The First & Last
Sermon Notes
Now as for today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story, where we’re going through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the last amen in Revelation 22. We only have 3 messages left in this series, and today’s text brings us to the last book of the bible which is Revelation. It’ll be an interesting Christmas series, because Christmas is about the incarnate birth and 1st coming of Jesus, yet we’re talking about the end times and 2ndcoming of Jesus. But my hope is we’ll better appreciate the 1st coming of Jesus, as we study the 2nd coming of Jesus. My hope is we’ll view Revelation as more than a book about the end times, it’s about a future hope in the 2nd coming of Jesus. Do you need hope?...Are you struggling, facing hardships?...Are you worried about your future, as you live in a current world of uncertainty?... Everybody needs hope at some point in life, and Revelation points us to that hope. So let’s turn to Revelation 1 and get into it. You’ll find Revelation in the last quarter of the bible, it’s the last book of the bible. We’ll be in Revelation 1:8-18 and title of today’s message is The First and The Last. The big idea is that a day will come, when Jesus will prove he’s greater than your greatest afflictions...A day will come, when Jesus will prove he’s greater than your greatest afflictions.
Context:
Here’s your context. I know some of you are hoping I’ll breakdown the symbolic details of Revelation, especially when it gets to all the end times stuff. Unfortunately I won’t have time to do that in 3 messages, but we’ll eventually do an entire series on Revelation in the future. So for now we’re focusing on an often overlooked theme in Revelation, which is the future hope in the 2nd coming of Jesus. In ch 1 the author, the Apostle John, gives us some context about what Revelation’s about. He writes in Revelation 1:1, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave to show his servants what must soon take place.” In the original Greek the word revelation means to unveil or reveal something. John says this is about unveiling, revealing something about Jesus, and things that’ll soon take place. Let’s check out what some of those things are.
The Word:
Revelation 1:8-18 states, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’” says the Lord God, ‘the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” That’s a revelation about Jesus. He’s the Alpha, and the Omega. It’s such a powerful statement, and I’ll come back to explain it later.
Vs. 9, “I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction...” The affliction John’s talking about is the persecution Christians experienced in the 1st Century, during the time he’s writing this. John says he’s a partner in these afflictions, meaning he’s experiencing these afflictions too. All the other Apostles were already martyred by now, so he’s the last apostolic leader, the last of the original 12 disciples of Jesus. But he was still tortured and put in exile by the Romans on an island called Patmos, which was their version of Alcatraz. Historically we know Nero was one of the first Roman emperors to start persecuting Christians, and by the end of the 1st Century the Roman emperor Domitian unleashed even worse persecution. He demanded Christians worship him as Lord, but they refused, so he increased their persecution. It was a very brutal period of suffering where they impaled Christians, ripped their arms off using horses, drilled holes in their skulls to pour molten led inside, even burned them alive to use them as streetlights in the night. I hate being so graphic, but it’s some of the present and future afflictions John’s talking about. It’s a historical fact that Christians faced brutal afflictions in the 1st Century. It’s also a historical fact that Christianity still survived despite these afflictions. It’s because they refused to stop worshiping Jesus as Lord. They’d rather suffer and die than stop worshiping Jesus as Lord. John writes Revelation to help these 1st Century Christians learn some things about Jesus, to help them face their current and future afflictions. It’s things that can also help us face our current and future afflictions. We aren’t facing the same afflictions as them, but we’re still facing afflictions. What are those afflictions for you?...What afflictions are you currently facing in life?...Are you facing physical health or mental health issues, making it hard to wake up and face the day?...Are you facing marital, parental, family issues, leaving you feeling defeated by the end of the day?... Are you facing issues at school, issues with your career, issues shaking certain addictions or sins?... What afflictions are you currently facing?...Everybody’s facing afflictions...Both skeptics and believers are facing afflictions, and John writes the book of Revelation for those facing afflictions.
