A VISION OF THE LORD OF GLORY
REVELATION 1:4-20
Introduction:
This book is addressed “to the seven churches which are in Asia.” We will not address these “churches” at the moment, but rather, look at the word picture of our LORD as He is drawn by the Apostle John. This picture is OUTSTANDING LIKE NO OTHER PICTURE EVERY DRAW of a man because this is NO ORDINARY MAN, BUT “The MAN,” the Son of God.
I. THE ALMIGHTY GOD
A. He describes Himself…
1. As “El Shaddai,” the Almighty God, vv. 8, 18; Exodus 6:3, “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”
2. This is the Almighty God that supplies every need, Genesis 22:8, 13, “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”
B. The “Alpha and Omega,” v. 8, 11; 21:6; 22:13; Isaiah 44:6, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”
“Among the Jewish Rabbins, it was common to use the first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet to denote the whole of anything, from beginning to end. —Barnes
II. JEHOVAH GOD
A. I am He [JEHOVAH]… vv. 4, 8;
This phraseology is purely Jewish, and probably taken from the Tetragrammaton [the four CONSONANTS of the ancient Hebrew name of God, YHWH], JEHOVAH; which is supposed to include in itself all time, PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE. Adam Clarke’s Commentary by Gary Gallant.
“No expression could more strikingly denote eternity than this. He now exists; he has existed in the past; he will exist in the future.” —Barnes
1. “WHICH IS, v. 8.
a. God identifies Himself as ALWAYS in the PRESENT, Exodus 3:14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
b. Jesus identified Himself saying, “before Abraham was I AM,” John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
2. And “WHICH WAS,” v. 8; Psalms 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
a. The WORD was in the BEGINNING, John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
b. Jesus was INVOLVED in the creation, Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
3. “And WHICH IS TO COME,” v. 8; Acts 1:11, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
a. The PROMISE, John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
b. The HOPE, Titus 2:13, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
B. This is the God of GLORY that appeared to Abraham, Acts 7:2, “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,”
1. This is the God of glory that appeared to Israel in a CLOUD, Exodus 16:10,“And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.”
2. This is God of glory that led Israel through the wilderness by a PILLAR of FIRE at night, Exodus 13:21, “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:”
a. This is the God that is able to show man the WAY by day or night, John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
b. This is the God that gave His Son that men might have eternal life, John 3:15-16, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
c. This is the God who holds the keys to hell and death, Revelation 1:18, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
CONCLUSION:
John saw a vision of the Lord of God, the Almighty God, and the Jehovah God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew as their Savior. This is Jesus of the New Testament, the Savior of the world. This is the One who died on Calvary to pay my sin debt, the One who was resurrected on the third day and who is sitting at the right hand of God today making intercession for you and me. He is coming soon. Do you know Him as your Savior?