V:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven spirits which are before His throne;
John, bestows a blessed greeting to the seven churches that are in western Asia Minor. Not the continent of Asia as we know it today as China, but a place north of the Mediterranean sea, Known in John’s day as Lydia (the western part of modern day Turkey.
These churches that John greets are the same churches that are mentioned in Revelation Chapters 2 & 3.
- Ephesus
- Smyrna
- Pergamos (Pergamum)
- Thyatira
- Sardis
- Philadelphia
- Laodicea
John also references Jesus Christ our Lord, from whom the blessing comes from, as “which is, and which was, and which is to come” This is a recurring theme all throughout the Holy Bible, especially the Book of Revelation; representing the Past; Present and Future.
Who is
The Christ; The Son of God; the Messiah, the One and only from all ages of mankind whether one believes that or not. Jesus Christ still is, regardless of popular opinions of the day or personal belief.
Who was
Before the beginning of creation. Testifying here that Jesus Christ is eternal. Just as John had testifies in another Book he wrote under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit; ‘The Gospel of Jesus Christ According To John,’
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
Now how do we know “the Word” is referring to Jesus Christ? If you skip down to verse 14 of John chapter 1, it tells us plainly the answer to this question,
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The same Holy Spirit that revealed to John this eternal Christ revelation, also revealed this same fact to the Apostle Paul in,
Colossians 1:15-18 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.
The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John and Paul is telling us that Jesus Christ is eternal, having no beginning or end with God, Who created all things as we read further in,
John 1:4 In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Jesus Christ is life, He was the author of all creation which has life. All creation draws off of His life force. This is why He says:
John 11:25-26 I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
John 1:5-10 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.
John, through the Holy Spirit is referencing Jesus Christ as “that Light,” pointing back to the Book of,
Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
This verse is not talking about God creating the sun or made the “sun” to shine, like many has presumed or misinterpreted this verse over the years.
If you read the creation account of Genesis chapter 1, very carefully, you will see for yourself that God The Father and Jesus Christ His Son created the sun, the moon, all the stars and affixed them in their places (creation of the universe) on the 4th day, not the first day.
In fact The Holy Spirit, God the Father and Jesus Christ did not create one thing on day one, they only gathered together. Thus “the Light” that John refers to in John 1:7-9 is pointing back to Genesis 1:3, is non other than Jesus Christ, who already was from the beginning of our creation.
Not only that, “who was” is also referring to His death on the cross for the remission of sins. Jesus Christ who once lived, who also died for the salvation of many and,
Who is to come
Jesus Christ is also to reign and rule as King of His Kingdom on earth in the future. For He, after His death on the cross, has raised from the dead and ascended back into Heaven in bodily flesh and sits at the right hand of God His Father, awaiting His appointed time to come back to earth as King.
Going back to Colossians, many of you might be hung on verse 15 as Jesus Christ being, “the firstborn of every creature;” You maybe asking yourself, If Jesus Christ is the “firstborn” of every creature, than how is He eternal?
This verse is not teaching us in any way, shape or form that God created Jesus Christ as the first born of all creation. Rather it is telling us that Jesus Christ was always with God His Father, who always was, with no beginning or an end just like His Father.
Just as John’s first revelation about Jesus Christ states in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”
The Word; Jesus Christ was with God the Father in the beginning. And, it is also showing us that Jesus Christ was God. Now Jesus Christ is not God the Father, Most High God. Jesus Christ is Lord; The Son of God. He is God by definition, based upon His actions according to the Holy Bible.
God: ‘Supreme Being; Supreme Ruler of all creation.’ ’Creator.’
Jesus Christ is not the Supreme Being or Supreme Ruler of all creation. God His Father is, as Jesus Christ Himself acknowledges in,
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcome will I make pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name.
