Originally posted: 12/10/2021
The Revelation of Jesus Christ… (1:1).
Where to even begin. It felt like trying to capture Niagara Falls in a Dixie cup. The Revelation of Jesus Christ gushes forth with tremendous force; and I was almost sure I would drown.
I confess, this has not been a book I have been chomping at the bit to bite into. I am no scholar and I have so many more questions than answers about it all. And this morning, tired and on the verge of tears, I wondered and journaled, and wondered some more.
As this three-year journey is winding down, I was halted in my concerns with unparalleled gratitude for the privilege of seeing Him increase in every page of His Inspired Holy Word. And I was suddenly encouraged and exhorted by the reality that this is the very intent of this book, to see Jesus increase in His Coming Glory; and oh, in light of Him Who Is Revealed, everything else will certainly fade behind His Radiance.
“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
And yes, we will be presented with much prophecy of what must soon take place, but the spotlight must ever remain on Jesus Christ.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw, (1:1-2).
This book is The Revelation of Jesus Christ. So while many questions about the details will surely go unanswered, we are promised that we will see Him Who Is Revealed.
We are also promised a blessing as we turn our attention to the words of this prophecy.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near, (1:3).
But God did not say we are blessed if we understand everything. The blessing comes in reading, hearing, and in heeding the words of this book.
heed: 5083. τηρέω tēréō; contracted tērṓ, fut. tērḗsō, from tērós (n.f.), a warden, guard. To keep an eye on, watch, and hence to guard, keep, obey…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
But how do we heed or obey prophecy? The same way Abraham did.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God, (Hebrews 11:8-10).
We heed, guard, and keep our eye on His prophetic promises by believing that what He has promised is in fact True, even if we don’t know where we are going. We are to heed His Word like Abraham, who although he did not have any answers to how it would all happen or the path his journey would even take, he believed that his future would be exactly as God had spoken, stepping out in faith and heeding God’s Word and the God of His Word.
So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him… (Genesis 12:4).
But if we fixate our thoughts on our questions, we will find ourselves living encased in what we can see rather than in what He has said. And I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes about our inability to comprehend such a Great and Mighty God.
“Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending. What a stunted, insignificant god that would be! If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be stupid for me to say He is only the small amount of water I can scoop into my little can. God is so much bigger, so far beyond our time-encased, air/food/sleep-dependent lives.”
Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Today, I want to lay aside my stupidity in exchange for faith, trusting that He has revealed everything needed to take the next step and trusting that what remains hidden will one day be explained in Him Who Is Revealed.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law,” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
As we seek to see Him Who Is Revealed, some background on this book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ will provide some assistance in our search.
From NIV Study Bible:
“Since Roman authorities at this time were beginning to enforce emperor worship, Christians—who held that Christ, not Caesar, was Lord—were facing increasing hostility… John has been exiled to the island of Patmos (probably the site of a Roman penal colony) for his activities as a Christian missionary (1:9). Some within the church are advocating a policy of compromise (2:14-15,20), which has to be corrected before its subtle influence can undermine the determination of believers to stand fast in the perilous days that lie ahead…
John writes to encourage the faithful to resist staunchly the demands of emperor worship. He informs his readers that the final showdown between God and Satan is imminent. Satan will increase his persecution of believers, but they must stand fast, even to death. They are sealed against any spiritual harm and will soon be vindicated when Christ returns, when the wicked are forever destroyed, and when God’s people enter an eternity of glory and blessedness…
For an adequate understanding of Revelation, the reader must recognize that it is a distinct kind of literature. Revelation is apocalyptic, a kind of writing that is highly symbolic. Although its visions often seem bizarre to the Western reader, fortunately the book provides a number of clues for its own interpretation…
Fortunately, the fundamental truths of Revelation do not depend on adopting a particular point of view. They are available to anyone who will read the book for its overall message and resist the temptation to become overly enamored with the details.”
