TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Revelation 1:4-8
When I was in high school, one of my good friends who was completing a Bible degree and entering ministry summed up the message of Revelation in two words, “God wins!” I am not sure if this summary originated with him, but I do know that I never forgot it. After studying through Revelation myself, I found that he was correct. There are other messages that Revelation has to teach us, but the reality of God winning comes from the fact that He is the Sovereign Lord over all creation. In our final lesson on sovereignty, we need to see that the Bible ends with a reminder that God is the sovereign One over the powers of evil, both on earth and in the spiritual realms.
In Revelation 1:4-5 John starts off his revelation with an address to the seven churches of Asia. In his greeting he makes a claim that the rest of the book of Revelation backs up. He writes, “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, 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” (Revelation 1:4-5). He goes on to say that God has “dominion forever and ever” in Revelation 1:6 and ends his greeting with words from the Lord God Himself when He says, “I am the Alpha and Omega…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (1:8).
The beginning of Revelation is a message that the rest of Revelation shows––God is the authority over all things, the sovereign One over history and the evil forces in the world. Revelation 4:8 reveals the song that is sung around the throne of God which acknowledges this sovereignty, and in 18:8 it is our Sovereign Lord who is judge. In between, the all-powerful Sovereign God is in control and will defeat all those, both spiritual and earthly, who stand against Him. As the Word of God comes to a close, the message of the final book is one in which we should find comfort today––God wins!
Today, I will…rest in the confidence that, because our God is the sovereign One over the universe, He will win in the end.