Welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the book of Revelation. This will be study #16 of Revelation, chapter 1, and we are currently reading verse 5 of chapter 1:

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. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

And we are at the point in this verse where it says, "and the first begotten of the dead," and in our last time together we were looking at that phrase, that language, "the first begotten of the dead," and we went to a few other verses and we saw how this is referring to the "firstborn" Son of God.

We know that God is One. There are not three gods or more than one God; there is only one God. Yet, God reveals Himself as three Persons, but one God, and this is a mystery to us, and something that our finite nature will not permit us to comprehend or understand. All we can do is recognize this is a fact, this is what the Bible teaches, and we know it is true.

And within the Godhead, as the Bible calls it, within the triune nature of God, there is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These are the three Persons of God, the one God of the Bible. So we see there is a Father and there is a Son, yet God is here teaching us, really, something stupendous and incredible - He is going into some detail as to how the Son (Eternal God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God) became to be the Son, that is, how it is that the Father is the Father and Jesus is the Son.

And we were looking at some verses, and I would like to look at Colossians again, Colossians, chapter 1, and I will read verses 15-18. Sometimes, it is just reading what God has written, again and again, before we understand and it sinks in. We are 'thick' in our human nature, in our fallen human nature, and our bodies are still corrupt, and so we need to hear things repeated, time and again. Well, in Colossians 1, verse 15:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

And that is referring to the Lord Jesus. Verse 16:

For by him were all things created...

Now notice that verse 15 tells us that Jesus is the "firstborn," and, that is, He is "the only begotten," "the first begotten of the dead," the Son of God. And then we read "by him were all things created," that is, Jesus is the Creator of this world and universe, and He created as the Son of God already, and the book of Hebrews confirms this in the first couple of verses of, Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 :

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

By the Son of God, the worlds were made and, therefore, Jesus had to be the Son already before this world was created, obviously, since He is the Creator, and the Bible clearly says of Him that He, the Son of God, created the world.

Now a little later on when we look at another passage, we will see why that is so important, and, really, ought to instruct us very definitely about when Jesus actually died for the sins of His people and became the Son of God.

But let us continue reading here in Colossians 1, verse 16 and 17:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Now that is a theme that we are going to find also mentioned in the next verse, in verse 18. It is extremely important for us to understand and realize that Jesus is "before all things," and verse 18 will tell us that He has the preeminence, that is, He came first. That is why God tells us directly He is the "first begotten Son of God," the "first begotten of the dead." There were no others before Him, and God would be very jealous of this fact and truth, that Jesus was the first to rise from the dead, and it says here in verse 18:

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead...

Now, again, notice that Jesus is the "beginning." He is the "firstborn." It is the "firstborn" son that has all of the blessing of the father, and Christ is the "firstborn" of the Father. We saw other verses, for instance, in Romans, chapter 8, and I think it was verse 29 and in Hebrews chapter 12, and I believe it was verse 23. Let me double check that Hebrews verse, in Hebrews 12:23:

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn...

We, the Elect people, are the "church of the firstborn," that is, the church of Christ. We are not the 'firstborn' ourselves. Jesus was the "firstborn from the dead," and then all of the children of God follow. We also will be resurrected from the dead; we have to have the resurrection of our spiritually dead souls - we are resurrected from the dead the first time; and then we will need a resurrection from this body, whether it has already died and gone into the grave, or just from the sentence of death in the body (if we happen to be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord). So, we, likewise, will be resurrected because He was first resurrected, and this is the pattern. This is how God has set things up. This is the plan of God.

Now just to finish this verse in Colossians 1, verse 18:

...who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

And a big difficulty lies with anyone that says that Christ had to die for sins - for the sins of His people - at the cross in history, in 33 A.D., after 11,000 years of time had already unfolded; and during that time, there were individuals that had died physically, and God resurrected them from the dead, back to physical life, and not to mention, God's people that had died in soul and were resurrected all throughout that period of 11,000 years of history (they were rising from the dead in spirit), and even when Moses was given a resurrected body after he had physically died, so he rose from the dead, as well, all before 33 A.D.