As we seek to see Him increase throughout our time in the apocalyptic writings of John, we must remember why the book of Revelation was written and kept for us. For though we may be left with questions, the book of this prophecy is meant to strengthen us in tribulation and persecution that we would guard and heed the Truths of Him Who Is Revealed until That Day.
Consider Him Who Is Revealed
There is so very much in the opening of this complex and breathtaking book that leaves no doubt Who this book is about. His Name is Jesus. And we could probably spend a lifetime studying this Glorious Revelation of the One we call Savior in just this first chapter alone.
He Is Revealed as the Eternal God (the same God Who came to earth as a sinless babe to live a sinless life and become the perfect sin offering, the God Who would die for our sins and be resurrected to Life to conquer sin and death); the God Who is coming again and is seated on His Glorious Throne, (1:4).
He Is Revealed as the Faithful Witness and Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords, (1:5).
He Is Revealed as the One Who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood, (1:5).
He Is Revealed as the One Who has made us a kingdom of priests to His Father, (1:6).
He Is Revealed as the One Who Is Worthy of All Glory and Dominion forever, (1:6).
He Is Revealed as the One Who is coming with the clouds, (1:7).
He Is Revealed as the One Who will be seen and mourned over by those who pierced Him, (1:7).
He Is Revealed as the Alpha and Omega Who Is and Was and Who Is to Come, the Almighty, (1:8).
He Is Revealed as the One Who is clothed as a King, wearing His robe and golden sash (1:12).
He Is Revealed as the One Whose hair, eyes, feet, and voice are supernaturally and miraculously indescribable, (1:14).
He Is Revealed as the One Who holds His churches in His hand, (1:16).
He Is Revealed as the One Whose two-edged sword comes forth from His mouth and Whose face is like the sun shining in its strength, (1:16).
He Is Revealed as the One Who is the First and the Last, (1:17).
He Is Revealed as the Living One forevermore, (1:18).
He Is Revealed as the One Who holds the keys of death and of Hades, (1:18).
How do we respond to Him Who Is Revealed?
Can you even imagine what it must have been like for John? And in truth, what else could he have done but fall at His feet in a stupefying awe?
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man… (1:7).
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, had walked with the One Who had laid aside His Glory to come to earth. But now, John saw Him Who Is Revealed, and now John knew fully His Glory and Majesty. And the glorious truth is, That Day is coming for us as well.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known, (1 Corinthians 13:12).
But until then, He is so faithful to Reveal Himself to us. And He definitely does so through His creation, through other believers, and through His blessings and provisions. But nowhere will we see Him Who Is Revealed as in His Living and Active God-Breathed Word.
For the promise of blessing is in the reading, the hearing and the heeding His Word, not because we prove ourselves to be good believers; it is because in His Word we are granted that most glorious privilege, to see Him Who Is Revealed.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near, (1:3).
And if we really and truly believe we will encounter this Great and Mighty God every time we open His Word, then perhaps as we read the black ink on white paper, and hear the rustling of the pages, we too might fall at His feet in wonder and awe, determined to keep and guard His Word as though it were our life. Because the truth is, it is. And why would we go anywhere else but to the One Who Is Revealed as the Holy One of God Who has the Words of Eternal Life?
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God,” (John 6:68-69).
In closing, I am reminded of His apostle Thomas. Many refer to him as Doubting Thomas, who just had the hardest time believing that Jesus could really be alive after undergoing such an excruciating and torturous death. And he refused to believe unless he could see it with his own eyes; the doubter needed some hands-on proof. And Jesus, so gracious and merciful blessed the doubting disciple with what he needed.
But Jesus promised a greater blessing for those who do not see with their natural eye and yet believe so as to place their faith in His death and resurrection for salvation.
Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed,” (John 20:27-29).
Oh, I pray today that we would know His blessing through believing, that we would daily come to His Word in anticipation of being knocked off our feet in awe, that we would daily ask in faith to behold the Wonder of Him Who Is Revealed.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law, (Psalm 119:18).