The past few weeks have been bewildering. Since the referendum, never mind a week, it’s felt like an hour is a long time in politics. It’s been unsettling, driven by two questions we can’t easily answer. “Who’s in charge?” David Cameron, Nigel Farage, Roy Hodgson, Chris Evans, all resigning, and Jeremy Corbyn’s position looking uncertain. An alien invasion was easily thwarted the other week. They landed in Great Britain, and asked to be taken to our leader. “Who’s in charge?”
And second, “Where are we going?” The future feels uncertain. What will happen with Europe, with our economy, with our currency? Everything feels up in the air. Who’s in charge, and where is this all heading?
The book of Revelation was written to Christian who were asking those same two questions. We’ll see in chapters 2 and 3 that some of them have just come through an intense period of persecution. Others were about to enter one. That was the world they inhabited, under the clouds, under the sun.
But who’s in charge? Above the clouds, who’s running the show? And where is this all heading? Where’s history going?
Revelation is a book to draw back the curtain, to give us the big picture, the grand sweep of history. It’s a vision we all need.
And it all starts right here. Even the greeting that opens the book will start to tell us: Who’s in charge, and where are we heading?
There are two parts to our reading. First, there’s a greeting. Most New Testament letters have a greeting. “Paul. To the Christians in Ephesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”. Revelation’s is much longer.
Then there’s a statement of praise to God. Verse 6 ends: “To him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” You get lots of statements like that, giving glory to God, in the Bible. Almost without thinking, John uses that form of words, but then talks entirely about Jesus. It’s one of the understated ways in which the New Testament writers tell us that Jesus is God.
Let’s look at those two halves of the passage. The God who sends greetings, and the God to whom belongs all glory and power. Let’s look at them, and get our bearings in life.
Grace and peace from Jesus the faithful who now reigns
First, then, the greeting. Verses 4 and 5. Grace and peace from Jesus the faithful who now reigns. Grace and peace from Jesus the faithful who now reigns.
In the Bible, the one God is three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
And we get all 3 in this greeting. First, there’s God the Father. The one “who is, and who was, and who is to come”. We’ll return to that phrase in chapter 4.
Then we meet God the Holy Spirit: “… and from the seven spirits [or sevenfold Spirit] before his throne”. We’ve not got time to look at the Spirit today, either. He’s the perfect Spirit, perfectly God.
We need to spend our time on Jesus, God the Son, because John says more about him than the other two persons put together. Time and again we’ll see this – the book of Revelation is about Jesus.
Verse 5: “… and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and ruler of the kings of the earth.”
John mentions 3 things about Jesus.
He’s the faithful witness. His job on earth was to bear witness to God the Father. He spoke the Father’s words. He did the Father’s works. Absolutely faithfully. It cost him his life. But he did not flinch. The Greek word “witness” is the word from which we get our English word “martyr”. Jesus was a faithful witness. He was a martyr. He died, discharging the ministry for which God the Father had sent him to earth.
So, a day or two before he died, John chapter 12, verse 27: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” And the night before he died, Jesus prayed in such agony that he sweat blood. Mark 14:36: “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Faithful witness. Which led him to his death. But he did not stay dead. He’s also the “firstborn from the dead”. Jesus came back to life. But more wonderful than that, so will everyone who knows and follows him. He’s the “firstborn from the dead”. The first in an enormous family of followers, billions of us, who will be raised when Jesus returns.
And now he’s risen, he rules. That’s the third detail that’s here. He’s “the ruler of the kings of the earth”. Governments often think they rule absolutely, they can rule however they like. Not so. They also have a ruler. The risen Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Some people don’t pay much attention to Cabinet reshuffles. It can all get a bit tedious. But not if you have an interest in the work done by some government departments. If you work in the army, the NHS, in education, you want to know who’s going to be in charge of Defence, Health or Education. Is the person who’s in charge going to look after my interests? Then I’ll be OK. Probably. Human governments have such limited power.
Meet the one who rules all the kings of the earth. His power is not limited. He is in charge, and he has your interests at heart. So you’ll be OK.
Picture these first century Christians. Frightened. Persecuted. Hounded. Some of them had been killed. Which God do they serve? Who’s up there, above the clouds, running the show down here?
There’s one God and he exists as three persons. But the focus is on God the Son, the person of Jesus. He lived out his calling, faithfully bearing witness to God the Father, until his dying breath. He’s alive, which guarantees the future of every Christian who dies. And he’s in charge. The civil authorities that persecuted the church think they’re in charge, but actually it’s Jesus.
Then there’s us. The day may come when ordinary Christians in this country are jailed, even killed for their faith, but not yet. But we have struggles. Finding the courage to share our faith with our work colleagues or our neighbours. How painful death is. Depressed by what we see on the news, as governments think they can disregard what’s right and wrong, and carve their own path.
“Who’s running the show?”, we ask. “Who’s up there above the clouds?” The answer is that Jesus is. The faithful witness. The firstborn from the dead. The ruler of the kings on the earth.
It’s this Jesus that sends his grace and his peace to the first readers of Revelation. And it’s this Jesus who sends his grace and his peace to us. Grace and peace from Jesus the faithful who now reigns.
Glory and power to Jesus who freed us and will return.
That’s the greeting. Now let’s look at the second part, where John gives all glory and power, all praise and glory, to Jesus.
