‘To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen’ (Revelation 1:5b-6).

Just put yourself in John’s shoes.  You’ve been faithfully ministering the Gospel for many years, but now you find yourself imprisoned on a small desolate island for that very reason!  It’s Sunday, and you’re on your own, engaged in worship. In your heart you’re concerned that what’s happened to you could easily happen to the Churches where you’ve ministered!  What was going to happen to the Church?  That was the question that was probably going through John’s mind at this time as the many of the Churches John had ministered in were facing major persecution.  It is to these Churches that this blessing is given.

So why this blessing in the rather unusual place at the beginning of the letter rather than at the end?  Perhaps the thing to note is this blessing starts to establish a theme for the book, one that is crystallised in the words of the glorified Christ.  “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17b-18).  Both the blessing and these words focus us on the main theme of the book as they place Christ at the centre of history. Not just that, he transcends history itself and provides redemption for his people!  So, let’s look at the blessing itself, as well the verses around it, and see what we can learn.

The introduction to the book reminds us that Revelation is about what is being revealed (v3).  The book is to be an encouragement to the Church as it will bring blessing to those who heed its words.  John addresses the letter to seven Churches in, what today is, Asia Minor (v4).  The number seven represents completeness in Jewish thinking, so these Churches represent the universal Church.  The introductory greetings of verses 4-5a emphasises the doctrine of the Trinity with it’s mention of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.[1]   But it also acts as an introduction to the centrality of Christ death with the phrase: ‘the first born from the dead’ (v5a) this being emphasised again in the second half of verse 5 with a reference to the: ‘blood’ of Jesus being absolutely essential in the process of forgiveness.

The blessing it’s self is set out in a way that shows the process by which the offer of Salvation is made.  Firstly, God loved us (John 3:16), that was his motivation in sending Jesus. Secondly, Jesus has: ‘freed us from our sins by his blood.’  His death was absolutely essential as in Jesus we see the fulfilment of all the sacrifices demanded by the Law as he is ultimate sacrifice (Matthew 5:17-18).  This was essential as: ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins’ (Hebrews 9:22b).  Lastly, it is by this that God has redeemed his people: ‘and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father’ (v6).  The purpose of this is to bring glory to him.  Verse 7, with its reference to Daniel 7:13, serves to emphasise that Christ is now in a position of glory, a glory which the blessing has made clear he shares with the Church and was achieved through his work on the cross!

Yet these are much more than fine sounding words.  John has two purposes.  He wants to assure the Christians that he’s writing to, some of whom will soon face persecution, that Christ is sovereign over all powers and authorities that might threaten the Church. That’s a picture that the book portrays very clearly.  Persecution and suffering may come, but Christ rules!  The second thing John wants to convey is the Christian’s role in the present time, and that’s why he uses the word: ‘priests’ when referring to the Christians he’s writing to.

John is writing to ordinary Christians yet, like an Old Testament priest, they have a job that involves intercession.  Not by offering animal sacrifices, that has been superseded by Jesus’ sacrifice once for all (1 Peter 3:18).  Rather, the priestly role of the Christian is found in prayer and witness.  Leon Morris notes: ‘the essential thing about a priest is that he mediates.  He speaks to God on behalf of men and to men on behalf of God.  Believers are assigned this responsible task by their God.  They are to pray to God for the world. And they are to witness to the world of what God has done.’[2]  John wanted believers to know that they share in the work of Christ and, whatever suffering they faced in the meantime, they could be assured that in the future he would share his glory with them!

[1] The phrase: ‘the seven spirits’ (v-4) might baffle us.  John knows there is only one Spirit (John 16:13), so it’s possible that the number seven represents the completeness of God’s Spirit, and also the seven aspects of God’s Spirit which are referred to in Isaiah 11:2.
[2] Leon Morris, Revelation, An Introduction and Commentary (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 1969) 49.