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 which reveals things in an ultimate way, we see something deeper, higher, richer, and sweeter concerning the Triune God. We have seen that in Revelation, the revelation of Christ and the testimony of Jesus are ultimate. In this message, we need to see that here the revelation of the Triune God is also ultimate.
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.” He “who is and who was, and who is coming” is God the eternal Father. “The seven Spirits” who are before God’s throne are the operating Spirit of God, God the Spirit. 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. This is 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. As God the Spirit, He is the sevenfold, intensified Spirit for God’s operation. 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. From such a Triune God, grace and peace are imparted into the churches.
The book of Revelation tells us that God is the Almighty God (Rev. 1:8; 19:6, 15). In the Hebrew language, the title God means the mighty One, the One who is powerful. But in Revelation we see that God is not only mighty, but Almighty. He is powerful in every way, in every aspect, in everything, and with everyone. God’s title means that He is the Almighty One.
This Almighty One is the Lord. Being the Lord means that He is the owner of the universe. We may say that He is the landlord of the whole universe. He is the Ruler, the authority, in this universe. What we or others say means nothing. But what God says means everything because He is the Lord. When He says, “Yes,” it means yes, and when He says, “No,” it means no. God is not only the Lord, the owner, and the authority; He is also the Master. The whole universe, including the angels and all human beings, is under Him. We have a Master who possesses us. Before I was saved, I did not know to whom I belonged. But now I can shout, “God is my Master, the One who possesses me. Hallelujah, He is my Lord!”
Rev. 1:8 says that the Lord God is the Alpha and the Omega. The eternal and Almighty God is the Alpha, the beginning for the origination, and the Omega, the ending for the completion of His eternal purpose. In the book of Genesis He was the Alpha, and now in the book of Revelation He is the Omega. Whatever He has originated He will complete. Governmentally, He continues His universal operation which He originated from eternity and will bring to completion (Rev. 21:6).
God is also the One who is, who was, and who is coming. This is the meaning of the name Jehovah. In Hebrew, Jehovah means, “I am that I am.” His being the I Am signifies that He is the One who exists from eternity to eternity. His title, I Am, not only indicates that He exists but that, in a positive sense, He is everything. He is life, light, and every other positive thing. Do you need life? God is life. Do you want light? God is light. Do you desire holiness? God is holiness. God exists from eternity to eternity and He is everything. This is our God.
As we have seen, our God is triune. His being triune means that He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is impossible for us to understand the Triune God thoroughly, for the divine Trinity far surpasses our mentality. Do not exercise your mentality so much. Rather, exercise your spirit to realize and experience the Triune God as the Father, Son, and Spirit.
Firstly, the very Almighty God is the Father. The Father is nothing less than God Himself. His being the Father means that He is the source. The Father is also the Lord, and, as 1:4 makes clear, He is the One who is, who was, and who is coming.
In Revelation, the sequence of the Triune God is different from that found in Matthew. In Matt. 28:19 the sequence of the Triune God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But in Rev. 1:4-5 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 Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; 22:17. At the opening of the Epistles, only the Father and the Son are mentioned, from whom grace and peace are given to the receivers. Here, however, the Spirit is also included, from whom grace and peace are imparted to the churches. This also signifies the crucial need of the Spirit for God’s move to counteract the degradation of the church.
Let us now see why in Revelation the Spirit occupies the second place in the sequence of the divine Trinity. It is because in this book the age has been changed from the Son to the Spirit. In the book of Revelation, the age is the age of the Spirit, and in this age the Spirit has been intensified.
Because the Spirit in 1:4 is the intensified Spirit of God, He is called the seven Spirits. The seven Spirits are undoubtedly the Spirit of God because they are ranked among the Triune God in verses 4 and 5. We cannot understand the Bible according to our natural, limited mentality. According to our concept, the words seven Spirits denote seven individual spirits. But this is not the meaning. The number seven here does not refer to seven different spirits but to one sevenfold Spirit.
