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In the foregoing messages, we have considered the experience and enjoyment of Christ in the twenty-one Epistles of the New Testament. In these messages we have seen one hundred eighteen aspects of the riches of Christ, who we may experience and enjoy for His expression. We need to realize that to experience and enjoy Christ is to experience and enjoy the Triune God, for Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. In fact, to enjoy Christ is to enjoy the processed Triune God — the processed Father, the processed Son, and the processed Spirit. The Son of God passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Even God the Father was processed, for the Father was with the Son in whatever He passed through (John 8:29; 16:32). The Spirit of God was processed through Christ’s death and resurrection to consummate in the life-giving Spirit. Such a processed Triune God is everything to us. The New Testament is a book of enjoying the processed Triune God to express Him in the universe for eternity.
In this message we will begin to consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ revealed in Revelation, the last book and the conclusion of the Bible. As we consider these aspects, we will see that Christ as our eternal enjoyment is the embodiment of the processed Triune God. Revelation 1:1 speaks of “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The book of Revelation, as the conclusion, completion, and consummation of the Bible, is “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This means that Revelation is the unveiling of Christ Himself. It is a picture, a depiction, of Christ, not merely a revelation given by Christ. We must see that Christ is the center, the focus, and the predominant figure of the entire book of Revelation. Thus, we must take the term the revelation of Jesus Christ in a subjective way. It is not merely a revelation given by Christ but a revelation which unveils Christ to us.
In this universe Christ was mysterious, secret, and hidden from human eyes and human understanding. However, after Christ’s ascension the veil was opened, and Christ is now revealed to us. This is the meaning of “the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Christ is revealed in the prophecies, types, and clear words of the Old Testament. If we read the Old Testament, paying close attention to the prophecies, types, and clear words regarding Christ, we will have a revelation of Christ. Through these revelations, we can see a view of various aspects of Christ. Nevertheless, no matter how perfect the revelations of Christ are in the Old Testament, they are not complete. Hence, we must come to the New Testament, which is a full revelation of Christ. If we read only the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, we will see many aspects of Christ, but we will not see the aspects covered in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is the unique and ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ. The unique and ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ is a revelation of the all-inclusiveness of Christ — the excellent, marvelous, and wonderful One who is the focus of God’s New Testament economy. He is marvelous in that He surprises us to the uttermost; He is also mysterious in that we cannot fully understand or comprehend Him.
Revelation is a long book of twenty-two chapters, but it may be divided into three sections. The first three chapters comprise one section, revealing Christ in the church. The second section, from chapter 4 through 20, reveals to us Christ in God’s judgment and kingdom. These seventeen chapters show us that in God’s judgment and kingdom Christ is the center. Thus, even this section is the revelation of Christ. Throughout all these chapters there is the line of the wonderful, glorious Christ who is the essence, reality, and center of God’s judgment and kingdom. The third section, Revelation 21 and 22, reveals Christ in eternity as the center, centrality, and universality of all things. In eternity Christ will be the centrality and universality of God and man. Christ is everything. The first section reveals Christ in the church, the second section reveals Christ in God’s judgment and in His kingdom, and the last section reveals Christ in eternity.
In Revelation 1:4-7 Christ is revealed as the last of the Divine Trinity. The whole Bible is the revelation of God. In the book of Revelation we have the ultimate and complete revelation of who God is. God is triune. We all are familiar with the term the Triune God. This is a great matter in God’s revelation. Throughout the centuries, however, most Christians have not fully realized the meaning of the term the Triune God. In the book of Revelation, the book that reveals things in an ultimate way, we see something deeper, higher, richer, and sweeter concerning the Triune God. In Revelation, not only is the revelation of Christ ultimate; the revelation of the Triune God also is ultimate.
Revelation 1:4-7 reveals the Triune God. As God the eternal Father, He was in the past, He is in the present, and He is coming in the future (v. 4). As God the Spirit, He is the sevenfold intensified Spirit for God’s operation (v. 4). As God the Son, He is the “Witness,” the testimony, the expression of God; “the Firstborn of the dead” for the church, the new creation; and “the Ruler of the kings of the earth” for the world (v. 5). From such a Triune God, grace and peace are imparted into the churches (v. 4).