Here’s a heading for verses 6 to 8: Glory and power to Jesus who freed us and will return. Glory and power to Jesus who freed us and will return.
Which Jesus is it that we praise? We’re on the horizontal axis now. We get our bearings by Jesus: past, present and future.
The past first. Verse 5: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood”. Jesus loves us. And to see that we look at what he did in the past. He freed us from our sins by his blood.
This language is looking back to the Exodus in the Old Testament. You might remember the story. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt, but God set them free. God’s angel would pass through Egypt and kill every firstborn son.
But there was a problem. The people of Israel were no better than the Egyptians. Justice demanded that their firstborn should also die. So God asked each family to kill a lamb, and paint its blood on the doorframes of their houses. The blood represented the family inside. The angel would see the blood. A death had already taken place inside that house. There did not need to be another. So the Israelite firstborn son was spared. And that night they were freed. Slaves no longer.
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood”. For us, it’s not a lamb. It’s Jesus. He shed his blood. His blood stands in our place When God judges the world, when he looks at everyone who trusts Jesus, he’ll see Jesus’ blood. A death has already occurred There does not need to be another. And so are freed. Slaves no longer.
He loves us.
That’s the past. In the present we’re his servants. Or rather, we’re royal courtiers, and we’re priests. Verse 6: “… and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.”
We’re part of the royal court. We live to serve the king. And we’re priests. We have direct access to God the Father, and we represent him to the wider world.
It’s also language taken from Exodus in the Old Testament. After God freed his people from Egypt, he took them to Mount Sinai. And he said this to them. Exodus chapter 19, verse 5: “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
That’s what we are in the present. You may think your life is ordinary, as you give the children they’re breakfast, go to work, reply to emails, look at photos of your brother’s family, and pack to go on holiday. But you’re a member of the royal court of heaven. You’re one of God’s priests, with direct access to his throne in prayer, and called to serve him in the world.
There is no greater privilege than that. And yet it’s reality.
For all the political upheavals of recent weeks, I couldn’t help feeling slightly sorry for the Camerons’ three children. At the end of the day, they’re children. But they have to leave their home in the glare of the media, say goodbye to friends. All very painful. But there’s a small upside. Picture breakfast inside number 10 on Tuesday morning. “We’re going to see the Queen tomorrow, kids. All of us – you’ll get to meet her, too.” I doubt our boys will ever get the chance to meet her. What a privilege. But only for half an hour. And a bittersweet meeting at that.
We’re members of the royal court. We’re priests. We have access to God’s throne room whenever we want it. We just don’t sit down very often to consider what a privilege that is.
The past: “He loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.” The present: “He has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.” And then the future: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him.”
More Old Testament language here. The idea of coming with the clouds comes from Daniel 7. The idea of people who pierced him comes from Zechariah chapter 12. Jesus took those same two ideas and brought them together in Matthew chapter 24. The picture is of people who crucified Jesus weeping because Jesus is returning as their judge, and they know they are in deep trouble.
And I’m 99% sure that this refers to the second coming, the final return of Jesus at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.
Maybe you know the old hymn: “Lo, he comes with clouds descending.” There’s a verse in there that picks up this picture. “Every eye shall now behold him || Robed in dreadful majesty; || Those who set at nought and sold him, || Pierced and nailed him to the tree, || Deeply wailing || Deeply wailing || Deeply wailing || Shall the true Messiah see.”
Only this is not only speaking of those few who literally pierced him. This is the future for everyone who treats Jesus as being of small account. “He doesn’t really matter. We can get him out of the way, forget about him.”
Jesus will return as judge. When he does it will be a dreadful day for those who decided Jesus was unimportant. They will come face to face with him, as their judge, as the one around the whole of history revolves.
But his return is only sad news for those who dismiss him. For Christians, like the people Revelation was written for, it will be a wonderful day. It will be the beginning of the very best life imaginable, the start of the final chapter, the final chapter which never ends and where every page is better than the one before.
One moving picture from the European Championships was of a 10-year old boy who supported Portugal, comforting a French man he’d never met who was in tears that his side has just lost.
The same game of football, the Euro 2016 final. The same final whistle. Two very different outcomes. Half the stadium are in tears. Head in hands. This is a disaster. (Actually, it’s not a disaster. Try being English). The other half erupt with joy.
One day Jesus will return. He’ll blow the whistle on human history. Some people will be deeply upset. They lost. They backed the wrong side. They rejected Jesus, and Jesus won. For others it will be the best day ever.
The difference is that you never know who will win at sport until the end. Whereas we know now who’s going to win. Jesus will win, and so we all have the chance to be on the winning team when the final whistle blows.
Jesus will return.
There’s the timeline. For the readers of Revelation and for us. In the past, Jesus free us from our sins by his blood. He loves us. In the future he will return. Those who gave up on him will weep. Those who persevere will have the best day of their lives, only for the day after to be even better. In the meantime we’re in the present, loved by Jesus, royal courtiers, priests of the living God, to live for him and represent him in the world.
Glory and power to Jesus who freed us and will return.
Conclusion
The world is often a confusing place to live. So we need to know who’s in charge, where history’s heading, and where we are in all that.
Jesus is the one in charge. And if you’re a Christian, you’re on a timeline between Jesus’ loving rescue in the past and his cosmic return in the future.
If that’s the God who’s running the show, and if that’s where history is heading, then surely there is no better place to be than among the people of the Lord Jesus Christ.