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Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:9-18
In this chapter we must first see more concerning the economical and essential aspects of the Trinity. The beginning of Matthew tells us how Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin (1:18, 20). At the end of Matthew we see the Trinity described in a simple way as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity in Matthew refers to the essence, the existence, of the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one in essence for Their existence. People 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 but into His essence. We have been baptized “into the name.” A name does not refer to a person’s activity but to the very being of that person. When I call a person’s name, this indicates that I 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 very being, the very essence, of the Triune Godhead.
In the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the Trinity is mentioned not at the end but at the beginning. The Trinity in Matthew 28 is essential, and the Trinity in Revelation 1 is economical. Revelation is a book on God’s administration because the center of this book is God’s throne. God’s throne is not related to His person but to His administration, which is altogether a matter of God’s economy. Therefore, the Trinity is mentioned in Revelation 1 not in the way of God’s essence in a simple way but in the way of God’s economy in a very complicated way.
As we have seen, the first of the Trinity in Revelation 1 is Him who is and who was and who is coming. According to Exodus 3, this One, the great I Am, is Jehovah and also the Angel of Jehovah (v. 2). The Angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament was Christ, the One sent by God. Furthermore, in John 8:58 the Lord Jesus indicated that He is the great I Am. Therefore, Christ is also the I Am in Exodus 3, and the One who is and who was and who is coming refers to Christ. In Revelation 1, however, the One who is and who was and who is coming refers to the first of the Trinity, the Father. This shows another divine complication in the economical Trinity.
In the previous chapter we saw the Father as Him who is and who was and who is coming — Jehovah, God the Triune (Exo. 3:14-15). God the Triune refers to God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father is not only God the Father but also God the Triune, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father as the One who is and who was and who is coming is also Jehovah, and Jehovah is God the Triune. Jehovah is not only God the Father but also God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the Triune. This is another divine complication.
In order to understand the Trinity in Revelation, we must again see that the mentioning of the Trinity is not concerning the essence of the Trinity but concerning the economy of the Trinity. In Revelation we see the administration, the government, the activity, the motion, the move, the act, and the work of the Trinity. The Father as the One who is and who was and who is coming is not referred to in an essential way. Revelation 1:8, where the Father declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega, proves this. Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Letters are for composing words, sentences, paragraphs, and compositions. God is the divine alphabet, not for existence but for writing. God compared Himself to the alpha and the omega, which indicates His moving, His working, His “writing.” Verse 8 continues to tell us that the Alpha and the Omega is the One who is and who was and who is coming. This means that He was “writing” in eternity past in choosing and predestinating us unto sonship. He is still “writing” in the present in regenerating people and in working in the believers. His coming in the future means that He will be “writing” in the future. Him who is and who was and who is coming indicates God’s moving, not God’s existence.
In eternity past the Father was moving in choosing and predestinating us. The One who came to redeem us was God the Son, but the Lord Jesus told us that as He was working, the Father was also working (John 5:17). This shows that the redeeming work was also the Father’s work. Now the Spirit is applying to us all that God is and has done. We must realize that the applying One is also the Father because God the Father is God the Triune. God the Father is God the Triune, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In eternity past He was working in choosing and predestinating us, and then He came to redeem us. Do not forget that the Son is included in God the Triune, so when the Son came to redeem us, that was the Father’s coming and the Father’s doing. Also, the Spirit does not apply Himself to us merely as the Spirit by Himself. The Spirit’s application is the Father’s because the Father is God the Triune. Whatever the Father does, whatever the Son does, and whatever the Spirit does is also what the Father does. The Father was doing something in the past, He is doing something now, and He will do something further in the future. All this is the Father’s doing in His economy.
When the Father chose us in eternity past, He was doing this with the Son. The Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). This shows that the Father chose us in the Son. Also, 1 Peter 1:1-2 says that we were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. This shows that God’s choosing was something done by the Triune God and not by the Father alone. This choosing was done in the sanctification of the Spirit. God chose us in eternity past in Christ, the Son, and also in the sanctification of the Spirit. The divine choosing in eternity past was not a matter of the Father only. Our being chosen was by the Father, in the Son, and in the sanctification of the Spirit.
