Greetings

John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

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 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. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:4-8

These seven are representative churches. He addressed them in order, regarding their private and public characteristics. These characteristics were peculiar to the specific congregations named, and also would be evidenced in future stages of the whole Church, as she grew organically in the world.

          Ryrie comments:

The number seven, occurring 54 times in the book, appears more frequently than any other number. In the Bible it is associated with completion, fulfillment, and perfection (cf. Gen. 2:2; Ex. 20:10; Lev. 14:7; Acts 6:3). In Revelation there are seven churches and seven spirits (1:4), seven lampstands (1:12), seven stars (1:16), seven seals on the scroll (5:1), seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb (5:6), seven angels and seven trumpets (8:2), seven thunders (10:3), seven heads of the dragon (12:3), seven heads of the beast (13:1), seven golden bowls (15:7), and seven kings (17:10).
“The seven Spirits.” To whom or what does this refer? Some take this to refer to the seven angels who are before the throne, but it seems best to understand this as a reference to the Holy Spirit and the perfection or fullness of His actions and the manifold nature of His ministry. This fits both the context and the analogy of Scripture as demonstrated below…
Because the obvious parallel to the seven-fold ministries portrayed in Isaiah 11:2. “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit  of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Why then is the Holy Spirit referred to as seven spirits? There is only one Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:4), but in the Bible, seven is consistently associated with perfection, fulfillment, and completeness. Evidently, because Revelation is the final book of the Bible, the culmination, the fulfillment, and climax of the ages. The number seven becomes prominent to demonstrate this.

Grace (unmerited favor) always precedes peace (prosperity—spiritual security IN CHRIST). God’s peace is the possession of those who have received God’s grace. This greeting comes from Him who is—Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union (the God-Man). He was always 100% God. To fulfill the plan of God for our salvation, He became 100% man. This is His status in one person forever. The greeting is also from Him who was—Eternal God, the planner and creator of all things. Greetings also from Him who is to come—the resurrected Christ in His tactical victory at the 2^nd Advent. We see the Holy Spirit represented here by the phrase “seven Spirits before His throne."  Creation, salvation, resurrection and restoration are all the work of the Triune God. God is three and God is one. This is not as difficult to comprehend if you realize that we are surrounded by trinities, such as an egg: yolk, white and shell, all different components of one organism. Light is a trinity: energy, illumination, heat. Man is a trinity: body, soul and spirit. 

The second person of the trinity, Jesus Christ appears in His three-fold office of Prophet (faithful witness), Priest (firstborn of the dead; first human being to receive immortal resurrection), and King (ruler of the kings of the earth). This glorious Person has made us who are His to be kings and priests to God the Father, for His glory and dominion forever.

HE—this Person—JESUS is coming with the clouds! “Clouds”—Shikinah glory, angels, departed saints.  At the time of that coming, there will be darkness over the earth, similar to that in Egypt at the Passover and in Judea at the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus and His “clouds” will be the only light, as He approaches the earth. Therefore, every eye will see Him in the sky like lightening as the earth rotates in darkness. Even those who demanded His death and those who crucified Him. The worldlings will be in mourning as they anticipate His coming. 

Jesus told of this in Matthew 24:29-30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

He foretold this especially for the Jews, for it will be they who will be waiting desperately for Him at the time, and will be told by false prophets and others that the Messiah is “here” or “there” (Matthew 24:26-28). No, He won’t be “here” or “there.” When He does return, everyone will see Him.

He identified Himself as the Alpha—beginning, and the Omega—the end. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Nothing comes before Alpha, nothing comes after Omega. That covers everything.There can be no doubt Who the speaker is; it is the Lord God. He was, He is, He is to come.

He is the Almighty.