Revelation 1:4-8
Introduction
Below, you will find a commentary on Revelation 1:4-8. While some parts may be more theologically dense, I pray that you will find these reflections helpful and that, most importantly, they will point you to Christ, Who is the focal point of the entire book of Revelation.
As I will try to do each time I offer commentary on a section of Revelation, I will remind you of the theme of the book:
The Lamb Who was slain is standing and will have ultimate victory over His enemies, and He will enjoy His Bride, the Church, who does not love her life even unto death, because of Christ’s faithfulness to her.
As you read the passage and comments below, see if you can begin to find John’s hints to this theme.
Revelation 1:4-8
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 who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father – to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’
John, to the seven churches that are in Asia (1:4a)
The author identifies himself as John; this is the beloved disciple of Jesus that you can read about in the Gospels, as well as the author of The Gospel of John and 1-3 John.
He also identifies his audience as seven different churches within Asia, particularly within Asia Minor (i.e., modern-day Turkey), which is revealed through the location of the seven churches named in Chapters 2-3.
I want to make one comment about the number of churches for your consideration. One thing we do know for sure is, numbers are highly symbolic throughout the book of Revelation (and the whole Bible), as we will see through our study of the book, and as we will see as we continue looking through verse four. The number seven is a biblical number used to represent the number of completion/fullness. Perhaps John, prompted by the Holy Spirit, chose to write to seven churches, which were literal churches, to represent a greater reality of the complete/full, universal Church. In other words, even though Revelation was written to seven specific churches in Asia Minor, it was also written to the global body of believers who believed, believe now, and will believe in Christ in the future. This idea was proposed by G. K. Beale in his commentary on Revelation, which I have added to the Resources section of this website. See Beale’s assertion below:
[John’s] choice of the number ‘seven’ is no accident. ‘Seven’ is the favorite number of Revelation. Biblically, it signifies completion or fullness and is originally derived from the seven days of creation. In Leviticus 4:6, 17, the sevenfold sprinkling of the blood signified a completed action, as did the seven-day duration of the festivals, services of ordination, the march around Jericho, and the length of cleansing from uncleanness. The significance of the number [in Revelation 1:4] is that the seven churches represent the fullness of the Church…That the seven churches represent the whole church, at least in Asia Minor, if not the world, is suggested further by noticing that each letter addressed to a particular church in chapters 2-3 is also said at its conclusion to be addressed to all the churches. It is no accident that, after chapters 2 and 3, only the universal Church is alluded to, and these seven churches disappear from sight. John’s prophetic message is actually addressed to the entire body of Christ, the Church in every age (pg. 39).
Beale’s comments on this matter are quite consistent with John’s intention that Christians of any time period are to hear, read, and heed the words written in Revelation (c.f., Revelation 1:3).
Grace to you and peace (1:4b)
This type of greeting is quite common amongst the epistles of the New Testament. However, I implore you to not allow the familiarity with such a phrase to cause you to neglect meditating on what is being stated here.
First, let’s start with grace. A common definition for grace is, “Giving you what you do not deserve.” When you think about that, you begin to understand that everything that God has given to us, since He didn’t immediately send us to Hell as soon as we sinned for the first time, is an act of His grace toward us. However, there is a special grace (or graces, really) that God gives to believers, those to whom Revelation was written, that He does not give to unbelievers. These would include the following, which is, by no means, an exhaustive list: Salvation; His Holy Spirit; Christ’s righteousness covering us; all things we need pertaining to life and godliness; every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; the armor of God; the ability to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; the ability, through His Spirit, to kill sin; unity with other believers; bold access to the throne of grace for help in time of need; the security that He causes all things to work together for the specific good of making us more like Christ; the assurance that nothing in all of the created universe can separate us from His love in Christ Jesus; the ability to taste and see that He is good; confidence that, when we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, etc.
Next, we’ll consider peace. From Romans 8, we know that unbelievers (i.e., those who have their minds set on the flesh) are hostile to God. In John 8, Jesus calls the religious leaders children of their father, the Devil. Also, in Romans 1, Paul says that hating God is a mark of unbelievers, too. Clearly, these descriptions show that those who reject Christ do not have peace with God. On the other hand, as has been mentioned, those to whom Revelation is written are believers, and they do have peace with God because of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1; 8:1; Colossians 1:19-20) and because Jesus bore the wrath of God on their behalf (Isaiah 53:4-6; 53:10; Romans 5:8-9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). The hostility that is still very much present between God and unbelievers has totally been absolved for believers in Jesus Christ.
