Text: Revelation 1: 1-3
Title : The Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Date: 21/07/2013
We currently live
under the pervasive influence
of post -modern thought processes. Post -modern people do not
believe in absolute truth. History and the future are in
a sense irrelevant, since everything is
subject to doubt and uncertainty. The
here and now is all
important. Only the present is real. Therefore feelings and emotions rule. Post- modern
people do not generally first ask, “Is this true?”, but they first ask, “does
it feel right to me“? The
matter of wanting to live in the “ here and now“ is
not wrong in itself. After all, Matthew 6:25-34 makes that very clear, and some people live only in the past while others are
utterly consumed by thoughts of the
future. The problem with only living in the
‘now’ without reference to past or future, makes
people intensely self- centered,
arrogant and opinionated. It makes
people very shallow in their
thought processes. Since there is no desire for absolute truth and since
the past is irrelevant and the future
meaningless post modern people do not want to think
about ultimate realities such as death, or whether there is a God, or an afterlife, or whether there is a judgment to come.
Now, the book of Revelation
deals
with all these ultimate matters in a definite, absolute way. There is a God of absolute truth who directs history, who helps us in the here and now and who
directs our thoughts and aspirations into the future. A
key to the understanding of the Revelation is
the Lord’s identification of
Himself as the “Alpha and the Omega” . He is
the Sovereign God! He is the first and the last, the beginning and the
end.[1] He is
God from eternity unto eternity. He is
at the beginning and at the end of history.
This implies that God finishes what He starts. The last two
chapters (Ch’s
21- 22) reveal the
consummation of creation- the end for which the created order was designed and intended. When He
says, “Behold I am
making all things new “ (Rev 21:5), then He tells us that He intends to renew
the world, which until now has suffered
from decay and degeneration, and all as a result of the fall (Gen.3). The renewal of all things began when through
Christ God ‘reconciled all things to Himself, whether things on earth or in heaven,
having made peace by the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20). The paradise that was lost is regained in
Christ. So the past determines the
now for the future! We are now living in
the time of that renewal,
and we thank God for the great
work begun on the cross of Christ, but we
are also aware that we are in a process of transformation that
will be completed when Christ comes
again.
Revelation 1:1-3
The first three verses
help us to see how this book has come about:
1. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ.
2. It is a revelation of the things which must soon take place.
3. We are told how this revelation was received. It was given by God, through Christ, by the agency of an angel, to His servant John, and by John to Christ's servants.
4. It ends with a blessing (v.3)
1. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ.
2. It is a revelation of the things which must soon take place.
3. We are told how this revelation was received. It was given by God, through Christ, by the agency of an angel, to His servant John, and by John to Christ's servants.
4. It ends with a blessing (v.3)
“The Revelation of
Christ…”
The Greek word for "revelation" is apokalupsis,
from which the word "apocalypse"
is derived. It means “uncovering”.
Here it refers to what God
has chosen to reveal to John for
the benefit of the church in all
ages. It is the "revelation
of Jesus Christ." The genitive
case (‘of’) here can either
mean that Jesus revealed
to John what follows in this book,
or it can mean that it is the Lord Jesus Christ that is being revealed here. Without getting
too technical as many commentators tend
to be, I believe that it could mean both. This is the revelation
of the eternal plan of God through Christ to John, and in that process He reveals
Himself to John.
So this book is about Jesus
and His work, but now from His
perspective as the ascended Lord. Remember that the revelation of Jesus Christ to us is not finished! He appeared in the flesh (He was born), He died and was resurrected and He departed again to the Father, but He needs
to reappear from heaven in
radiant glory (1:7) to judge the living and the dead and to create the new heavens and the new earth. His work on earth
is done, but the complete revelation is not finished. And don’t
we know it! We are currently groaning under the weight of sin. (Rom 8:22,23).
The creation
and the church is suffering. Christians are persecuted. The church is
eagerly waiting for the revelation of
Jesus Christ when He comes with the clouds, and every eye will
see Him (1:7). But we are living in the ‘not
yet’. We are living in the ‘hope’ stage. We are living in
anticipation of future realities. So,
while things often look out of control, this book teaches us that nothing is out of
control. Even now Jesus has all power in
heaven and on earth. Even now He is the King of kings and Lord of lords
(19:16;17:14). Even now He controls all
things and directs everything for the
benefit of His church. Even those who die in the Lord are not lost (14:13).
But right now He is not revealed to us as He is. This will happen on the day when He shall be revealed in His glory, never to be hidden again after
that. Then shall His revelation be perfected. This is what the book of
Revelation is all about, and this is what we must remember as we work our way through this fascinating
book.
