Post #4 - General Introduction of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ".
We are going to study about a period of time in which no other period is talked more than what is revealed in the book of Revelation. There are 404 verses in Revelation and over 800 of them are direct illusions or quotations from the Old Testament. It is said that, “The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed, and the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed.”
God has done His part to reveal all that we need for life and godliness. Have we done our part to receive it?
This brief introduction to the book of Revelation will help us to understand the background of the book. Let us never forget that the focus of this book is to reveal the glory of Jesus Christ. Read Revelation 1:1
First, The Author of Revelation
1. Writing in the first person singular, the author of Revelation identifies himself several times as John, a brother and companion of his readers.
a) Revelation 1:4 (NKJV), John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
b) Revelation 1:9 (NKJV), I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
c) Revelation 21:2 (NKJV), Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
d) Revelation 22:8 (NKJV), Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
2. Because of its contents and its address to the seven churches in Asia minor, Revelation quickly circulated and became widely known and accepted in the early church. It was frequently mentioned and quoted by second and third century Christian writers and was received as part of the canon of the New Testament books. From the beginning, Revelation was considered an authentic work of the Apostle John, the same John who wrote the gospel and three Epistles.
3. Look in verse one to see who gave this revelation to John. “which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place.” God the Father gave this revelation to man through the Apostle John.
Second, The Book of Revelation
1. Just as Genesis is the book of beginnings, Revelation is the book of consummation. God’s divine plan of redemption comes to fruition and the Holy name of God is vindicated before all creation.
2. The title of this book in the Greek text is Apokalypsis Ioannou, “Revelation of John.” A common title given comes from the first verse: Apokalypsis Iesou Christou, “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” The word Apokalypsis is transliterated into Apocalypse. This word means “unveiling,” “disclosure,” or “revelation”. Thus the book is the unveiling or revealing of Jesus Christ, which otherwise could not be known. It took an act of God to reveal to man something that man didn’t know before. God the Father revealed the glory of His Son Jesus Christ.
3. The word Revelation means an uncovering, a bringing to light of that which had been previously wholly hidden or only obscurely seen. God has been pleased in various ways and at different times (Heb. 1:1) to make a supernatural revelation of himself and his purposes and plans, which, under the guidance of his Spirit, has been committed to writing. The Scriptures are not merely the “record” of revelation; they are the revelation itself in a written form, in order to the accurate preservation and propagation of the truth. Thus, Revelation is the supernatural communication of God’s truth to the human mind.
a) When I was in grade school, I went to the unveiling of Mazda’s new RX-7. The car had a tarp over it so no one could see it until the appropriate time. The RX-7 had an industry trade secret and they didn’t want anybody else to know what it was. That afternoon, the tarp came off revealing Mazda’s new model. It was the same model (RX-7), but it had several modifications. Jesus is the same Jesus, but He has been glorified, and God wants us to see Him.
4. Notice that the title in verse one is “Revelation” singular, not plural. It is not Revelations. There is only one Revelation of Jesus Christ. In the Greek, were the definite article is present; it denotes the word “The”. In Greek, the definite article is automatically assumed when you’re speaking of singular terms. So, we cannot say that this is a Revelation of Jesus Christ, because that would mean that there is more than one. Rather this is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
5. Now, why am I harking on this so much? When looking at John 1:1. The Jehovah Witnesses have inserted the indefinite article, which is the letter “a”. Rendering the reading to be, “the Word was a god.” Instead of, “the Word was God.” What is the difference? The text is talking about unique singular things, resulting in the use of the definite article “the” or by legal Greek grammar able to leave it out. By adding the letter “a” makes Jesus Christ just another god among many other god’s, plural. Too often we as Christians read over the Word of God and miss the significance of the basic simplicity of the text.
a) A couple of years ago, I read a book that talked about Hell, Demons, and the spiritual realm. The problem with this book was that it claimed to be a new revelation of these things. They contradicted what God’s Word already said. As a result, I had to discount everything that was written in it and claim it as fiction.
Third, The Christ of Revelation
1. Revelation has much to say about the Godhead, but the focus of this book is to reveal the glory of Jesus Christ
a) He is called Jesus Christ, 1:1.
b) The faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler over the Kings of the earth, 1:5.
c) The first and the last, 1:17.
d) Holy and true, 3:7.
e) The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, 3:14.
f) The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, 5:5.
g) The Lamb, 5:6.
h) Faithful and True, 19:11.
i) The Word of God, 19:13.
j) King of Kings and Lord of Lords, 19:16.
k) Alpha and Omega, 22:13.
l) The bright and morning Star, 22:16.
m) The Lord Jesus Christ, 22:21.
2. The overall outcome is that God triumphs over every adversary – Satan, sin, evil, and death. His kingdom is victorious, His eternal reign is established, and His people enter joyful eternity worshipping and fellowshipping with God.
Fourth, The Keys of Revelation
1. Key phrase for this book is in 22:20, “I am coming soon.”
2. The key verse for this book is in 1:19, “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” Jesus is giving the outline to His message.
3. The key chapters for this book are from Revelation 19-22. The glory of Jesus Christ is consummated in these chapters.
Fifth, The Survey of Revelation
1. As for a survey of Revelation, I have already posted a Time Line of the book of Revelation. Post #3 - General Time Line of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ".
Sixth, The Time of Revelation
1. During the reign of the roman emperor Domitian, who reigned from A.D. 81-96, the Apostle John was exiled for a time on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, 100 miles southwest of the city of Ephesus. There on Patmos is where John had received this revelation from God in around A.D 95. The early church father Irenaeus tells the story of how John was preaching that only Jesus is Lord and in Ephesus and the local government rioted against John. They arrested him and cast him into a pot of boiling oil. John survived without even a red mark on his skin. The people were afraid that they were not able to kill John so they exiled him to Patmos instead.
Seventh, The Understanding of Revelation
1. There are four principle viewpoints concerning the interpretation of this book:
a) The Preterist view sees the prophecies in Revelation as having been fulfilled in the early history of the church.
b) The Historical view sees the book as portraying a panorama of the history of the church from the days of John to the end of time.
c) The Symbolic view sees everything as symbolic and allegorical language. It all has a spiritual meaning, but is not to be taken literal.
d) The Futurist views Revelation literally. Chapters 4-22 are prophetic and to be taken as events yet to be fulfilled. This is the viewpoint I hold as well as most evangelical Christians.
Is God revealing Himself to you today? Is He knocking at the door of your heart and asking you to let Him in so that He might have fellowship with you? Do you feel like God wants to reveal Jesus Christ to you in a more personal way? If so, open the door to your heart and let Jesus in. God has already revealed Jesus Christ, He is not hidden from you, so don’t you hide from Him.
If you need prayer, PM or e-mail me; I’d love to pray with you and talk with you about Jesus.