In Revelation the sequence of the Triune God is different from that found in Matthew. In Matthew 28:19 the sequence of the Triune God is: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In this verse Christ as the Son is presented as the second of the Divine Trinity. But in Revelation 1:4 and 5 the sequence is changed. The seven Spirits of God are listed in the second place instead of the third. This reveals the importance of the intensified function of the sevenfold Spirit of God. This point is confirmed by the repeated emphasis on the Spirit’s speaking in 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; 22:17. At the opening of the other Epistles, only the Father and the Son are mentioned; from Them grace and peace are given to the receivers. Here, however, the Spirit is included; from Him grace and peace are imparted to the churches. This too indicates the crucial need of the Spirit to counteract the degradation of the church for God’s move.
In Revelation we see that the first of the Divine Trinity, the Father, is modified by the phrases who is, who was, and who is coming (1:4). The second of the Divine Trinity in Revelation, the seven Spirits, is modified by before His throne (v. 4). The third of the Divine Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is modified by the faithful Witness; the Firstborn of the dead; the Ruler of the kings of the earth; Him who loves us and has released us from our sins; made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; and He comes (vv. 5-7). All these modifiers are used to modify the three of the Godhead and indicate that the Divine Trinity in Revelation is not the essential Trinity but the economical Trinity. The essential Trinity refers to God’s existence. In God’s existence the Father, the Son, and the Spirit coexist and coinhere from eternity to eternity. There is no modifier needed for the essential Trinity. The book of Revelation, however, does not touch the existence of the Trinity but the economy of the Trinity. According to God’s economy the Father is the One who is now, who was in the past, and who will be in the future. These modifiers indicate economy. Also, in God’s existence the Spirit of God is one, but in God’s economy the Spirit of God is seven in function. Essentially God’s Spirit in existence is one, but economically God’s Spirit needs to be intensified to fulfill His function to carry out God’s economy. In essence God the Son is simply the Son, but in God’s economy He is Jesus, Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the One who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, the One who has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, and the One who comes to execute God’s final government. The sequence of every modifier of the Son in Revelation 1:5-7 is related to God’s move, God’s economy. Revelation does not touch the divine essence of the Trinity but the divine economy of the Trinity.
The Trinity in Matthew 28 is the Trinity of God’s existence, the essential Trinity. At the end of Matthew we see the Trinity described in a simple way as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one in essence for their existence. We need to be baptized into the divine essence of the Divine Trinity; we do not need to be baptized into God’s economy, His administration, His move, or His acts. We have been baptized “into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19). A name does not refer to a person’s activity but to the being of that person. When we call a person’s name, this indicates that we desire that person. To be baptized into “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is to be baptized into the person of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This is a matter of the being, the essence, of the Triune Godhead.
In contrast, the Trinity in Revelation is the Trinity in God’s economy, the economical Trinity. Revelation is a book on God’s administration because the center of this book is God’s throne. God’s throne is seen in Revelation to administrate God’s eternal purpose. The throne of God is not related to His person but to His administration, which is altogether a matter of God’s economy. In Revelation we see the administration, the activity, the motion, the move, the act, and the work of the Trinity.
In God’s essence the Trinity is simply the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, whereas in God’s economy the Trinity is complicated. Also, in God’s essence the Father is first, the Son is second, and the Spirit is third. In God’s economy, however, the Spirit comes before God the Son. The Spirit carries out God’s administration and infuses and searches the churches. In the four Gospels the Son was more present than the Spirit, but in Revelation the Spirit is more present than the Son; hence, the Spirit comes before the Son in the sequence of the economical Trinity in Revelation 1.