The point here is, even though these realities may be common knowledge, nothing in Scripture is superfluous; so, when John (or Paul or Peter) begin their letters with greetings of grace and peace, pause to consider all that Jesus Christ has accomplished on your behalf, believer. If any unbelievers are reading this, please know that this grace and peace can be yours in Christ, too! See my post on What is the Gospel to learn more about this.
From Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come (1:4c)
This section introduces the source of grace and peace: the Trinity. As we will see in the following sections, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all involved in giving grace and peace to Christians.
For the moment, we are focusing on the Father. This part of verse four tells us that the Father exists now, has always existed, and will always exist. However, I believe there is something more to this description: The Father is self-sufficient and the source of all existence. There is no life apart from Him. We know that Jesus spoke the world into existence, but, while they have distinct roles from one another in the economy of the Trinity, because Jesus and the Father, as well as the Holy Spirit, are of the same essence, we can say that the Father created the world and sustains it through the Son by the Holy Spirit (See Hebrews 1:1-3).
And from the seven Spirits who are before His throne (1:4d)
This portion is talking about the Holy Spirit. However, it’s important to remember that numbers in Revelation are highly symbolic, lest we fall into heresy and suggest that there are seven Holy Spirits.
You’ll recall that seven is the number of completion. John’s use of “seven Spirits” here does not suggest seven Holy Spirits, but he means that the one, full/complete Holy Spirit is with the Father and the Son, and He is another Agent (and I don’t use that terminology flippantly or disrespectfully) of grace and peace (We will see this language of “seven Spirits” used again in Revelation 4:5.). Mentioning the Holy Spirit alongside the Father and the Son as One from Whom grace and peace flows appeals to His (the Holy Spirit’s) deity as well. He is equal with God the Father and God the Son, of the same essence, yet, within the economy of the Trinity, He has a distinct role. Jesus, in John 14 and 16, mentions that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter and the Helper; that He will bring back to our remembrance things that Jesus has taught us; and, He will teach us more about Christ. In Romans 8, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us to kill sin, testifies to us that we are children of God, and intercedes for us. Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit seals us and serves as a pledge of our eternal inheritance in Christ.
G. K. Beale notes the following:
John is alluding here to Zechariah 4:2-9, where seven lamps represent one Spirit which brings grace for the building of the temple…[In Revelation 1:4, John is showing us that, in Christ,] the Holy spirit empowers us to become the temple in which God dwells (p. 40).
So, Christian, by God’s grace, always remember that the full/complete Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son, and He has pronounced a blessing of grace and peace on you – and He is dwelling within you, has sealed you, and prays for you!
And from Jesus Christ (1:5a)
With the mention of Jesus, John begins to provide the lengthiest description of any member of the Trinity, which will culminate into a doxology to Christ in verses six and seven.
One may wonder why Jesus receives an extended introduction and a declaration of praise, when the other members of the Trinity only receive one descriptive phrase and have no direct word of praise offered to them.
Is Jesus superior to the Father and the Holy Spirit?
No, Jesus is not superior to the Father and the Holy Spirit, but there may be a few reasons why John formed the introductory comments the way that he did. Consider the following:
Remember, as we discussed previously in the Commentary on 1:1-3, Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1a). The book is literally the revealing of Who Jesus is. So, perhaps, John offers a longer description of Christ because He will be the focal point of the letter (Each of the descriptive phrases mentioned of Jesus in 1:5 are significantly emphasized throughout the book.).
As was also discussed in the commentary on the first portion of Revelation 1, all things are moving to Christ and find their fulfillment in Him. Within the economy of the Trinity, the Godhead is satisfied that all things are summed up in Jesus and that He sustains all things.
Jesus is the only reason that anyone has access to the Father (John 14:6) and is sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). So, it’s not that John is trying to shortchange the Father and the Holy Spirit, but he could be reminding us that it’s only through Jesus that we have grace and peace offered to us from the Father and the Holy Spirit.
In John 14, 16, and 17, Jesus states that, as He is glorified, the Father is glorified, and that, as the Holy Spirit shares what He (the Holy Spirit) receives from Jesus, Jesus is glorified. The perfect unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ensures that no member of the triune Godhead gets the short end of the stick, so to speak. The Father is glorified through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit’s primary role is to reveal Christ to people. As Christ is revealed, we realize that such revelation would not be possible without the work of the Holy Spirit within us, and we marvel at the Son and glorify Him.
