Glory and dominion forever and ever

Revelation 1:1-8

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.

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 who are before his throne, 5 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 freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;
    every eye will see him, even those who pierced him;
    and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

There has been conversation about the Biblical book of Revelation recently. So, over the next while we will walk through the first 11 chapters of the book.

Some background will be helpful. John, a disciple of Jesus, towards the end of his life was given a vision of what was to come. As we will see it was written for followers of Jesus living in the province called “Asia” which was part of the country we call Turkey today. (vs. 4) The book is a letter sent to the churches in seven towns and cities around Ephesus, including Ephesus. The book was to give hope to the Christians living at that time in that part of Turkey. Hope in the face of all they were confronting. So, whatever we living in Canada in 2022 hear from the book of Revelation needs to be consistent with the hope that was being preached to the followers of Jesus in the 1st century AD.

Central to the hope being proclaimed, is God the Father and Jesus Christ. In the Roman empire the Emperor claimed to be the power who ruled everything. Notice how the opening verses of Revelation state that God – both the Father and Jesus are the actual rulers of all things. The one “who is and who was and who is to come” (vs. 3 and 8) sits on a throne and is Almighty. Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (vs. 5). He is building “a kingdom” (vs. 6). To Jesus “be glory and dominion forever and ever” (vs. 6). Those are all claims to be the ruler over all human powers, even over the power of the Roman army and the Emperor.    

Here then is something that speaks to our time. No government, no military might, no human made threat, will ever overthrow the power of God the Father and Jesus Christ. They are the ruler of all things, of that we can be sure. They alone are worthy of our praise and faithful obedience.

PRAYER:
We rejoice, O God that You were and You are and You are to come. You are almighty, eternal, and will bring your kingdom into being. We worship and praise you for your kingdom will last forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.