Again vs. 9, “I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit, on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet 11 saying, ‘Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.’ 12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,, dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest. 14 The hair of his head was white as snow, and his eyes like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze fired in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of cascading waters. 16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his facewas shining like the sun at full strength.” This is part of the unveiling, the revealing John mentioned earlier. He’s unveiling, revealing that Jesus appeared to him in a magnificent way during this brutal period of afflictions. He’s describing what he saw, and each description of Jesus has symbolic implications. He describes his hair as white as snow, symbolizing Jesus has infinite wisdom. He describes his eyes as fiery flames, symbolizing Jesus has infinite insight. He describes his feet as bronze, symbolizing Jesus has infinite strength. He describes his voice as cascading waters, symbolizing Jesus has powerful words that have infinite eternal implications. He describes his face as bright as the sun, symbolizing Jesus has infinite radiance and glory. What John’s describing is an exalted glorious view of Jesus. He’s saying “What I saw in Patmos during this brutal period of afflictions, was an exalted glorious Jesus who’s far greater than our greatest afflictions!...He’s far greater, than our greatest afflictions!”
Vs. 17, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man...” Jesus is so great, he’s so glorious, that John fell at his feet. His legs became weak and collapsed like a dead man collapsing to the ground. It’s the first time John’s seen him since he resurrected and ascended to heaven, and what’s interesting is John was known for being extremely close with Jesus. In fact John’s often referred to as the one whom Jesus loved. In the original Greek it translates as the one whom Jesus kept on loving, meaning despite all his faults and failures Jesus kept on loving John. They had an extremely close friendship, but when he sees Jesus here it causes his feet to weaken and collapse. Why? I mean this is the same Jesus he was close friends with before, so why’s he collapsing in his presence now? It’s because on earth Jesus had to conceal part of his power and glory or else people couldn’t handle his presence. But here he’s unveiling, he’s revealing more of his power and glory to John, and it’s so great it causes John to fall at his feet like a dead man. The reason Jesus appears like this instead of like John knew him before, is so John can see he’s greater than John’s greatest afflictions. He’s saying “John I know you and many others are facing afflictions. I came to warn you and the world that more afflictions are coming. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. But I promise a time’s coming when I’ll fully release my power and glory in a way that’ll obliterate all afflictions forever. I’m revealing a glimpse of that power and glory to give you hope for your afflictions now, and to share that hope with others for the future.” It’s a power and glory that causes John to collapse, and to claim Jesus is far greater, than our greatest afflictions.
Again vs. 17, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever...’” Jesus says I’m the First, and the Last, which is the same thing he says back in vs 8. He says I’m the Alpha, and the Omega. Alpha’s the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega’s the last letter, meaning Jesus is the First and the Last. But what’s Jesus mean by that, and how can it give us hope in our afflictions? It means 3 primary things.
#1 Jesus is in the beginning of history = Jesus says I’m the Alpha, I’m the First, meaning he was there in the beginning of history. He’s the God who eternally existed before history and set everything in motion. Colossians 1,“Everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth...All things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.” Jesus isn’t the Beta of creation, he’s the Alpha of creation. He’s the Alpha, we’re the Beta, which means we can’t really know who we are without him. The Beta doesn’t exist without the Alpha. It goes Alpha then Beta, and so we can’t really know who we are without knowing him. The more you align your heart with him as your Alpha, the less lost you’ll feel in life, and the more you’ll start enjoying your life. It’s because your heart’s aligning with the one who created you. In the words of St. Augustine, “You’ve made us for yourself Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you!” Jesus is saying he's the Alpha, the God who existed in the beginning of history. He created us, so we need to align our hearts with him.
#2 Jesus is in the end of history = Jesus is in the beginning of history, but also in the end of history. He says I’m the Alpha and the Omega! I’m the First and the Last! This means he didn’t just start history, he’s also making sure history will end according to his desired purposes. He’ll be the final judge, he’ll have the final word at the end of history, because he’s the Omega.