As you consider this matter, rest assured that John is not suggesting the Father and the Holy Spirit are inferior to Jesus. However, through the Holy Spirit, he would’ve been well aware that all things are summed up in Christ, that He is our only way to the Father, and that the Holy Spirit was sent by Christ Himself to reveal Him to us.
The faithful witness (1:5b)
What do witnesses do? They give an account of what they have seen and/or heard about something.
How does this apply to Jesus?
In his Gospel, several times, John highlights the truth that Jesus shared what He received from His Father (See John 5:19, 8:38; 12:49-50; 14:10, 31). In other words, Jesus bore witness to the Father, and He did so perfectly. The clearest picture of this glorious, Trinitarian reality is found in Hebrews 1:3, which says, of Jesus:
And He is the radiance of [the Father’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature… (emphasis added).
Many witnesses, even if they are well-intentioned, provide erroneous accounts of what actually happened at an event that they saw, or if they provide a description without errors, they may unintentionally leave out some details of the event, which, in my opinion, wouldn’t make their account necessarily erroneous. However, in Jesus, we don’t have to worry about either case. When we behold Him, through the Holy Spirit, we see the Father, as He perfectly, faithfully, and fully represents (or radiates – a much better verb) Who the Father is. Do you want to know the Father? Look to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and you will get to know the Father.
Heed the words of Jesus from John 14:8-10, in which Jesus rebukes Philip for believing one could see Jesus without seeing the Father:
Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works (emphasis added).
The firstborn of the dead (1:5c)
This title does not suggest that Jesus was the first being to have been made during creation, nor does it mean that He was the first person to be raised from the dead. We know that John clearly believed and taught that Jesus did not have a beginning, but that He was pre-existent with the Father and the Holy Spirit (c.f., John 1, 17, 1 John 1.). Also, in John 11, John recounts the event of Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead (not to suggest that Lazarus was the first person raised from the dead either), which took place before Jesus’ resurrection.
When John refers to Jesus as the “firstborn of the dead”, he is asserting that there was something unique and gloriously wonderful about Jesus’ resurrection. It’s because of Jesus’ resurrection that we, as believers in Him, have any hope of a future resurrection from the dead (c.f., 1 Corinthians 15), and it’s because the Father raised Jesus from the dead and sat Him (Jesus) at His (the Father’s) right hand that Christ has been given all rule and authority over all things (c.f., Ephesians 1:20-23).
G. K. Beale’s comments on this title are helpful:
Christ has gained a sovereign position over the cosmos. This is not to be understood in the sense that He is recognized as the first created being of all creation nor even as the origin of creation, but rather that He is the inaugurator of the new creation by means of His resurrection, as [Revelation] 3:14 explains. John thinks of Jesus as the seed of David, Whose resurrection has resulted in the establishment of His eternal kingdom (pg. 40).
And the ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5d)
The title employed here is closely related to the previous one, so not much more will be offered. I can’t help but imagine that John would’ve had Psalm 2 in his mind when he penned these words. I’ve included Psalm 2 below; you’ll be able to see the obvious connections.
Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Beale also suggests that the titles given to Jesus in this section (i.e., The faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth) are alluded to in Psalm 89 and that John likely pulled from this Psalm when assigning these titles to Jesus (pg. 40).
To Him (1:5e)
This phrase begins the aforementioned doxology dedicated to Jesus.
Who loves us (1:5f)
The present tense of the verb “love” should be noticed. Not only did Jesus express His love to us when He laid down His life as a sacrifice for us (c.f., Romans 5:8), but He is presently loving us. His love for us has not stopped.
In John 17:23, 26, Jesus says something remarkable. When He’s praying to the Father before He (Jesus) is arrested and crucified, He says the following:
I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me…I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them (emphasis added).
Then, in Romans 5:5, Paul says the following:
...and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.
Jesus’ prayer from John 17 is fulfilled when Christians receive the Holy Spirit, through Whom we receive the love of God. As we have already discussed in this section, the Holy Spirit is given as a seal; He will not be taken from us. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus actively loves those who belong to Him.
And released us from our sins (1:5g)
The verb “released” connotes a captivity of some sort. In what way were believers previously held captive by their sins?
In John 8:34, Jesus says that those who commit sin are slaves of sin. Paul teaches the same reality in Romans 6. In 2 Timothy 2:25-26, Paul says that unbelievers are in Satan’s grasp and held captive by him to do his will.