Seven is the number of completion in God’s dispensational move, while twelve is the number of completion in God’s eternal administration. For example, God created the earth in six days plus one Sabbath day. Furthermore, there are seven dispensations in the Bible. For God’s move today, the church has the number seven. In the book of Revelation the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls are all for God’s dispensational move. Thus, the sevenfold Spirit is the intensified Spirit in God’s move today. He is the seven Spirits of God for God’s move.
As seven is the number for completion in God’s operation, so the seven Spirits are for God’s move on the earth. In substance and existence, God’s Spirit is one; in the intensified function and work of God’s operation, God’s Spirit is sevenfold. It is like the lampstand in Zechariah 4:2. In existence it is one lampstand, but in function it is seven lamps. At the time the book of Revelation was written, the church had become degraded and the age had become dark. Therefore, the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God was needed for God’s move and work on the earth. We all are familiar with three-way bulbs, light bulbs that can be switched to three successive degrees of illumination. When we do not need very much light, we switch the bulb to the first degree, but when we need more illumination, we switch it to the second or third degree. In like manner, the seven lamps on the lampstand were the sevenfold, intensified light. In the four Gospels, the Spirit of God was onefold because at that time there was not the need for so much light. However, after the church had been degraded and the age had become exceedingly dark, there was the need for the Holy Spirit to be intensified sevenfold. In this way the one Spirit of God has become the sevenfold Spirit. In existence, the Holy Spirit, like the lampstand in Zechariah, is one, but in function the Holy Spirit is seven.
The seven Spirits of God are the seven eyes of the Lamb (Rev. 5:6; Zech. 3:9; 4:10). Our eyes are for our moving. If we are blind, it is very difficult to move. In God’s move today, Christ as the Lamb of God has seven eyes. The seven eyes of the Lamb are also for watching, observing, and transfusing. When I look at someone, something of me is transfused into him. We often talk about loving one another, but how can you realize that someone loves you? Love is transfused through the eyes. If you look at me in a loving way, your eyes will transfuse your love into me. When Christ looks at us with His seven eyes, we may be terrified at first. Eventually, however, these seven eyes will transfuse Christ’s element into us.
The Holy Spirit today is the seven eyes of Christ. Many Christians argue that the Holy Spirit of God is separate from Christ, but the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the eyes of Christ. Do you think of your eyes as being separate from you? It is ridiculous to say this. When I look at your eyes, I look at you, and when you look at me with your eyes, you look at me. The eyes of a person express that person. To say that the Holy Spirit is separate from Christ does not correspond with the pure revelation of the Holy Word. How can we say that a person’s eyes are separate from the person himself? There is no room to argue about this. We have seen that the Bible says that the Spirit of God today is the eyes of Christ. This simply means that the Spirit is Christ. My eyes are me. When I look at you, my eyes look at you. If I had no eyes, I could never look at you. Hence, the Spirit, the eyes of Christ, is not separate from Christ. He is the eyes of Christ looking at us. Our experience proves this. Day by day, we sense that Someone is looking at us. This Someone is the Spirit, who is Christ Himself. If the Spirit were not Christ, we would sense that two, the Spirit and Christ, were looking at us. To say that the Spirit is separate from Christ is to pluck out the eyes of Christ and to separate them from Him. It is not scriptural to say that the Spirit is separate from Christ and that Christ is not the Spirit. Just as we and our eyes are one, so Christ and the Spirit are one. Our Christ is not a blind Christ. He is the Christ with the seven eyes. Often, He transfuses His element into us. At other times, He observes us like a flashlight, saying, “What are you doing? Are you fighting with your husband? Stop!” Have you not had this kind of experience? Day by day we experience this watching, observing, and transfusing Christ. This watching, observing, and transfusing take place through His eyes. His eyes are the Spirit, and the Spirit is simply Himself. If you do not believe it, you will miss the blessing.