#3 Jesus is in the middle of history = Since Jesus is in the beginning and end of history, it means he’s also in the middle of history. Jesus is saying to John, these 1st Century Christians, and us that he’s still working in the middle of history, including our current afflictions. He gives John this revelation, reveals his power and glory in such a great way, it causes John to collapse. He says “John I’m much more powerful than you ever realized! I know you and many others are facing afflictions, but find hope in me and my power knowing I’ll make sure it ends well for you, and anyone who has faith in me. I’ll make sure it ends well because I’m the Alpha, the Omega, and everything in between!” Author Paul Tripp states, “Your world isn’t a world of constant chaos controlled by impersonal forces. Your final destiny isn’t in your hands or in the hands of other people...If you’re a child of the King of Kings...then you’re a part of his plan, which means the exercise of his power and authority is for your blessing...We can press on, when little around us makes sense.” We can press on knowing Jesus is working out his plan in the middle of history, which includes a triumphant victory over all our afflictions at the end of history. I know when we’re facing afflictions it sometimes feels like Jesus is absent, it feels like he doesn’t care. But our afflictions can’t mean he doesn’t care, because if he didn’t care he wouldn’t have died on the cross for us, and he wouldn’t have given John this revelation to share with us. He died and gave John this revelation because he loves and cares for us. He wants us to know great afflictions are coming, but his power will prove greater than our greatest afflictions in his 2nd coming.
It’s this very revelation and hope, that helped John and these 1st Century Christians keep their faith while facing brutal afflictions. You don’t face brutal afflictions like they faced, and write the things John writes about Jesus unless it’s all true. Remember John was a partner in these afflictions, yet he’s known for writing more about the love of Jesus, the love of God than any other biblical author. He writes things like John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but shall have eternal life.” 1st John 4:8-9, “God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him.” 1st John 4:10, “Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atonement for our sins.”John writes about God’s love more than any other biblical author, despite facing brutal afflictions. It’s because he saw Jesus live, die, rise again, then come back in Revelation 1 with such great power and glory, that it turned his heart from pain to praise, from fear to tremendous faith. He writes Revelation to warn us that great afflictions are coming, but also to give us hope in Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega who’s greater than our greatest afflictions. It’s to give us hope in the 2nd coming of Jesus, where Jesus will eventually give the final word in history, and the final word over our afflictions.
The Big Idea:
The big idea is that a day will come, when Jesus will prove he’s greater than your greatest afflictions...A day will come, when Jesus will prove he’s greater than your greatest afflictions, but it’s a promise only for those who put their faith in Jesus. If you don’t put your faith in Jesus, you’ll put your faith in something else, and that something else is a Beta. It isn’t the Alpha, it’s a Beta, which might help with your afflictions for a while. But eventually it’ll fail because it isn’t the Alpha. You need an Alpha over your afflictions not a Beta, and you need an Omega to one day put an end to your afflictions. So put your faith in Jesus because he’s the Alpha who can help with your afflictions, and he’s the Omega who will one day put an end to all your afflictions. Put your faith in Jesus like John and these 1st Century Christians did. Like us they wanted Jesus to wipe away all their afflictions, but instead Jesus warns them and us it’ll get worse before it gets better. It’s because we’re still living in between his 1st and 2nd coming.
In his 1st coming he came as a little baby born in a manger, concealed the fullness of his great power and glory as an adult, to reveal his great love for us by dying for our sins on the cross. In his 1st coming he concealed his great power and glory, to reveal his great love. But in his 2nd coming the great love he revealed, will compel him to release his great power and glory for those he loves. In his 2nd coming he’ll release the fullness of his great power and glory in triumphant victory over Satan, sin, and all our afflictions. John’s saying until that day comes, we need to cling to Jesus as if our lives depend on it because it does. He’s the Alpha and the Omega! He’s the First and the Last! He’s the one who was there in the beginning of history, he’ll be there in the end of history, and until then he's working in the middle of history for his glory and for the good of those who love him. So let’s cling to him this Christmas season, let’s cling to him in everyseason, including our seasons of afflictions. I know it can sometimes be hard to see and make sense of what he’s doing now, and it’s even harder to see and make sense of it the greater your afflictions are! But a day will come, when those who put their faith in Jesus will see our afflictions were great, but Jesus proved greater, than our greatest afflictions...Let’s pray...