Because Jesus died and rose from the dead, when people, by His grace, repent and trust in Him, they are freed from their bondage to sin and Satan. At the time of salvation, a Christian’s sinful body is crucified with Christ and raised to newness of life (c.f., Romans 6:1-11). Consequently, through the Holy Spirit, Christians have the power to kill sin (c.f., Romans 8:13); this ability to kill sin is only possible in Jesus Christ and because He has released us from our sins.
by His blood (1:5h)
So much could be said here, but I will save the majority of my comments for Revelation 5:6, when Jesus is shown to be the Lamb standing, as if slain. Suffice it now to say that, undoubtedly, John would’ve had the sacrificial system in mind when writing this phrase, and he wants his readers to realize that Jesus is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system (c.f., Hebrews 9:1-10:25).
Also, when Jesus was on earth during His earthly ministry, He came to lay down His life, and His blood was shed by His enemies. When He comes again, He will come as a reigning and victorious King, and He will shed the blood of His enemies (Revelation 14:20; 19:11-21).
And He has made us to be a Kingdom, priests to His God and Father (1:6a)
The phrase “...a Kingdom, priests to His God and Father” is referenced two more times in Revelation (i.e., Revelation 5:10 and 20:6) and, as is seen in 1:6, John is assigning this office to Christians. This is a fulfillment of God’s promise to Moses in Exodus 19:5-6, where God tells Moses that Israel will be a Kingdom of priests unto Him and a holy nation.
One of the glorious realities of God’s sovereign plan is that the good news of Jesus Christ is to be proclaimed to men and women from every tribe, tongue, people group, and nation – not just those who are ethnically of Jewish descent. Thus, the true people of God (i.e., the true Israel) are not only those who are Israelites by birth, but are all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Obviously, this will include Israelites who have trusted in Jesus for salvation, but the point is, the true Israel (i.e., everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ) is made of men and women from every tribe, tongue, people group, and nation – and all of these men and women form the Kingdom of priests unto God (I will need to dedicate a full article to discuss my belief that the true Israel is made of everyone who puts their faith in Christ, which, God willing, I will do soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to read some relevant passages about this topic, see the following: Romans 9-11, Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:9-10.).
Allow me to discuss priests first, and then I’ll return to the “Kingdom” aspect of John’s phrase.
In the Old Testament period, the priests were the ones who served God in the Tabernacle/Temple. They were to be spiritual leaders, of sorts, and distinguished from other Israelites in the duties they performed. For example, the High Priest, on one day of the year, could enter into the Holy of Hollies, the innermost section of the Tabernacle/Temple, where the glory of God dwelt. Now, in Christ, all believers are priests before God and have bold access to Him, because they are in the true High Priest, namely Jesus Christ (c.f., Hebrews 4:14-16). In 1 Peter 2:9-10, Peter teaches that, as a part of this priesthood, Christians everywhere are to do the following:
Proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called [them] out of darkness into His marvelous light, for [they] once were not a people, but now [they] are the people of God; [they] had not received mercy, but now [they] have received mercy.
Christians aren’t just priests; they are kings, too, for John calls believers a “Kingdom” as well. As we’ve already discussed, Jesus, as the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth, has all authority over every ruling power. Since Christians are in Christ, they, too, are to rule and reign on earth on Christ’s behalf. This does not refer to becoming an earthly monarch, like King Charles III over the United Kingdom. However, just as Adam and Eve were commanded to subdue the earth and rule over it (c.f., Genesis 1:28), now, in Christ, Who redeems those who trust in Him, believers can actually fulfill their duties of subduing the earth and ruling over it, since their King has all authority.
Because Christ is the true High Priest and is the sovereign over all, Christians can (and should) boldly fulfill their calling to proclaim the excellencies of Christ. If Christ is the true High Priest (and He is!), who can bring a charge against us that will sever our relationship to the Father? No one! If Christ truly is the sovereign over all (and He is!), who can separate us from His love or prevent His work from being accomplished through us? No one!
To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever (1:6b)
As one considers all that John just discussed about Christ, this declaration seems to be the only proper response – Praise the Name of Jesus Christ, and may He (He will!) reign forever and ever.
You can read about Jesus’ ultimate victory over His enemies in Revelation 19-22, where you will see that He will reign forever and ever, and He will receive glory forever and ever.
Amen (1:6c)
John ends his doxology with this familiar word to validate what he just stated about Christ (Beale, 43).
