no neutral ground, and the way is narrow that leads to life. Few will find it. The common compromise of many in the Western churches (and even the world) betrays a lack of partnership in the tribulation of our time—tribulation that is happening at all times and in all places, and not somewhere merely beyond us. We would so often want the easy way out, or simply go along with cultural conventions and mores. In fact, there are some senses in which apparent or possible prosperity produces the most potent temptation to compromise, but we must be vigilant and recognize the enemy in this! Either we are partners in the tribulation happening to all the saints, or we are no saints.
True believers are also partners together “in the kingdom” (verse 9). This refers to our status as full citizens of God’s kingdom, and all the duties and privileges that come with that status. To be partners in God’s kingdom is for us to be full partakers in the means and ends of that kingdom. In other words, our supreme allegiance is only to Christ’s kingdom, with anything contrary to that allegiance being betrayal or abandoning our duty to our King. We are not citizens of our countries or relational ties first, but citizens of God’s kingdom, which then defines how we are to respond to the kingdoms and ties of this world. Furthermore, being partners and citizens in God’s kingdom means that we are to be characterized by God’s statutes and laws—becoming like Christ—and not by the mores, values, and laws of this land. Yes, we follow the laws of this present land, but only as far as it serves the Lord and His kingdom. As partners in God’s kingdom, we have a higher allegiance. Therefore, the culture, mores, and values of the Bible is what determines our own, and all else is to be run through that filter (never the other way around). This means continually fighting against compromise, and working diligently to subject ourselves to the ways of God’s kingdom—ways that are comprehensive, touching every aspect and value in our lives. God supplies all the grace that we need for this.
This segues well into our partnership in “the patient endurance that are in Jesus” (verse 9). True believers not only partner in the present tribulation and in God’s kingdom, but they learn to do so with the patient endurance that comes supplied to us in Christ. All of our life experiences are given to us by God to help produce this endurance. This endurance is based upon the sure hope that we have in Christ, as we look forward to the consummation of the kingdom that we can call our own, and to our being perfectly fitted for that kingdom so that we can serve our Lord forever. This “hope” is not the kind that we often refer to today, such as “I hope that this works out,” or “I hope that I can have that,” but is something guaranteed for us that will certainly happen in the future. That is biblical hope, and what we hold tightly to as we face trials and tribulations of every kind.
So, God powerfully commissioned John to give His message to the saints: those partnering with him in tribulation, for the kingdom, and with growing endurance found in Christ. In the rest of the passage, God’s heavenly servants are now commanding what has been sanctioned by God’s name to be given to the churches.
Next time we will be looking at the magnificence of Christ, and how He relates to His church in all His glory.