According to our thinking, the Son became flesh, and the Son was the One who was manifested in the flesh. The Bible, however, tells us that the Word became flesh and that the Word was God. John 1:1 does not say that the Word was the Son but that the Word was God. Do you believe that only one-third of God became flesh, one-third remained on the throne, and one-third was as a dove soaring in the heavens? The Bible does not divide God, the entire God, into thirds. Paul also tells us in 1 Timothy 3:16 that God was manifested in the flesh. This again shows that the entire Godhead, the Triune God, became flesh. Economically speaking, God became flesh in the Son. This One who was conceived of the Holy Spirit was born to be a God-man. We cannot say that this God-man is the Son-man. This God-man is the Triune God-man. We believe that Jesus was the complete God and the perfect man. He was the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-man. He lived on this earth as the Triune God for thirty years before the beginning of His earthly ministry. In those thirty years He was mainly a carpenter in Nazareth. While He was doing His carpentry, the Father was there with Him (John 16:32). Also, while the Father was with Him, He did everything by the Spirit (Matt. 12:28). He is a wonderful person.
When He was thirty years old, He came to be baptized. The One who was baptized in the Jordan was the Triune God-man. When He rose up out of the water, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. The Father also spoke concerning the Son, saying, “This is My Son the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight” (3:17). Even though the Lord Jesus was conceived of the Spirit and did things by the Spirit and even though He was with the Father, the Spirit still descended upon Him, and the Father spoke well concerning Him from the heavens. We must realize that essentially, He was conceived, born, and living as the Triune God-man. Economically speaking, however, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father spoke well concerning Him.
The Lord Jesus carried out His earthly ministry for three and a half years both essentially and economically. For the first thirty years of His human life the Triune God was His intrinsic essence for His being and existence. In the last three and a half years of His life, while He was carrying out His ministry, He needed the economical aspect of the Trinity. He needed the anointing Spirit to be poured out upon Him, and He needed to be filled with the Spirit to carry out His ministry. The Gospels tell us that He cast out the demons by the Spirit of God (Matt. 12:28). This is all economical.
Also, Christ was crucified on the cross for us, and He was on the cross for six hours. In the first three hours Christ was persecuted by men for doing God’s will; in the last three hours He was judged by God for the accomplishment of our redemption. It was during this time that God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin (Isa. 53:10). Hence, darkness fell over all the land (Matt. 27:45) because our sin and sins and all negative things were dealt with there. Near the end of these six hours Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (v. 46). God forsook Him because of our sin. Economically, God was judging Him as a sinner, and the judging God left Him economically. Essentially, however, He was dying on the cross as the Triune God-man. This is why Charles Wesley in one of his hymns (Hymns, #296) says, “Amazing love! how can it be / That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?” Economically, God cannot die for us, but essentially, God within Jesus died for us. Actually, however, that was not God dying but God passing through death.
God’s sending of the Son and the Son being given to us are economical. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that a Son is given to us. This is economical. This same verse goes on to tell us that this Son is called the eternal Father. This is essential. In the economical Trinity God gives the Son, and the Son is given to us. In the essential Trinity the Son is called the Father because in essence the Son and the Father are one. The Son went to the cross and was crucified and buried. After three days He resurrected, and in His resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit. This is economical.
In Revelation we have seen that the first of the Trinity was moving in the past, is moving in the present, and is going to move in the future. This is economical. The second of the Trinity is the seven Spirits before the administrative throne of God. This is also economical. Finally, all the points concerning the Son as Jesus Christ, the Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth do not refer to His essence but to His move and His activity. The Triune God became Jesus, and Jesus was anointed to be the Christ. Jesus Christ was the faithful Witness on this earth who died and was resurrected to be the Firstborn of God to produce many brothers so that the church might be brought forth. Now He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth, He has accomplished redemption for us, and He has made us a kingdom, even priests to His God and Father. Also, He will come again. All these points indicate His move and His economy. When Jesus comes again, do you believe that the Father will be left in the heavens and the Spirit will be standing by in the air? Actually, when Jesus Christ comes back, the Son will come with the Father by the Spirit. The Triune God will come in the person of the Son in His economy.
I hope that we all realize that whatever the Father did, He did in the Son by the Spirit; whatever the Son did, He did with the Father by the Spirit; and whatever the Spirit does, He does as the Son with the Father. The three in the Godhead are not separate, but They are essentially one. Economically, the three in the Godhead are consecutive, yet the essential aspect still remains in the economical aspect. The Father’s choosing, the Son’s redeeming, and the Spirit’s applying are all economical, yet in these economical aspects the essential aspect of the Trinity is still here. When the Father was choosing, the essential Trinity was there also. When the Son came to redeem and when the Spirit comes to apply, the essential Trinity is there. As the conclusion of the sixty-six books of the Bible, Revelation is an all-inclusive revelation comprising all the essential and economical aspects of the Trinity. We have seen a wonderful person who is both essential and economical.