Behold, He is coming with the clouds (1:7a)
While his doxology has ended, John continues to discuss Jesus. In this section, the apostle references Daniel 7:13, which Jesus applied to Himself in Matthew 26:64 and Mark 14:62, resulting in the High Priest’ tearing of his robe and pronouncing that Jesus blasphemed. By the High Priest’s response, the reader can easily see that Jesus’ assertion was a claim to be equal with God, which He is. Throughout his Gospel, John is very concerned with showing the reader that Jesus is, in fact, God, and, undoubtedly, he would’ve had the same thought by quoting Daniel in Revelation 1:7.
Also, given the greater context of Revelation and Daniel 7, John is, once again, highlighting the reality that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth because of His resurrection. However, I believe he wants to give his readers some encouragement that, even though they are enduring tribulation (Revelation 1:9), their King, Who has all authority, is returning soon.
G. K. Beale asserts that, due to Jesus’ statements to the churches in Revelation 2:5, 16, wherein He tells them that, unless they heed His words, He is coming to them, John is likely suggesting that Jesus’ “coming with the clouds” in Revelation 1:7 is a continuous one throughout the course of history until His ultimate return, when His ultimate defeat of His enemies is realized and He inaugurates the New Heaven and the New Earth (pgs. 42-43).
Since we know that Jesus does refine His people and that the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are likely a picture of the global Church, I agree with Beale’s claim.
Every eye will see Him (1:7b)
Jesus’ ultimate return to the earth will be one of a global scale, and everyone will give an account to Him (c.f., Revelation 19-20).
Even those who pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him (1:7c)
Yet again, as he will continue to do throughout Revelation, John references the Old Testament. Here, he appeals to Zechariah 12:10:
And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me, Whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
In John 19:37, the apostle also attributes this passage to Jesus, after the Roman soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear.
However, as Beale notes, in Revelation 1:7, John has universalized the Zechariah passage, which was originally written only to the nation of Israel (pg. 42). This should be seen as another reference to the reality that, in Christ, the true Israel is made of people from every tribe, tongue, people group, and nation, not just of ethnic Jews. As the true Israel sees Christ, they will mourn because of their sin and what they did, because of their sin, to Jesus.
So it is to be. Amen (1:7d)
As with the end of Revelation 1:6, John validates his claims.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God (1:8a)
“Alpha” and “Omega” are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, respectively. Here, John utilizes figurative language to reveal a reality, namely that Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Nothing came into being apart from Him, and nothing can continue to exist apart from Him. Also, He has existed from eternity past, just as the Father and the Holy Spirit have, and He will continue to exist into eternity future, just as the Father and the Holy Spirit will. In summary, Jesus is almighty, as we will see at the end of the verse.
The text isn’t completely clear whether or not this is speaking of the Father or Jesus. However, based on the immediate context of Revelation 1:8, which has been Christ-centered, and also because Jesus will assign this title to Himself again at the end of John’s letter (c.f., Revelation 22:13), it’s safe to assume that Jesus is speaking about Himself here.
Who is and Who was and Who is to come (1:8b)
It’s not erroneous for John to apply this title to the Father in 1:4 and for Jesus to apply it to Himself in 1:8. As we discussed in 1:4, Scripture is clear that the Father has always existed, created the world, and sustains all things, but He does so through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Also, as we will see at the end of Revelation, and as was just discussed with John’s reference to Daniel 7, Jesus will return (and does return) soon, and He is presently with believers and has not forsaken (and will never forsake) them. So, for John to assign this title to the Father and for Jesus to assign it to Himself is completely appropriate.
The Almighty (1:8c)
This title ends John’s opening comments to the letter, and it encapsulates everything he has just been saying about Jesus – He has always existed, has complete authority over everything in heaven and on earth, and has been victorious over His enemies, which will be ultimately realized at the end of time.
Given the similarity in what they reveal about Him, one could even see Jesus’ statements about Himself in Revelation 1:8 as a method of saying the same thing in three different ways to highlight the intensity of the glorious reality that He is almighty.
Conclusion
I pray that, as you reflect on John’s words from Revelation 1:4-8, the Holy Spirit will open your eyes more to the glorious reality that we, as believers in Christ, serve a God Who is, Who was, and Who is to come; that you will find comfort that Jesus, your Savior, has all authority in heaven and on earth; and, that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Who indwells every believer, you will be a faithful Kingdom of priests unto God, because Christ is reigning and will reign forever.
