And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:5-6
Psalm 89 & Revelation 1
Christ, as the greater Son of David and greater Adam, is our Covenant and Kingly Representative. What He accomplishes, He does so for us. Because of our union with Him, what He accomplishes, we accomplish. We reign with Him.
Psalm 89 is an important text for this section of Scripture. Revelation 1:5-6 is alluding to Psalm 89:27,37 as the three descriptions of Jesus being “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth” are all mention in Psalm 89.
This psalm moves from covenant assurance (v1-37) to thoughts of covenant uncertainty (v38-52). David’s Son is triumphant but then He is also defeated? In Christ, this picture is crystal clear.
In His humiliation, Jesus took on flesh and went to the Cross. He was rejected and died in seeming defeat in order to bring us unimaginable victory. As the King, He took His sword and thrust it into the belly of sin, Satan, and death and rose victoriously in both body and soul.
Revelation’s Theology of the Cross: Through Suffering Comes Victory
This theme of victory through death is prominent in Revelation. With Christ, who is the faithful witness to the revelation and covenant of grace, God’s people might appear dying but are actually victorious. Because Christ has ascended and is reigning on the Heavenly Throne, His elect never need to fear that they won’t make it all the way home. No matter how much other religions or governments rage, Christ's exalted reign on the Sovereign Throne ensures that He will work all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).
The firstborn possesses the highest honor. He is the leader. He is the example.
In the case of Christ being the firstborn from the dead it means that He is triumphant over death. While His Cross looked like Ehud’s left-handed ways, it was by His atoning death and victorious resurrection that He thrust His sword into the belly of death giving death a mortal wound. As the Greater David, He took the smooth stone of His substitutionary atonement and justifying resurrection and launched it lethally into the head of our enemies. Three birds—sin, Satan, and death—slayed with one stone.
In Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Beale and McDonough bring up the reference in Revelation 1:5 to Christ’s priestly work. Christ is the Great High Priest who has done better than the Old Covenant priests. He has fulfilled their work “since OT priests accomplished sanctification and atonement for Israel by sprinkling the blood of sacrificial animals (cf. Exod. 24:8; Lev. 16:14-19).” The Old Covenant sacrifices looked toward the one true sacrifice of the one true Lamb of God. As priest and sacrifice, the True Son of David lays down His life on behalf of his people in order to free them from their sins.
Death Is Transformed
Because He frees us from our sins, the wages of sin (i.e. death) is no longer upon us. Ultimate death went upon Him. Now, death has lost its sting and grip upon us. As WLC 85 says, “The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out of God’s love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.”
Since Christ put death to death, death is now the last phase of sanctification for believers as they are taken from this realm and translated into glory where they are purified and perfected. Revelation gives its readers supreme confidence that the suffering and persecution that they face is not the wrath of God nor the victory of sin, Satan, and death. Rather, they are victorious through those very sufferings and have the guarantee that they’ll make it all the way to heaven. That is why they must have a “conquering” mindset.
Unrivaled Royalty
Christ is also the ruler of kings on earth. He is the arch-Ruler. No one is greater than Him. Though the Roman Emperor or Jewish religious leaders would seek to persecute Christians, they need not fear because the Lover of their soul and their Champion rules over all kings on earth. No one can pluck them out of His hand. No one can separate them from His love. He will avenge them. He will defend them. He will provide for them.
This is the worldview we ought to have. This is the way we ought to interpret all events in life—that the Lord of History is sovereignly ruling and reigning and carrying out all events according to His immutable decree. What assurance!