The seven eyes are also the seven lamps of fire before the throne of God (Rev. 4:5; Zech. 4:2). This is difficult to understand. Christ carries out God’s administration by the shining of the seven lamps of fire. This is true in the churches today. When Christ looks at and through us, He shines upon us and executes God’s administration. Many times as the elders in the churches are discussing matters with one another, they have the sense that the seven lamps of fire are shining upon them. This is Christ’s carrying out of God’s administration through the shining of the seven lamps of fire.
The seven Spirits of God have been sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). Wherever we go, the seven eyes will follow us. In fact, they will go before us and be waiting for us at our destination. Many dear saints who are unhappy with the church in a certain locality have moved to another locality, thinking that it would be much better for them in another place. But when they arrived at their new locality, they found that the Spirit was waiting for them. Some of us have gone places where we should not have gone, and when we arrived there, we were greeted by the Spirit, who said, “Go back. Don’t stay here.” Today the Spirit has been sent forth into all the earth. He now pervades every corner of the earth. This is the wonderful Spirit of the Triune God.
After studying the book of Revelation again and again, I have discovered that it contains twenty-six items of what the Son is. Since there are twenty-six letters in the alphabet, we may say that Christ is every letter from A to Z. He is useful for composing any word. Do you want to compose the word light? He is l, i, g, h, and t. Would you like to compose the word love? He is l, o, v, and e. With Christ we can compose any positive thing. After we have the words, we have sentences, paragraphs, and chapters, and once we have the chapters, we have the whole Bible. The entire Bible is composed with Christ. Let us now briefly consider each of the twenty-six aspects of Christ found in Revelation.
The Son is Jesus Christ. Jesus is Jehovah the Savior, and Christ is the One anointed of God to carry out God’s economy.
The Son is the faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5; 3:14). He 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.
The Son is the Firstborn of the dead (1:5). 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. God’s second work is resurrection. Firstly, God created all existing things; secondly, He resurrected some of these existing things and brought them into another sphere, another realm, which is the realm of resurrection. Are we in God’s first creation or in His second creation? 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 shall 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.
The Son is the Ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5). Although the Communists are against Christ, they use His calendar without realizing that they are doing so. According to history, the one whose calendar you use is the one to whom you are in subjection. If any used the calendar of a certain king, he would have to be under the rule of that king. In like manner, the Communists are under Jesus Christ because they use His calendar. They call it the international calendar, but actually it is the calendar of Christ. In this way they unconsciously admit that He is their Ruler. In the universe, there is one unique Ruler. All mankind today uses the calendar of Christ and is under His rule. All the people on earth are His people, and He is the Ruler of all nations. Jesus might say to the Communists, “You are opposing Me, but I will cause you to be My people. I will cause you to use My calendar, and you will have no choice about being under My rule. I am the unique Ruler of the earth.”
The Son is the Son of God (Rev. 2:18). As the Son of God, He is God Himself. He is the true God with divinity.
The Son is also the Son of Man (Rev. 1:13). As the Son of Man, He is a genuine man with humanity. He is both the very God and the proper man.
The Son is the first and the last (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13), the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13), and the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 22:13). When I was young, I was bothered by these terms, thinking that they were repetitious and that the beginning, the first, and the Alpha were the same and that the end, the last, and the Omega were the same. But this is not a matter of repetition, but of different aspects. Being the first does not necessarily mean that you are the beginning. Being the first simply means that you are the first and that prior to you there was nothing. However, to be the beginning does not only mean that you are the first, but also that you have begun something. What then is the difference between the Alpha and the beginning? A certain thing may be the beginning, but it may have neither the content nor the continuation. To be the Alpha and the Omega means that you are the complete content and continuation. For Christ to be the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, indicates that He is also every other letter in the alphabet. The first and the last simply indicate the first and the last without indicating either the beginning or the ending. In order to be the beginning and the ending, you must take a certain action. Christ is not only the first but also the beginning, the beginning of God’s economy and God’s operation. God’s operation began and will end with Christ. This Christ is also the content and continuation of God’s operation, because He is not only the beginning and the ending but also the Alpha and the Omega. In other words, the Son, Jesus Christ, is everything. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the ending of God’s operation, and the content and continuation of whatever God is doing. Because the Greek letters from Alpha to Omega comprise all the letters of the Greek alphabet, we may say that Christ is every letter for us to compose words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books. Hallelujah, He is everything!
