Yesterday we started a new series entitled Back to the Future.  As I have studied the book, the more I realized the parallels to the movie.  The past is repeated in the future and the future is a reflection of the past.  As we start this series, we will find time and time again that John is just looking to the future by seeing the past and placing the past in a new setting of the future.  And one of the things I did not stress in the message this morning (we will see it come out next week much more) is how exalted Jesus is in the book of Revelation.  Here in chapter one, he is placed on par with God.  Jesus is called the ruler of the kings of the earth.  There are several passages in the OT that give this job to God (Ps 2:10-11; Ps 47:9).  Later on Jesus calls himself the first and the last (vs 17) which parallels what God calls himself in vs 8, the Alpha and the Omega.  Jesus says he is the Living One which is what God is called in Deut 5:26, Josh 3:10, 1 Sam 17:26, 36; Ps 84:2, and many other places.  Jesus is divine and his death and resurrection attests to this.  Hence why it is mentioned twice in this opening chapter (vs 5 and vs 18).  And he holds the key which is reminiscent of the prophecy from Isa 22.22 (also see Rev 3:7-8).  And finally he accepts the worship of John in vs 17 which we will see in other places in Revelation is not accepted by non-divine beings (Rev 19:10; 22:9).  Jesus is God, who became a man to suffer and die, and who was raised to life as a sacrifice for our sins.  Tune in next week to discover more.