Now John
is receiving this revelation from Christ and about Christ
(and His past, present and
future work), and when we must remember
that John is permitted to see things
that literally would take His breath away (1:17). The things that He sees cannot be
described in literal language. He has to use descriptions and words subject to the limitations of human language
and comprehension. What he describes
often looks rather gloomy.
We read of oppression , wars in
heaven , earthquakes and destruction, the
killing of God’s saints in ever widening
and increasing intensity. But
don’t be tempted to get lost in the details. Keep the end in view. Keep eternity in view. All
things lead to the final revelation of our Lord in glory! If you see this then
you shall not fail to receive the blessing that is
promised to them that read and hear the words of this prophecy!
“To show to his servants
the things that must soon take place”
Now we must get this right. The Book of Revelation is not
a literal outline of God’s time table. The day and the hour of the coming of the Lord are not revealed.
Jesus also made that clear in Matthew
24:36. The purpose of the book of
Revelation is to provide the church of the last days (the time between Christ’s
ascension and His descension) with
timeless principles and perspectives that
would encourage us to persevere.
To "show the
things that must soon take place!” These things must take place. This
comforts us to know that history is in God’s hands. All things are determined, but they are
determined not by cruel fate. They are
determined by the counsel of an all-wise and an all-
good God. So, when we accept the Word of God and believe that all
things must come to pass, our
hearts find rest because they find rest in Him and in His good purposes!
But note that John
says that these things must
take place soon. This word ‘soon’ has often confused people. This kind of wording is however not uncommon in the
NT. "The
night is far gone; the day is at hand" the apostle Paul writes
to the church in Rome (Rom. 13:12).
Peter writes: "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be self- controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers” (1 Pet. 4:7). To the church of Philadelphia the Lord says: "I am coming soon; hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown" (Rev. 3:11), and again in Rev. 22:7 He says: "And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." (and again in Rev 22:12). How do we understand this sense of ‘soon’? Centuries have gone since these words were written, and still they have not been fulfilled.
Peter writes: "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be self- controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers” (1 Pet. 4:7). To the church of Philadelphia the Lord says: "I am coming soon; hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown" (Rev. 3:11), and again in Rev. 22:7 He says: "And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." (and again in Rev 22:12). How do we understand this sense of ‘soon’? Centuries have gone since these words were written, and still they have not been fulfilled.
The answer to this is
that we should understand the ‘soon ‘ (quickly /shortly) in
terms of
“the Lord will not delay”. When questioned about the delay of the Lord’s coming, Peter reminds his readers that “The
Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise
“ (2 Pet. 3:8-10). There will be no
failure of fulfillment, and when He comes
things will move speedily to a conclusion. It is like doing a
5000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Initial progress seems painfully frustrating and slow , but as progress is made, so the last pieces
are quickly inserted until the puzzle is complete, and the picture that
once was distorted is now clear and complete.
“He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
who bore witness to the word of God and
to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all he saw”
Having received this revelation from God, Christ communicated
it to His servants through an angel to
John and John then became the human messenger
to the 7 churches, and to all the
church in subsequent generations. Angels
often appear in Scripture as a medium of
God’s revelation. Talk about divine
inspiration! This book claims to come
to us straight from heaven! It is
received by dictation. Christ sends an
angel to John, who is
commanded to write down the
revelation (cf. 1:11,19; 2:1.8.12,18; 3:1,7,14 etc.)
“Blessed is the one
who reads aloud the words of this prophecy…”
(v.3)
The promise of a blessing is attached to the reading, the hearing and the keeping of this prophecy. In simple terms this means, “If you take what is revealed
here seriously, and if you will apply the knowledge of this practically, you will be blessed”. Blessed are they
that read and hear and keep
the words of this prophecy, in the midst
of these challenging days! Keep the
revelation of Jesus Christ before you in these spiritually compromising times. If you live in the expectation of His coming, there
is peace and hope and joy for you, for
you know that He has overcome the
world! But there is nothing to be gained from simply reading
this prophecy or having it read to you. You are also called to keep what is written in it. To keep the Word of God means to obey it, to
be doers of the Word. This means
that you must often swim against the stream of current popular opinion.
The message of the Revelation
is to hold on to Jesus in spiritually compromising times, times like our own, such
as I have described in my introduction. Learn to live a life of principled obedience. Don’t
give into your feelings and emotions as ‘post moderns’ are inclined
to do. Listen to the truth. Read it, hear it, keep it! Let the
Scripture (past) speak to you about your future, and
live in the present with these
things in mind.
The matter is urgent, for "the time is near!" Amen .
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