From Him
Revelation 1:4-8
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, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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.”
I have admitted that Revelation is not my favorite book of the Bible. Some people love it, and I may depend on some outside help for the upcoming devotionals. But there are some parts that speak to the awesome majesty of our God. And when you see John in heaven, don’t tell him that Revelation was not my favorite book.
In these verses today we see the majesty of God and of the Lord Jesus. We also see some of what Jesus did for us. I like how John describes God as Him who was and is and is to come. God existed from eternity past, in eternity present, and eternity future. Do not ask me to explain that. There are things that pertain to the spiritual realm that are way beyond my pay grade. Our minds really don’t grasp eternity yet.
And from Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead and ruler over the kings of the earth. To Jesus who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. That statement is worth meditating on. Loved and washed us from our sins. We are loved and cleansed from our sins with the price of blood. That’s love, and HIs love does not stop there.
He did not simply wash us and leave us; He made us kings and priests to His God and Father, who is also our God and Father. Some translations read a kingdom of priests, but I am partial to being a king. Peter does say that we are a royal priesthood, so any way we look at it, Jesus made us something we could not have done on our own.
And Jesus is coming with clouds, and everyone will see Him. And that will be a day. And when He does come, He will not come as the one who came to serve. When He comes on that day, He returns as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He will come and rule as the One who was and is and is to come, the Lord Almighty. And there will be no more mocking or treating Him as casual. On that day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
John saw a vision of Jesus in His glory and majesty and fell at His feet. This was John who leaned on Jesus at the last supper. John, who called himself the one Jesus loved. But in the vision, John saw Jesus in all His glory, the One who lives and was dead and is alive forevermore.
Amen and amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!