Two great and important terms are used in the first two verses of the book of Revelation — the revelation of Jesus Christ (v. 1) and the testimony of Jesus Christ (v. 2). The revelation of Jesus Christ is Christ Himself, and the testimony of Jesus Christ refers to the church. These two expressions refer to the revealed Christ and the testifying church and comprise the entire book of Revelation. In Revelation Christ is revealed, and the church is testifying the revealed Christ. This testified Christ is actually the revealed Christ.
In the book of Revelation we first see Jesus Christ — the revelation of Jesus Christ and then the testimony of Jesus Christ. We see Him who is and who was and who is coming and the seven Spirits who are before His throne. We see Jesus Christ again as the Witness; the Firstborn; the Ruler; the Redeemer; the One who made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; and the One who will come. Also, in Revelation 1 we see the Son of Man in the midst of all the lampstands as the High Priest in His priestly garments. The “garment reaching to the feet” (v. 13) is the priestly robe (Exo. 28:33-35). This One in the midst of the lampstands has seven eyes like a flame of fire, a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of His mouth, seven stars in His right hand, and two feet like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace. This One is also seen as the Lord God, the Almighty, the Alpha, and the Omega.
We must remember that the book of Revelation is primarily a revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the One who is and who was and who is coming, and He is the seven Spirits. He is the Witness, the Firstborn, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the Redeemer, the coming One, the Alpha, the Omega, the Lord God, the Almighty, the Son of Man, and the High Priest. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and this Jesus Christ is the all-inclusive, excellent, marvelous, mysterious, and wonderful One. He is marvelous in the fact that He surprises us to the uttermost. He is also mysterious in that we cannot fully understand or comprehend Him. He is Wonderful! This is our Savior; this is our God. Have you ever considered that your Savior, Jesus Christ, is so much? God’s New Testament economy is focused on a person who is all-inclusive, excellent, marvelous, mysterious, and wonderful. The revelation of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation is all-inclusive.
Revelation 1:2 reveals the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the church. The word witness refers to the person, but the word testimony refers to what the person bears, his work, his 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, and He testified God to produce the church. The producing of the church is His testimony. In other words, the Witness refers to Himself, and His testimony refers to the church. Jesus was the Witness, and what came out of Him was the church as the testimony. This church is revealed in nine aspects: the lampstands (vv. 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). In no other book of the Bible are these nine items so clearly revealed, and these are the aspects of the church as the testimony of Jesus.
In Revelation 1:13-18 the Son of Man is walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. As the Priest, He is dressing the lamps in the Holy Place and searching and infusing the churches, the lampstands. This One is the all-inclusive, excellent, marvelous, mysterious, and wonderful One. This One has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. His eyes are like a flame of fire for searching and infusing (v. 14). In the economical Trinity in Revelation, the second of the Godhead is the seven Spirits and becomes the seven eyes of the third in the Trinity. Do you consider your eyes as one person and yourself as another person? All of us realize that the eyes are of the person. The seven Spirits who are out from the eternal One are also of the Redeemer because the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb, the Redeemer. This again is a strong point to show that this wonderful One is all-inclusive. He is the Redeemer, but the seven Spirits are His eyes. He includes the Spirit.
This One also includes the Father, the One who is and who was and who is coming. Revelation 1:4 and 8 indicate that the Father is the Alpha and the Omega, and the One who is and who was and who is coming. Revelation 22:12 and 13 show that the Lord Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. These portions of the Word prove that the Son includes the Father. Also, Revelation 1:18 tells us that the Lord Jesus is the living One and that He lives forever and ever. This is the eternal One. This wonderful One in Revelation is the Son of Man in chapter 1 and the Son of God in chapter 2. He includes the seven Spirits and the Father, and He is the eternal One, the Almighty, the Alpha, the Omega, the First, the Last, the Beginning, and the End. He is all-inclusive.
We all need to enter into the depths of the book of Revelation so that we might realize that whatever we experience, enjoy, and realize of our Lord Jesus Christ is also our experience, enjoyment, and realization of the Triune God. He is revealed to such 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. First, He is revealed, then we enjoy Him and become His testimony, and eventually our testimony becomes His present revelation. He is now revealed in our experience of Him as a testimony to Him. He is revealed as the all-inclusive, excellent, marvelous, mysterious, and wonderful One. We need to experience and enjoy such a Christ in so many details in order that our experience can become not only His testimony but also His present revelation.