The Son, the all-inclusive One, is the living One (Rev. 1:18). He died, became alive, and lives forever.
This living One is the holy One (Rev. 3:7), the One who has God’s holy nature that sanctifies.
Christ is also the true One (3:7), the One who is genuine and real in every way.
In Rev. 19:11 we see that Christ is the faithful One, the One who is worthy of our trust.
The Son is also the Amen (Rev. 3:14). The title Amen has various meanings: reality, yes, let it be. His being the Amen means more than we can say. Thirteen years ago, I was invited to a meeting in Tyler, Texas. In that meeting I was somewhat cautious, not daring to say, “Amen,” loudly. At the end of some of the prayers, I quietly said, “Amen.” After a while, someone came to me, saying, “Brother Lee, you probably don’t know the custom in this country. In this type of service, you must be silent.” Deep within my heart, I said, “The most silent place is the cemetery. You people are trying to make your church service a cemetery.” What is wrong with our saying, “Amen”? It is equal to calling on the name of the Lord. When we say, “Amen,” we mean, “O Lord Jesus.” Let us all learn to say, “Amen!”
In 3:14 we are told that the Son is the origination of the creation of God. This is an important concept. The translators have been troubled by this verse. Some have said that Christ is the originator, not the origination. However, the meaning here is not originator but origination. Christ is the origination of God’s action to create the universe.
The Son is the Root and the Offspring of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16). This means that He is both the root and the branch of David. Once again, we see that He is everything. As the root, He is the first, the beginning, and the Alpha, and as the branch, He is the last, the end, and the Omega.
As we have pointed out in a previous message, Christ, the Son, is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5) and the Lamb (Rev. 5:6; 21:23; 22:1). He is the Lion-Lamb. To the enemy, He is the Lion; to us, the redeemed ones, He is the dear, precious Lamb.
The Son is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16). The King of kings refers to His authority, and the Lord of lords refers to His headship. He is the authority and the head of the whole universe.
The Son is the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), the expression of God. Because Christ is the Word, He and the Bible are one. Do not read your Bible without reading Him, and do not contact the Bible without contacting Him. As we come to the Bible, we must realize that He Himself is the Word of God.
In Rev. 22:16 we see that the Son is the morning star. In Malachi 4:2, He is revealed as the Sun, but here He is revealed as the morning star. His being the Sun is mainly related to the people on earth, but His being the morning star is related to His watchful, waiting believers. To those who watch and wait for His coming back, the Lord will appear as the morning star. Although I desire to see Him as the Sun, I am now waiting to see Him as the morning star. We all love Him in His aspect of being the morning star, and He will appear to us in this way.
In Rev. 21:23 Christ is revealed as the lamp who contains God as the light. The light is the very essence of the lamp, and the lamp radiates the light. God is the essence of Christ, and Christ radiates God.
In Rev. 21:2 we see that the New Jerusalem is the wife of Christ. This implies that Christ is the Husband who takes God’s redeemed people as His wife.
Finally, Christ is another Angel (Rev. 7:2; 8:3; 10:1; 18:1) sent by God to carry out God’s commission. In the Old Testament, Christ appeared as the angel of the Lord several times (Exo. 3:2-6; Judg. 6:11-24; Zech. 1:11-12; 2:8-11; 3:1-7), coming to take care of God’s people for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Now in this book He is again the Angel sent by God to carry out God’s purpose.
If we put all twenty-six items together, we have a clear vision of what the Son is. The Father and the Spirit are one with the Son. Without the Son’s being so many items, the Father could not be adequately expressed and the Spirit would not have so much to express.