So there is just tremendous difficulty - all sorts of problems - for anyone who insists that, "No, when the Bible speaks of Christ resurrecting, it must have been after the cross when He rose that early Sunday morning." No, it is not possible. That is not what God is saying. The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead before the world began.

You know, it says in Hebrews, chapter 1, also, a little further along, in verse 5 and 6:

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

You see, here God is indicating there was a point where He stated, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when was He begotten? He was begotten when He rose from the dead.

But the next verse tells us that He brought the first begotten into the world. That means Jesus was already the firstborn Son of God. Jesus was already risen from the dead, in other words, when He was born of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary gave birth, and He entered into the human race, God was already considering Him His first begotten Son because He had already died and had already risen from the dead, prior to that point.

I know this is baffling to some people. It is amazing, actually, but we have to keep in mind we are talking about Eternal God, and even though we do not understand some things, we have to recognize that, well, if this is what the Bible says, so be it, just as we do not understand everything about the Trinity. We finally have to accept our limitations, and we just humble ourselves before the word of God, and, likewise, we have to realize that the Bible insists that Jesus died and resurrected from the foundation of the world.

Let us turn to Romans, chapter 1, and we will read a verse that states this, and I will read a couple of verses here in Romans 1, beginning in verse 2-4:

(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Now let me stop there. You see, God has done something very common in the Bible: He has made an absolutely incredible statement, yet, He made other statements along with it. The Lord, in other words, filled this verse up with so much information that, perhaps, we did not quite catch what He was saying, but allow me to just read the first part of verse 4 of Romans chapter 1, where it says:

...And declared to be the Son of God with power...

Speaking of Jesus - He is the only Son of God that is in view - and notice that He is "declared to be the son of God," and this is referring to the point when God makes that declaration we read in Hebrews 1, "today I have begotten thee." He is declared by God, "This is my first begotten, my only begotten Son, the first begotten of the dead." Now that is what the Bible says in other places; He is the "firstborn," but not just called the "firstborn son," but the "firstborn of the dead."

Now we read the beginning of Romans 1, verse 4, "declared to be the Son of God," and then read the closing statement of the same verse, "by the resurrection from the dead." Did you catch it? Did you hear it? Jesus is declared to be the Son of God, by, or through, (or we could say) via "the resurrection from the dead." That is, He first had to die, and the Bible does tell us He is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," in Revelation 13, verse 8, and, not only die, but resurrect (come back to life), and this resurrection of Christ is what prompted God, and moved God, to declare, "This is my Son. This is the firstborn of the dead, my only begotten. There is not other." There is no other instance, no other point, in time or in eternity when God will make this declaration, the declaration of God stating that Christ is His Son, is at a singular point and no other point: it is only when Jesus rose from the dead, and He was declared to be the Son by the resurrection from the dead.

Well, now again, we need to read those verses. We will not take the time, but please do. Read all the many verses where God calls Jesus His Son, where He is spoken of as the Son of God, and then ask yourself, "How could He be the Son in the Gospel accounts, so early on, when He has not yet died, and He has not yet risen from the dead? And how could He be the Son who created the world, as we saw in Hebrews 1, verses 1 and 2, and in Colossians, chapter 1 also? How could God call Him the Son when God Himself says He makes that particular statement only at the point of Christ rising from the dead?

And, you see, there is no other conclusion we can come to. The only conclusion the Bible will permit is that Jesus died, as the Bible says, from the foundation of the world, and rose before this world began to be called the Son of God. Then, as the first begotten of the dead, the only begotten Son of the Father, He spoke and created this world and universe. And that is why the Bible says the Son is the Creator, and then, from that point on, He is known as the Son of God.

And when Christ entered into the human race, when He was born of the virgin Mary, as a baby and developed (just like any other man in the world), that at any point, God can call Him His Son because He had already, long ago before the world began, risen from the dead.

