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I. Grace and peace from the Triune God
II. The speaking Spirit
III. The Triune God shown by the New Jerusalem
А. The Triune God as our entrance
B. The Triune God as our existence
In this lesson we come to the last book of the Bible, Revelation. The whole Bible is the unveiling of God, and Revelation is the conclusion of the entire Bible. So in this book we have the ultimate and complete revelation of who God is. God is triune. In Revelation, the book which reveals things in an ultimate way, we see something deeper, higher, richer, and sweeter concerning the Triune God.
In chapter one there is a wonderful greeting. Revelation 1:4 and 5 say, "Grace to you and peace from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is coming, and from the seven Spirits Who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth." Here it says that you will receive grace and peace from the Triune God. He "Who is, and Who was, and Who is coming" is God the eternal Father. The "seven Spirits Who are before His throne" are God the Spirit. Jesus Christ, of course, is God the Son. He is the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Most of the Epistles begin with a greeting but none can compare with this one. This is the ultimate "Triune God greeting." If you would pray-read this verse, you could not help but enjoy grace and peace from the Triune God.
In chapters two and three we see that the Lord is just the Spirit. In these chapters there are seven epistles to seven local churches. At the beginning of each epistle it is the Lord who speaks (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). But at the end of all seven epistles it says that it is the Spirit speaking (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). This proves that whenever the Lord Jesus speaks He is the speaking Spirit. The Lord is the Spirit and the Spirit is the Lord. The speaking Lord is the speaking Spirit.
Have you ever heard the Lord's speaking? Certainly you cannot hear Him with your physical ears. But because Christ is the speaking Spirit, He can speak something into your spirit, your "spiritual ears." When you read the Word of God with an open spirit, the Spirit will speak something of Christ into you. In the letter to Ephesus the Lord says, "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore whence you have fallen and repent" (Rev. 2:4-5). Then verse 7 says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." As you read these verses you may realize that the Lord is not your first love, your best love. That means you love something else — like clothing, music, or computer games — more than the Lord Himself. That feeling inside you is from the speaking Spirit. That is the Lord speaking to you. You must immediately repent and turn back to Him by praying, "O Lord, I love You only. I don't care for so many other things. I want to be crazily in love with You. I love You supremely. You are my best love, my first love." Then the grace and peace of the Triune God will fill you. You will enjoy the presence of the Lord as grace and your heart will be at peace with God. Hallelujah, He loves us so much! He should be our first love.
The New Jerusalem in chapters twenty-one and twenty-two unveils the Triune God to us in an ultimate way. All the features of the holy city that John describes are wonderful signs showing us the Triune God and His economy. We shall look at just two of those features.
Revelation 21:12 and 13 tell us that this city has "a great and high wall; having twelve gates..on the east three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates." The three gates on each side signify that the Triune God — the Father, Son, and Spirit — works together to bring people into the holy city. This is indicated by the three parables in Luke 15. We saw in Lesson Eight that in order for a sinner to be brought to the Father's house, there is the need of the Son, the Shepherd, to bring back the lost sheep; there is the need of the Spirit to enlighten people's hearts that they may repent; and there is the need of the Father to receive the returned and repentant prodigal son. Hence the Triune God is the entrance to the New Jerusalem.
Each of the four sides of the city has three gates. The gates on any one side are exactly the same as the gates on the other three sides. This indicates that the Triune God is available to people in all four corners of the earth. Whether you come from the east, north, south or west, there is an entrance into the holy city. (We will see in the next lesson that the New Jerusalem is not a physical city but rather the Triune God mingled with His people.) What an entrance this city has!
Verse 1 of chapter twenty-two says, "And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." Here we see the Triune God in full. There is God, the Lamb, and the river, which represents the Spirit (John 7:38-39). Notice that there are not two thrones — one for God and one for the Lamb. There is only one throne. Then how do They sit? Are They side by side or are They one on top of another? By now you should know that God is in the Lamb and the Lamb is in God. They coinhere one another. And out of this throne, God the Spirit is flowing out as a river. When the Spirit reaches you, you have both the Father and the Son.
This scene shows us the Triune God for our existence. First, God the Father is the Creator (Eph. 3:9). He created all things, including you and me. If He did not create us, we would not exist. So we must thank Him for being the creating God. Second, the Son as the Lamb is our Redeemer (John 1:29; Eph. 1:7). He shed His blood for our sins that we might be redeemed back to God. Without His redemption we would be under God's condemnation forever — in the lake of fire. So we must praise Him, our redeeming Lamb! Finally, the Spirit, shown by the river of life, is our Regenerator (John 3:6). The Spirit regenerated us so that we are born of God. Then He continually supplies us so that we may grow in God and express Him. That is for our existence as children of God. We should greatly appreciate such a three-one God for our threefold existence; He is our Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator.
