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Why Are Grace & Peace Even Possible? (Revelation 1:4-6)
GIST: We can experience grace and peace because of our incredible God who is worthy of ultimate praise.
Last week, we began what forecasts to be a deep dive into the book of Revelation (which is a fancy way of saying… this could take awhile). We only hit the first three verses and really tried to focus on what the text tells us to expect. This isn’t a riddle we need to debate. It’s a revealing of Jesus which is meant to both bless and warn us. Yes, it’s prophetic and does point to “end things”. Nonetheless, center-stage is Jesus. Therefore, instead of looking for specifics of when the world will end, we need to be asking what this prophecy shows us about Jesus.
In Brett Davis’ book See The Strange: The Gospel According to Revelation, he points out sometimes things become so familiar we overlook them. Even places and people we love become “everyday” until they’re cast in a different light. Revelation should serve to cast what maybe we should have already seen in a new light for us.
Today, I want to look at just the first part of the greeting (verses 4-6).
“4 John to the seven churches that 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 of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
I know this doesn’t feel very “revelationy” yet ☺️, but that’s why I wanted to make sure we established last week that Revelation is Scripture. We don’t need to approach it expecting it to just be “weird stuff”. We need to approach it expecting to see Jesus…even when there is weird stuff ☺️. We see Him here. Really, we could keep going, but there is plenty for us to talk about in these few. Here’s our gist for today: We can experience grace and peace because of our incredible God who is worthy of ultimate praise.
I. We Can Experience Grace And Peace
Before we talk about the who of these verses. I want to quickly look at the first what. John starts his greeting by offering grace and peace. Yes, I know this was a typical greeting at the time. However, it’s not just slapped in here. Remember, the first verses promised blessing for those who read it. This is precisely what this letter was offering its original audience: churches in the midst of persecution And, as we touched on last week, it’s what we’re being presented with as well. So, don’t miss these two words.
1. We Are Given Grace. Grace is undeserved favor. This is being treated better than we deserve. It’s the rescue we need from the sin we’re stuck in. And→
2. We Are Given Peace. Peace. Comfort. Tranquility. The original audience was enduring heavy persecution. Christians were being executed in throngs—and cruelly. They needed to be reminded there is a peace which transcends this world, so do we. Christians all over the world are still facing persecution. And all of us are living in an upside down world. I doubt many of you came in here today not wanting to experience more peace in your life.
Furthermore, we need peace because our hearts are at war. By nature, we hate God and love ourselves. We are His enemies, and He reconciles us to Himself. Hold on to that. I want to come back to it in just a minute ☺️.
Now, let’s break down who this greeting is addressing. Who is being offered this grace and peace?
“4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
7 Actual Churches. There are a few points to make sure we don’t miss here. First, the text addresses itself to the seven churches in Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey. These were actual churches located in fairly close proximity to one another. Likewise, they were churches John would have been familiar with because he actually served at the church of Ephesus (the first of the seven listed). Furthermore, he was writing from the island of Patmos, which was also not far from these local congregations. (Here's a picture from "the google" to put this in context.) Fairly quickly, we’ll move into a set of seven letters addressed to these churches. If you’ve heard sermons on these before, it is easy to look at them as just metaphors. However, though there are definitely broad applications from these churches, and I believe this is intentional, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact these were real people in real places really in need of this picture of Jesus.
We The Church (big C). The second point I want to address is a bit of an elephant in the room. If you’ve ever read Revelation before, you have undoubtedly noticed there are a lot of numbers used ☺️. Remember how we talked about the dangers of looking at this book primarily as a riddle? Well, these numbers are a hotbed for many a budding riddler ☺️. From this opening section, we are introduced to a number which will be repeated...a lot in the text: seven. In fact, I just checked because I was curious. The word occurs about 55 times in the book explicitly, and that is not counting all the times phrases are repeated seven times without actually saying the number. Needless to say, it happens a lot.
Why does that matter? You already know I am not advocating a "numerical code" reading of Revelation. As we addressed last time, looking at God's "revelation" primarily as a puzzle to be cracked is a misreading of the text. Nonetheless, to this original audience, some numbers were just symbolic, and John uses numbers to express big-picture ideas a lot. This is not a secret. It's just part of Jewish history. The number seven, in particular, symbolized completeness. This can be seen in the Old Testament. The best examples would be the seven days of creation and the Israelites walking around Jericho six days and then blowing trumpets on the seventh day causing the walls to come tumbling down.
