Concerning the first of the divine Trinity we see three modifiers—who is, who was, and who is coming. Concerning the second of the divine Trinity in Revelation, the seven Spirits, is the modifier, “before the throne of God.” For the third of the divine Trinity, Jesus Christ, there are the modifiers, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, Him who loves us, who has loosed us from our sins, who made us a kingdom and priests to His God and Father, and who comes. All these modifiers are used to modify the three of the Godhead and indicate that the divine Trinity in Revelation is not the essential Trinity but the economical Trinity. The essential Trinity refers to God’s existence. In God’s existence, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit coexist and coinhere from eternity to eternity. There is no modifier needed for the essential Trinity. The book of Revelation, however, does not touch the existence of the Trinity but the economy of the Trinity. According to God’s economy the Father is the One who is now, who was in the past, and who shall be in the future. These modifiers indicate economy. Also, in God’s existence, the Spirit of God is one, but in God’s economy the Spirit of God is seven in function. Essentially God’s Spirit in existence is one, but economically God’s Spirit has to be intensified to fulfill His function to carry out God’s economy. In essence God the Son is just the Son, but in God’s economy He is Jesus, Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the One who loves us and has loosed us from our sins by His blood, the One who has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, and the One who comes to execute God’s final government. All these modifiers do not refer to the existence of the Son but to the Son in God’s economy, in God’s move, in God’s actions. The sequence of every modifier of the Son in Revelation 1:5-7 is related to God’s move, God’s economy. Again, Revelation does not touch the divine essence of the Trinity but the divine economy of the Trinity. The throne of God in the book of Revelation is the center of God’s administration. God’s throne is seen in Revelation to administrate God’s eternal purpose. This is altogether a matter of God’s economy.
In God’s essence, the Trinity is simply the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In God’s economy, though, the Trinity is complicated. Also, in God’s essence the Father is first, the Son is second, and the Spirit is third. In God’s economy, however, the Spirit comes before God the Son. The Spirit carries out God’s administration and infuses and searches the churches. In the four Gospels, the Son was more present than the Spirit, but in Revelation the Spirit is more present than the Son, so the Spirit comes before the Son in the sequence of the economical Trinity in Revelation 1. The Trinity in Matthew 28 is the Trinity of God’s existence, the essential Trinity, and the Trinity in Revelation is the Trinity in God’s economy, the economical Trinity.
Some may argue, however, that the first designation of the Father refers to existence since it indicates Him who is, who was, and who shall be. To be means to exist. In Exodus 3, however, God is not referred to as the One who is, who was, and who shall be. He is referred to as “I AM THAT I AM,” the great I Am. This, undoubtedly, purely denotes God’s existence. God is the One that is, the great I Am. However, when it says Him who is, and who was, and who is coming, this denotes some activities. God was there in eternity past, in creation, and with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; He is now here with us; and He will be there in the New Jerusalem for eternity future. This does not refer to existence, but to doings, to actions. In John 5:17 the Lord Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” The Father was working in eternity, He was working in creation, He was working in the Son for redemption, and He shall be working. This shows us that the title “Him who is, and who was, and who is coming” does not mainly refer to existence, but to the Father’s working, the activities of the Father, in different times. The Father works in the past, He works today, and He will work in the future.
Revelation 1:8 says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.” This word does not refer to the existence of God the Father, but to the activities, the work of the Father. As the Alpha He is the beginning; He originated all the things of the universe. He will be the Omega, the ending for the completion of His eternal purpose. He will finalize and finish what He has initiated. God the Father worked in the past, He works in the present, and He will work in the future.
Some may think that if this is the case there is no need of the Son or of the Spirit to work. John 5:17, however, indicates that the Father works and the Son works also. The Father never works alone or by Himself. The Father always works in the Son by the Spirit. The Lord Jesus told us that when He was on the earth He was working with the Father and even in the name of the Father (John 5:43). Also, in John 14 the Lord indicated that the word He spoke was not His own word and that while He was speaking the Father was working within Him (vv. 10, 24). We must also realize that when the seven Spirits are working, this is not merely the work of the Spirit. The seven Spirits are out from the Eternal One and of the Redeemer. The seven Spirits are not working alone today, but this intensified Spirit is working out from the Father and of the Son.
Both God the Triune as the Father, and Christ as the Son, declare to be the Alpha and the Omega, indicating that God the Father and God the Son are one (Rev. 1:8; 22:12-13). Both the Son and the Father declare that They are the Alpha and Omega in the book of Revelation. This shows us, again, that the Son and the Father can never be separated.
After the fellowship in this chapter, I hope that none of us are so clear that the three of the Godhead are distinct, separate, and clear-cut persons. Even when we touch the economical Trinity in the book of Revelation none of us can be so clear that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three distinct, separate, and clear-cut persons. These complications involve the finalization of God’s New Testament economy and the conclusion of the divine revelation.