Or when Jesus Christ was being crucified. He cried out with a loud voice, asking God His Father in Heaven, saying, Mark 15:34 Eloi, Eloi, lama Sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Jesus Christ is Creator with God His Father, The Most High God. And that’s what Jesus Christ came down as: “that light” to do; create the world and the universe with God His Father, after they created Heaven (the eternal dwelling place of God and their thrones.
That’s why in the Hebrew text, in the Book of Genesis 1:1, it specifically states as fact, “In the beginning God” The word God here is Elohim (Plural). Showing us that the Holy Trinity, God the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is at work here, “Created the Heaven and the earth”
As you read on , the Holy Ghost, God the Father’s Spirit, came down to a puddle of water (Genesis 1:2, what is also known as the sea‘s in Genesis 1:10)
Then God the Father; The Most High God and Jesus Christ created the earth, the universe and all that are in them as each day (a literal 24 hr. period of time) progressed on until the 7th day, when they rested from all their work.
And that’s what the Holy Bible continues to tell us, by the witness and revelation of the Holy Spirit of God the Father in John 1:1-14 and Colossians 1:15-17.
So this is how Jesus Christ was God, not just because He is the incarnation of the invisible God His Father in bodily flesh. It’s because He created the Heavens and the earth, and all that is in them with God His Father, The Most High God.
Also, our natural understanding of the word “firstborn” is not the same meaning here. “Firstborn” in verse 15 is connected to the word ’preeminence’ from Verse 18, or a better word than that, Potentate (1 Timothy 6:15).
Pointing out Jesus Christ’s superior royal lineage from God His Father since the beginning of time of earth and the universe.
Here’s a simple analogy to understand this, Just like an earthly king’s son, is the direct heir to the throne (a prince), so is also Jesus Christ to God the Father. All throughout the Holy Bible, it teaches us this fact, first in
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Thus the Holy Bible illustrates, Jesus Christ died on the cross, risen from the dead and ascends back into Heaven and sits at God’s right hand as a Prince. He will return to this earth in what we call His “second coming” as King of all the earth, having the preeminence of all the earth in,
Revelation 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.
And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS
Revelation 17:12-14 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
So this is what the term “firstborn” is proving here, That Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, The direct royal heir to the throne of God, The Prince of Peace, who is to come as King above all kings and kingdoms. And Lord above all lords!
Revelation 1:5-6 (Jesus Christ Is The Worlds Real Messiah)
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
John testifies here to all humanity, to both Jews and Gentiles, that Jesus Christ is the world’s real Messiah and there is no other! There is no other act of salvation, Jesus Christ is it, as prophesied by the Prophets of the Old Testament.
Jesus Christ is the point of Revelation chapter 1. In fact, God’s salvation plan through Jesus Christ is the point of the whole entire Book of Revelation and the entire Holy Bible!
The Most Holy name of God Most High, The Father of Jesus Christ, is YHWH as referenced in a few Scriptures as “YAH” in the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
YHWH is a Tetragrammaton which translates in Hebrew, “Behold the nails, Behold the hand’s.” God our Fathers name points to Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son and His act of love, exploiting the works of His salvation through Jesus Christ.
For it is only Jesus Christ who was nailed (hands and feet) to the cross for the remission of our sins of those who believe. As it was prophesied a thousand years prior, to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in detail (comparing to Matthew 27) of all that Jesus Christ went through and thought, found in,
Psalms 22:1-18 My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring? O My God, I cry in the day time, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seing that He delighted in Him.
Be not far from Me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed Me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round. They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion
referring to satan as also like a lion, seeking whom He may devour 1 Peter 5:8. Jesus Christ’s enemies in the natural realm are influenced by satan in the spiritual realm.
I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.
You see, it is only through Jesus Christ, the worlds real Messiah and Savior that has come into this world by the virgin birth in the flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:18-23). Just to die on the cross, for the remission of our sin (washed us from our sins in His own blood). And Risen from the dead.
Non other than Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophesies of the Holy Bible pertaining to Himself as John proclaims. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.
Hope For A Hopeless Generation 