Now everything fits. Everything is in harmony with everything else in the Bible, and we have a perfect doctrine of the Scripture. This is what the Bible teaches, and this is information that no one knew previously, before the time of the Great Tribulation, when God took the seals off the Scriptures, and He opened up this information. Everything we learn concerning this particular doctrine is true and trustworthy, and can be proven by the Bible itself.

Let us go back to our verse in Revelation, chapter 1, and in verse 5:

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...

Now here we have another statement. As I mentioned before, this verse is just jam-packed, we would say in our modern day, with information; every statement is just dripping with glorious truths, with information, that is extremely important to the Gospel program of God. And, here, God says that He, Christ, is "the prince of the kings of the earth."

Now we have long known, as God has taught us how to understand the Bible, that He speaks of the Lord Jesus as the "King of kings." He is the glorious and majestic King over all the kings of the earth, and this is true of earthly kings, the actual kings that rule countries, and it is true of spiritual kings, and God has in view believers, who are typified as "prophets, priests and kings."

It is very clear in this verse, and also in the verse that follows, where it says "and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;" There is no doubt in this verse, and in verse 6 of Revelation 1, that the kings of the earth are spiritual kings - we are made kings because we have been adopted into the royal family of God, and as Jesus is a King (and we have been adopted into His family to be Christians, to take His name), we are of royal blood, and we also are identified by God as being 'kings.'

But the curious thing is (the thing we have to investigate and check out further) is the statement "the prince of the kings of the earth." Why does God speak of the believers as kings of the earth? And that language is not used exclusively of believers, so we have to be careful.

It is used, for instance, in Revelation 21, in verse 24 (and this is speaking of the New Jerusalem, which is only made up of true believers), it says:

And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

No doubt, once again, the true believers are the "kings of the earth." However, let us compare what we read in Revelation, chapter 6, where God is describing the Day of Judgment, which we happen to be in right now, and He says in verses 14 and 15:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Well, certainly, these "kings of the earth" in the Day of Judgment who are hiding themselves, with all the rest of the people, in the Day of Judgment, and who are they hiding from? Look at Revelation chapter 6, verses 16 and 17:

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

They are hiding themselves from Christ, as they fear His wrath. They do not want to be punished with the furious wrath of God. That cannot be the true believers. For one thing, we do not experience the wrath of God. We have already experienced punishment in Christ when He died for sin. Again, that happened before the world began, so we do not fear Judgment Day, as others might. We have no need. Yes, God is trying us and testing us, and there can be many difficulties, but it is not due to punishment; God's people are not being punished.

This means that God is using the same phrase "kings of the earth" to refer to true believers here in Revelation 1, and in Revelation 6 (and, actually some other places we could go to), He is using it to describe unbelievers, people who are not truly saved. So we have to be careful, and we have to look at the context, wherever we find this statement.

But why is it that God does this? Why would He use this kind of language to describe both His people and those that are not actually His people? Well, we can find the answer to that once we realize that the Bible speaks of two Earths: there is this present world, this evil world, the Bible calls it, that we are in right now, and there is a world to come, a new Earth, that the Bible speaks of.

And the believers will reign with Christ where? Remember Jesus said, when some were threatening Him, that His Kingdom was not of this world; if His Kingdom were of this world, then would His servants fight. But His Kingdom is not of this world. The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, is going to reign eternally over a vast and glorious realm, but it is not including this Earth, because God is going to destroy this world.

So, there are those that have their inheritance in this life, the unbelievers, especially those in the corporate churches and congregations or professed Christians even outside of the church that are not saved. They identify with Christ and, therefore, could be likened to "kings of the earth," but their Earth that they are spiritually reigning as royalty over is this Earth, a temporal Earth that will be destroyed; while the Earth where the children of God, the children of Christ, who is the Prince of the kings of the Earth, where they will reign with Him forever more, is a new Heaven and a New Earth. That is how we can understand why God can use this phrase of both groups.