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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Revelation 1:4 - 1:8
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The prologue:
v. 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne,
v. 5. and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness and the First begotten of the dead and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
v. 6. and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His father: to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
v. 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.
v. 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
This paragraph strikes the keynote of the entire book, its sentences moving forward with majestic grandeur. This is evident even in the salutation: John to the seven congregations that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him that is and that was and that is coming, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the First-born of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. The effect of this greeting is overwhelming in its stateliness and beauty. John is addressing the seven congregations in the province of Asia, the seven principal stations where the Word of God had taken hold, congregations whose conditions permit us to form a picture of the circumstances of the Church of Christ until the end of time. The greeting comprises the summary of the Gospel: grace, the free favor and love which the sinner has in the message of redemption, through the mercy of the Father, through the atonement of the Son, through the sanctification of the Spirit: peace, the effect of grace, which follows the reconciliation of the sinner with God, Rom_5:1, the peace of God which passes all understanding. This is the blessing of Jehovah, of Him that is from everlasting to everlasting, that was before the mountains were brought forth, that is coming soon to judge the world in righteousness, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. When Christ comes for the final redemption of His own, to sit in judgment upon His enemies, He will reveal Himself as the One that was from the beginning, the same throughout the eternities. The great spiritual blessings are also from the seven Spirits before the throne of grace, from the sevenfold Spirit: the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge, of grace and prayer, of strength and of power, of sanctification and the fear of God, Isa_11:2. The blessings are transmitted through the office of Jesus Christ, who is a faithful Witness, a Witness to the truth of the Gospel, Joh_3:32; 1Pe_2:22. He sealed His message with His blood and death, but He also conquered death and rose as the First-born from the dead, 1Co_15:23. And now that He is exalted to the right hand of the divine power, He is the Prince of the rulers of the earth, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, Psa_2:1-12.
To this exalted Christ John now addresses a doxology: To Him that loved us and loosed us from our sins with His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen. The eternal love which Christ had in His heart for us has been shown by the most indubitable proof: He delivered, or loosed, us from our sins at the cost of His own life, by giving His blood as a ransom for us. Thereby He has brought us into a relationship with Him which includes glorious privileges. He has constituted us His kingdom, we are kings before Him, Exo_19:6. At the same time we are priests to God and His Father: we have the privilege of intimate access to God as the result of Christ's sacrificial death. We are a royal priesthood. a chosen generation, a peculiar people, 1Pe_2:9. All our enemies are conquered before us, and we are heirs of the everlasting kingdom of heaven. For this we give eternal praise, glory, and power to Him alone; that is our true priestly sacrifice.
The apostle now takes up the thought which was interrupted by the doxology: Behold, He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those that pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will howl over Him. Yea, Amen. The mind of the prophet is here carried forward to the great day when the majesty of the Lord will appear, the great Day of Judgment. With or on the clouds He will appear, Mat_26:64; Dan_7:13. The eyes of all men mill see Him as He comes to Judgment, and those that pierced His hands and feet and sides with nails and the lance, all the godless men of the whole earth to whom this sin is imputed by virtue of their unbelief, will behold Him returning as their Judge, for then it will be too late for repentance. All that the unbelievers can do and will do on that day will be to weep and howl because of Him, gibbering in helpless terror in anticipation of the horrible fate which they see before their eyes. That is the solemn, dreadful truth.
Now the Lord Himself is introduced as speaking: I am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, He that is and was and is coming, the Almighty. Alpha and Omega, as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are designations of the beginning and the end, and are fitly used of Him and by Him who is true God with the Father from eternity, Isa_41:4; Isa_44:6; Isa_45:12. Like the Father, Christ is from everlasting to everlasting, and He is the almighty God. No enemy is too mighty for Him, not even the hosts of Satan; all things are placed under His feet. That is the great comfort of the believers, the certain foundation upon which their faith rests.