Revelation - Chapter 1

First Born of the Dead

Revelation 1:5-6 – and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born out of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth; to him who did love us, and did bathe us from our sins in his blood, and did make us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him [is] the glory and the power to the ages of the ages! Amen. (YLT)

This is a pretty straightforward passage. Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection fulfills the New Covenant, giving salvation to all believers in Christ, making them priests of God. A similar passage is written in Colossians:

Colossians 1:18-20 – And himself is the head of the body – the assembly – who is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all [things] – himself – first, because in him it did please all the fulness to tabernacle, and through him to reconcile the all things to himself – having made peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether the things upon the earth, whether the things in the heavens. (YLT)

In Bible times, the first-born son would receive the greatest birthright or inheritance from his parents. Jesus is the first born out of the dead, meaning He existed before mankind. Therefore, He inherits the right to be the king of all of mankind.

Clouds

Revelation 1:7 – Lo, he doth come with the clouds, and see him shall every eye, even those who did pierce him, and wail because of him shall all the tribes of the land. Yes! Amen! (YLT)

This verse simply gives us a picture of the second coming. I discussed this in depth in my article on the Rapture. Basically, the overcomers will meet Jesus in the air, and escort Him back to Earth.

Alpha and Omega

Revelation 1:8 – ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and end, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is coming – the Almighty.’ (YLT)

God declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter. God is saying that He is the beginning and the end. In other words, He exists in the beginning and in the end at the same time. To God, events don’t occur one after another in a linear timeline. All of history is present at the same moment in God’s eyes. This idea is repeated later in Revelation:

Revelation 21:6 – and He said to me, ‘It hath been done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End; I, to him who is thirsting, will give of the fountain of the water of the life freely; (YLT)

Revelation 22:13 – I am the Alpha and the Omega – the Beginning and End – the First and the Last. (YLT)

God’s existence in the end means that He not only can predict the future, he has predestined it. Man does not have free will. Some claim that God only knows enough to predict the future, but not enough to interfere with our free will. This is completely illogical. To predict events of people in the future with absolute certainty is the same thing as predestining the events of people. See my article on Predestination for more.

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