Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
April 2, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
1901 ASV
1:4 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 that are before his throne;
1:5 and from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;
1:6 and he made us [to be] a kingdom, [to be] priests unto his God and Father; to him [be] the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1:7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
- I. John And His Wishes For The Seven Churches.
- A. "John" is the God-given name that means "Yahweh is gracious" and was initially the name of the forerunner (John the Baptizer) of Jesus, the Christ, and was also the name of one of the sons of Zebedee who was the author of the Gospel of John and is here identified as the author of this written "Revelation".
- 1. Because God wished to shift the focus of men regarding Him from "Righteous Judge" to "Gracious Redeemer", He assigned the name "John" to the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth and sent him into the world to bear witness of the "Life".
- a. This was the "initiation" of men into the perspective on God as "Gracious".
- b. This created the enormous upheaval in Theology in the first century in the nation of Israel in which "Law" was replaced by "Grace".
- 2. Because God wished to also present the issue of "Grace" to men, He chose another man named "John", one of the "thunderous" sons of Zebedee, to write what we know as "The Gospel of John" in which "Grace" is paramount.
- a. This "John" presented Jesus of Nazareth as the Creator God Who brought "Grace and Truth" into the Theological arena as a definitive contrast to the Law that had been given through Moses, a revelation of the righteousness of God as The Judge.
- b. This "John" designed his "Gospel" to persuade men that Jesus of Nazareth is God's "Christ", the "Son of God", Who imparts Life to those who "believe" in this identity of Jesus.
- 3. Because God also wished to present the issues regarding what happens when men reject "God as Gracious", He chose to use this second "John" to reveal the outcome of this rejection: the Day of Wrath and the Righteous Judgment of God (Revelation 6:16-17).
- a. This is the large message of this Revelation Of Jesus Christ.
- b. That "John" is the author of this Revelation signifies that, while "Yahweh is Gracious", He has not forsaken "Justice".
- B. The name "John" is used in this "Revelation" in 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 21:2; and 22:8.
- 1. In 1:1, "John" is self-identified as a "bondservant" of Jesus Christ; indicating the enormous significance of "Grace" (i.e., Titus 2:11-14).
- a. "Grace" teaches us to move in the direction of becoming a "bondservant" so that any who do not move in that direction are simply indicating that they neither understand, nor believe in, "the grace of God".
- b. This reality exists in the face of the enormous complexity of "Grace" in God's application of it to men -- some receiving a great deal of it and others just receiving a bare minimum.
- 2. In 1:4, "John" begins to "pass this revelation on to the churches" with the reality of "Grace" as it has been developed and hindered in the first century in respect to "believers" who are a part of The Church.
- 3. In 1:9, "John" testifies to how "Grace" has worked in his own experience.
- 4. In both 21:2 and 22:8, "John" is the eyewitness of this "Revelation".
- 5. That "John" is the author of the "Gospel of Grace" as well as the "Revelation of the wrath of the Lamb" indicates that he is a kind of "bookends" to "Grace", so that the first century was a kind of "century" of Grace as far as the process of divine revelation in words is concerned.
- a. There will yet be further "revelation" in words as This Revelation testifies.
- b. But that "revelation" will be given because of the final climax of the Conflict of the Ages that is yet to come.