In Revelation 1:4 and 5 the Father is listed in the first place. He “who is and who was and who is coming” is God the eternal Father. The “seven Spirits” are mentioned second. The seven Spirits who are before God’s throne are the operating Spirit of God, the unique Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who was ranked third in the Divine Trinity in Matthew 28:19. The unique Spirit of God has been intensified sevenfold to become the seven Spirits of God, who is unveiled as the second of the Divine Trinity in the last book of the Bible. Christ, the Son of God, is then listed in the third place. Although Revelation 1:5-7 does not mention the expression the Son of God, it gives us a description of His person and work. As to His person, Christ was the faithful Witness in the flesh on earth, the Firstborn of the dead from the time of His resurrection, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth from the time of His ascension until His second coming. In the past Christ was the faithful Witness while He lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. Then from the time of His resurrection Christ became the Firstborn of the dead to be the Head and the beginning of God’s new creation. Finally, from the time of His ascension until His return, Christ is the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the Head of the government of this earth. Jesus Christ, who is to God “the faithful Witness,” to the church “the Firstborn of the dead,” and to the world “the Ruler of the kings of the earth,” is God the Son (v. 5). As to the work of Christ, verses 5 through 7 reveal what He has done, is doing, and will do. He loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood. He accomplished redemption in order to make us a priestly kingdom, a composition of priests to His God and Father. He also will come with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, put Him, to death, and all the tribes of Israel will mourn over Him (Zech. 12). Based upon the description of Christ’s person and work in Revelation 1, we may say that in the execution of God’s final government, Christ as the last of the Divine Trinity is the consummation of the Divine Trinity.
In Revelation 1:5 Christ, the Son of God, is unveiled as “the faithful Witness.” The Son is God’s Witness. Although He is God, He is also the Witness of God. Without Him, we cannot know, see, or gain God. God is testified by Him. He is the Witness of the entire Godhead.
Christ’s being the faithful Witness refers to His earthly life of thirty-three and a half years. He was the Witness, the testimony, the expression of God, testifying in His human living what God is (3:14). His expressing God was His witnessing. Many people wondered who He was. This man was God, and He witnessed God. As the living and faithful Witness of God, Christ is the One who testifies God. All men know that there is God, but no one has ever seen Him. However, there is a man in this universe, who lived on the earth by the name of Jesus and who was and still is the testimony of God. In Christ, we can see whatever God is (John 1:18). Jesus testifies God not only by His word and deeds but also by what He is. His being is the testimony of God.
First, Christ, our Head, is the Witness of God, bearing the testimony of God. The believers are then the witnesses of Christ for the spreading of His gospel (Acts 1:8). As witnesses of Christ, we are His continuation to be witnesses, witnessing the all-inclusive Christ for the spreading of the gospel to produce His Body. We testify Christ’s human living (10:37-39a), death, resurrection, and ascension (2:30-36; 3:15; 10:39b-41). In Acts, this was the apostles’ testimony. This testimony is to save sinners to be the members of Christ for the building up of His Body (2:37-42; 4:10-12; 10:42-43).
Revelation 1:2 speaks of the testimony of Jesus Christ. Witness refers to the person, but testimony refers to what the person bears, to his work and doing. For example, a witness is a person in a court of law who gives his testimony; the testimony refers to his doing. The Lord Jesus was God’s faithful Witness, who testified God to produce the church. The producing of the church is His testimony. In other words, the Witness refers to Christ Himself, and His testimony refers to the church. Jesus was the Witness, and what came out of Him was the church as the testimony. The book of Revelation presents the testimony of Jesus, which is the church as the corporate expression of Christ.
God’s goal in His creation of man was to have a corporate expression, a testimony, of Himself, and according to this goal, man was made in the image of God in order to be His testimony (Gen. 1:26). The living person of Jesus is the image, expression, and testimony of God, and the church today is the testimony of Jesus, His corporate expression (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15, 18; 3:10-11, 15). Revelation is an unveiling of Christ, and Christ is expressed through the church; therefore, the church is the testimony of the Jesus revealed in Revelation. In the human living of Jesus, He fully expressed God; He was the real “photograph” of God. Now this one photograph has been reproduced in the believers. As believers in Christ, we are reproductions, “photographs,” of Jesus; therefore, today God has a corporate expression — the church — which is the testimony of Jesus, who is the expression of God (John 1:14, 18; 12:24; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16). The first God-man, the wonderful all-inclusive Christ, now lives in us as the life-giving Spirit; He is our life, we experience and enjoy Him, we are constituted with Him, and we live Him for His expression (1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:4, 10-11; Phil. 1:20-21a). The corporate God-man living, the living of the many God-men as reproductions of the first God-man, is the genuine church life — the testimony of Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27; Rev. 1:2, 11, 20).
