“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. 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, 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, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 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.” (Revelation 1:3-7)
Happiness is an illusive thing and hard to hold on to. Tim Hansel observed, “If you have to move even ten inches from where you are now in order to be happy, you never will be.” Another writer quipped, “You should do something every day to make other people happy, even if it’s only to leave them alone.”
It probably surprises you to learn that a book like Revelation begins with the word blessed. How in the world can this prophetic book make us happy? Revelation makes Christ’s Church happy because it reminds us that our King is on His throne. That is why William Knight said, “Joy is the flag that flies over the castle of our hearts announcing that the king is in residence today.”
I. Joy In Knowing His Person (vv.3-5a)
A. His Revelation (vv.4-5)
Believers are made happy by this book because it is God’s revelation (vv.4-5). God is going to show us Himself in this Book. What is God like to most people? He is either the “big-guy upstairs” or He is the dark and brooding one who is out to get us if we mess up. But the God of Revelation greets His Church with grace and peace (v.4) .That phrase is used eighteen times in the Epistles and Revelation. Grace is the unmerited or undeserved love of God. Peace is exemption from the ravages of war. Revelation covers the greatest war Creation will ever know yet Believers are exempt from that war. Matthew Henry rightly notes that grace must come before peace. People who lack peace in their relationship to God have either never experienced or not understood the grace of God.
God speaks to His Church in His fullness in these opening words of Revelation. God the Father is the one who is and who was and who is to come (v.4). Literally our Father is “the one being, the one who always was, and the one who keeps on coming to be.”
God the Holy Spirit is described as the seven spirits who are before His throne (v.4). The number seven is a number of perfection and completion. There are seven days in a week, seven notes in an octave, and seven primary colors. Revelation has forty-nine sevens (seven sevens). This is figurative language for the fullness of God’s Spirit (see Isaiah 11:2).
God the Son is Jesus Christ the faithful witness (v.5; 3:14). Christ is the only true witness of who God is. “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). He is also called the firstborn from the dead. Firstborn often describes a position of authority rather than an order of physical birth. Christ is called the firstborn of all creation in Colossians 1:15-18 and Christians are called the church of the firstborn in Hebrews 12:23.
B. Our Response (v.3)
God has revealed Himself in His fullness and His Church responds with joy (v.3). Our joy (blessedness) come from understanding and practicing what God has to say about Himself.
We are blessed when we read … the words. The word read comes from a word meaning to know accurately or certainly and is often used in the New Testament for reading the Bible in public worship. 1 Timothy 4:13 says, “I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” This is not reading for the sake of reading. Years ago we had a Weekly Reader program in school and earned points for the most books read. Since volume was all that mattered we picked all the short books we could find. We weren’t reading for understanding. Christ’s Church is blessed when it reads His words carefully. In the same way we are blessed when we hear the words. That word means to hear with understanding (see Matthew 13:13-17). We are also to keep those things which are written. The church at Sardis read and heard God’s Word but failed to keep it (Revelation 3:3).
The emphasis of these words is understanding and continuation. All three words are Present Participles - We are blessed if we keep on reading, hearing, and keeping these truths. This book was not given to entertain us; it was given to educate and establish us.
II. Joy In Knowing His Purpose (vv.5b-8)
A. His Purpose in the Past(v.5)
Not only is God’s person revealed but so is His purpose. First, we see His purpose in the past. Christ loved us (v.5). Christ is the picture of God’s love for us (see John 3:16-17; Ephesians 5:25; 2:4-6). The Apostle Paul prayed they we would come to comprehend the extent of God’s love for us (see Ephesians 3:17-19). William Cowper, who wrote “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood”, struggled with depression throughout his life. A friend who preached Cowper’s funeral sermon noted that the hymn writer’s one great failing was they He never came to understand the extent of God’s love for him. True believers know that God loves them but God will one day prove to the whole unbelieving world how much He love His church (see Revelation 3:7-9).
Christ loved us and washed us from our sins by His own blood (v.5). The word for washed means to wash, dissolve or to set free. Water cleans. To make water clean better it has to be freed from its surface tension. That is accomplished with a cleaning agent such as soap. Christ washed our sins by breaking through the barrier of our carnal hearts and infusing us with the grace of God. He has changed our hearts and therefore set us free from the surface tension of sin.
B. His Purpose in the Present (v.6)
Secondly, we see His purpose in the present. Christ has made His Church kings and priests (v.6). Surely, all true believers will be made happy by this knowledge. Matthew Henry says of Christians: “As kings, they govern their own spirits, conquer Satan, have power … with God in prayer, and shall judge the world. He hath made them priests, given them access to God, enabled them to enter into the holiest and to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices … and for these high honours and favours they are bound to ascribe to him dominion and glory for ever.”
C. His Purpose in the Future (v.7)
Finally, we see His purpose in the future. Christ is returning for His church (v.7). Because we know he loved us and washed us from our sins and made us a part of His Kingdom we will gladly receive Him. Christ’s Church looks forward to Christ’s return because His revealing will be our revealing. Romans 8:16-18 tells us that even creation itself yearns for the day when God’s children will be shown for what they really are. We know Christ lives in us and we will live forever but the worlds cannot see that. How blessed will be that day when what we are on the inside will be revealed to all the world to see on the outside!
While the Church is blessed by the thought of Christ’s return, the lost world will mourn His return because they rejected Him. The Church will rejoice but Revelation 6:15-17 describes a very different reaction from the unbelieving world:
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’”
Does the thought of God being with you bring you joy or fear? The answer to that question reveals what your relationship to Him is. Are you finding your joy in your walk with God or are you chasing happiness in things that can never truly satisfy?
