".......and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth" Revelation 1v5.
We are brought face to face with three aspects of the Person of Jesus Christ; this is followed by three aspects of the work of Jesus Christ. For now we focus on the three aspects of His glorious Person. As to the past, He is the faithful witness; as to the present He is the first begotten from the dead; and as to the future He is the Prince of the kings of the earth.
- He is the faithful witness. A witness is someone who has seen and heard something. These facts would be required by a court of law from a witness testifying before them. Jesus Christ is the only true witness of God, only Jesus Christ has directly seen God; only Jesus Christ has directly heard the words of God. He came from heaven, from the presence of God; He gave witness to all that He had seen and heard. In that witness His loyalty to God was supreme and thus He is described as the faithful witness. This fact is imprinted all over the gospel of John "I speak to the world those things which I have heard from the Father." John 8v26. Again in John 8v28 " I do nothing of Myself but as My Father has taught Me , I speak these things." In John 3v34 we read " For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him." All through the gospel of John the use of the double assertion of truth "Verily, verily" occurs more than twenty times. Readers can benefit greatly by studying each of these references. In chapter 14v6 He said "I am .... the truth......" He is the one person on whom we can rely who has revealed to us the Divine mind. He is the truth about creation, sin, God, man, heaven, hell, the devil, life, death, salvation etc. etc. In all matters of doctrine and practice He uttered faithfully the mind of God. When He spoke, God was speaking. When He acted God was acting. The word for witness is "martur," from which we get our English word "martyr." The reality is that not only Christ but many who have since followed Him have been martyred because of their witness for God in a God- hating world.
- He is the first begotten from the dead. Not first in time but first in rank. The idea of first in scripture always means first in rank. Psalm 89v27 " I will make Him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth." Colossians 1v15 "The firstborn of all creation." Colossians 1v18 "He is the beginning the first born from the dead." Hebrews 1v6 " When He again brings the first begotten into the world He saith let all the angels of God worship Him." The apostle John uses another expression in connection with Christ as "The only begotten." The word is " monogenes" which means only one of his kind (none to be compared with him). Here he uses the expression "first begotten," which is prototokos which means the first of many. In the expression "only begotten" the idea is of the incomparable Son of God. He is unique in all the universe. In the expression "first begotten" the idea is always that many will follow, but of which group He is the head and the thought is of His pre-eminence of rank in the redeemed universe.
- He is the prince of the kings of the earth. The expression "kings of the earth" occurs elsewhere, usually in the context of rebellion against God. Psalm 2v 1-2 : Revelation 1v5 : 6v15 : 16v14 : 17v2 : 18v3 : 18v9 : 19v19 : 21v24. The history of this world is that the kings of the earth have been rebels. A sovereign restraint has been placed over them, but in essence they have been anti-God. This trend reaches its climax in the end times and Jesus will put down every corrupt government and establish divine rule on the earth. The last reference to this expression "kings of the earth " is in chapter 21v24 where all the kings of the earth are in subjection to the rule of Christ.
To be continued./
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