In the book of Revelation the church as the testimony of Jesus is revealed in nine aspects: the lampstands (1:11-12, 20), the great multitude of the redeemed (7:9-17), the bright woman with her man-child (12:1-17), the harvest with its firstfruits (14:4, 14-16), the overcomers on the sea of glass (15:2-4), the bride ready for marriage (19:7-9), the army of the Lamb (17:14; 19:14, 19), the co-kings of Christ in the millennium (20:4, 6), and the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth (21:1-3).
The book of Revelation is not only a revelation of Christ Himself but also a revelation concerning Christ in His church and in oneness with His church (1:1-2, 11; 22:16a; Eph. 5:25, 32). In Revelation we see Christ with His church and in the church (1:11-13). Jesus is the testimony of God, expressing God; God needs an enlargement of His testimony, which is the church (1 Cor. 12:12). Christ is the testimony of God, and the church is the testimony of Jesus, the enlarged Christ (John 1:18; 5:31-37; 8:14; Rev. 1:2, 5, 9). What God is, is fully expressed in Jesus, and what Christ is must be fully expressed in the church (Eph. 3:21). Today God has a corporate expression — the church — which is the testimony of Jesus, who is the expression of God (Col. 1:15, 18; 2:2; Eph. 3:4, 6). Our destiny as believers is that we would express the Triune God in a corporate way as the testimony of Jesus.
According to the book of Revelation, we need to realize that whatever we experience, enjoy, and realize of our Lord Jesus Christ is also our experience, enjoyment, and realization of the Triune God. In the book of Revelation Christ is revealed to a great extent, and we must experience and enjoy Him to such an extent. Our enjoyment then becomes His testimony, and this living testimony is the present revelation of Jesus Christ. Christ is revealed, we experience and enjoy Him and become His testimony, and our testimony becomes His present revelation. In our experience of Christ as a testimony to Him, He is revealed as the all-inclusive, excellent, marvelous, mysterious, and wonderful One. We need to experience the all-inclusive Christ in a detailed way so that our experience of Him becomes not only His testimony but also His present revelation (Eph. 3:16-17a, 19b, 21; Rev. 1:9, 11; 22:16a).
In Revelation 1:5 the Son is also revealed as “the Firstborn of the dead.” In the universe God has two creations: the creation by His first work and the creation by His second work. We all know God’s first creation, but not many of us are familiar with His second creation, resurrection. First, God created all existing things; second, He resurrected some of these existing things and brought them into another sphere, another realm, which is the realm of resurrection. While our body remains in God’s first creation, our spirit is in His second creation. Our spirit has been regenerated. This means that it has been recreated; hence, it belongs to God’s second creation. In both of God’s creations, Christ is the first. Colossians 1:15 says that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation, and in Revelation 1:5 we are told that He is the Firstborn of the dead. He was the first to be resurrected from the dead, and we will follow Him. Here the phrase the Firstborn of the dead indicates the creation of God in resurrection. This signifies a new beginning. In God’s first creation there was a beginning, and in God’s second creation in resurrection there was another beginning. When we were regenerated, we experienced a new beginning in God’s second creation.
Christ’s being the Firstborn of the dead refers to His resurrection. He is the Firstborn of the dead, the Firstborn of resurrection. Lazarus was resurrected from the dead (John 11:43-44), but his resurrection was only temporary. Later on he died. With the Lord’s resurrection, however, death is over. He will live forever (Rev. 1:18). Thus, He is truly the Firstborn of the dead.