It makes sense, then, that in Revelation, the number seven is a symbol of completeness, as well. In fact, look at how John continues to refer to the audience in this aside in verse 5-6. “...To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father...” This is a picture of all those rescued from their sins and completely transformed by this grace and peace. Guys, this includes us!
Before we go any further, I really do think it’s worth our time to camp out with this description for a second.
“loves us”. First, we see He loves us. This is grace. We have done absolutely nothing to merit this love. In fact, the opposite is true. We have rejected His love and guidance. And yet, He loves us anyway...present tense. Don't miss out on the significance of that tense. Not to get all English-teachery here, but this is not something He once did, but something He is currently doing. Not only did Jesus show us His love clearly at the cross, but He continues to love us just as passionately today. Remember that promise of grace ☺️.
“and has freed us from our sins by His blood”. Second, we are told He freed us by His blood. We are deserving of Hell. It is the natural consequence of our sin. But, He came, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, enduring Hell, for us. If we believe and give Him control of our lives, we will be saved. Amazing Grace! Now, this phrase is in past tense. That’s because everything that needed to happen to set you free has already been accomplished!
“6 and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father…” Let’s keep moving through. He offers us grace, and He brings us peace, not only through forgiveness but by making us His people. Guys, this is absolutely beautiful. His kingdom is our place of belonging. It is a spiritual kingdom--timeless, unhindered, and dedicated to God--experiencing life as He intended. It’s what we were made for. And the word priests, well in our protestant context that word tends to be loaded with baggage, but priests were honored members of Jewish societies because they went to God for the people. Don’t miss this. We, enemies by birth, are wrapped in His arms and made His representatives. That's grace. That's peace. And that’s what Jesus offers to you. Which segues nicely into our second point, which I will try to address quickly since that seems to have run a bit long ☺️. We can experience this grace and peace only→
II. Because Of Our Incredible God
“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 of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.”
Trinity? There is actually a really neat picture of the trinity here. First, we see→
1. God the Father: “from Him who is and who was and who is to come" While this can, of course, be applied to the whole trinity (because God is eternal...period). It echoes God's name for Himself in Exodus 3:14: "I am who I am". God is. He always has been.
2. The Holy Spirit: “and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,” This is actually one of the first debated passages in Revelation. Honestly, there are several ways people typically interpret who these seven spirits are. I do not want to come down dogmatically on this because there really isn’t a clear consensus on this one. However, given the context, it seems to me to be talking about the Holy Spirit. Remember, seven represents completeness. Add to this Isaiah 11:1-3 where the work of the Holy Spirit is broken into seven parts, and this seems to fit.
3. Jesus Christ: “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth…” This one is pretty straight forward ☺️. Jesus is called the faithful witness because He is the full witness, testimony, and revelation of God. When He came, sinful man who could not even hope to glimpse God and live, was shown His glory. He is also called the firstborn of the dead not because He was the first to rise from the dead, but He was the first to rise from the dead… and never die again! That’s a picture of what we have to look forward to in Heaven. And He’s called the ruler of the kings on Earth...because He is in charge ☺️. No matter how crazy this world and its rulers may seem, and let's face it...they often seem crazy, He is the true King! Oh, how we need to remember this.
The God of the Bible. The God who created the world and makes all the difference. Yeah, He’s the one bringing grace and peace. That’s why He’s the one→
III. Who Is Worthy Of Ultimate Praise.
“... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” This passage ends with what is really an→
An Aside of Praise. In closing the first part of the greeting, John calls for Jesus to be lifted up and given praise and power. Amen means let it be true. And this is our mission as the church. Sharing the good news of this grace and peace and pointing people to the Jesus who deserves their praise. And really, guys, this is a central message in Revelation. Life is going to be hard. Messed up things will happen, but Jesus came to bring grace & peace amidst the storm, and He’s coming again to end the storm once and for all!
TAKEAWAYS
I feel like this one might have run a bit long today, so I’m going to try and be quick in my takeaways for today.
Please know grace and peace are being offered to you.
Please know that offer comes from the God who loves you and calls you.
Please come to Him and praise Him.
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