Intro:
1. I’m sure you have seen the comic strip, Family Circus. In one of them, the children are setting up their nativity set, little Dolly holds up the baby Jesus and declares, “Here’s the star of Bethlehem!”
2. The star of the Book of Revelation is Jesus Christ! It declares that the One who came the first time is one day going to come again.
3. An Inscription to the Prophecy.
Revelation 1:1-3 (NKJV)
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
I. For starter, some Terminology.
Revelation – the noun as used here, is found 19 times in the New Testament; while the verb form appears some 26 times.
It is made up of “away” and “a cover” thus “an uncovering.” It is a disclosure of something that was previously concealed. When used of a person it has the idea of making them visible.
Messiah was made visible, “a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Lu. 2:32).
Our own visible transformation at the Rapture will be an unveiling also, “for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:19).
Jesus Christ at His Second Coming, “so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Cor. 1:7). See I Pet. 1:17
of Jesus Christ – is it “from” Him or “about” Him? Both?
It could be either an objective or subjective genitive.
“Is the genitive objective or subjective? In other words, is Jesus Christ the one revealed [objective genitive] or the one doing the revealing [subjective genitive]? Favorable to Christ being pictured as the revealed One is the mention of the angel as the revealer, later in verse 1. But this is not conclusive because the book reveals that Jesus Christ reveals things through His angels (17:1; 21:9). Support for Christ’s being the revealed One can be supported from NT usage where the genitive following “revelation” is usually an objective case: Rom. 2:5; 8:19/ I Cor. 1:7/ 2 Cor. 12:1/ Gal.1:12/ 2 Thess.1:7/ I Pet. 1:7, 13). However, there are at least two exceptions the genitive following “Revelation” is subjective (2 Cor. 12:1/ Gal. 1:12)
The evidence favoring Christ as the revealer can also be made; He addresses the 7 churches in Chps. 2-3; He opens the scroll of destiny (5:5,7) and discloses its contents (6:1,3,5,7,9,12; 8:1). [Robert Thomas]
So why not have it both ways? Part of this Book is revealing Jesus Christ and part of it is Jesus Christ revealing things.
He is the Word…Jn. 1:1,18
That Word is basically about Himself…Rev. 19:10
This Book certainly tells us about Jesus Christ.
Tina a Southern Baptist missionary from Kentucky on a missionary trip to Asia, was asked by a little girl, what she does when she feels alone. She shared about a friend named Jesus who was always with her. The girl looked around at the people with her and asked, “Which one is Jesus?”
The Book of Revelation answers that question!
II. Next, the specific Testimony.
It is about His Second Coming back to this earth, while the Gospels reveal Him in His humiliation, the book of Revelation is about Him in His exaltation.
Criswell, “The first time our Lord came into this world, He came in the veil of our flesh. His deity was covered over with His manhood. His Godhead was hidden by His humanity. Just once in a while did His deity sine through, as on the Mount Transfiguration. But most of the time the glory of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity were veiled.
The last time that this world saw Jesus was when it saw Him hanging in shame, misery and anguish upon the cross. But some day this godless world shall see the Son of God in His full character, in glory, in majesty, in the full-orbed wonder and marvel of His Godhead. Then all men shall look upon Him as He really is.” Rev. 1:12-17
While His Coming is glorious to believers it will be terrifying to the world at large.
Erdman, “This is a book of judgment and of doom. God is just. Sin must be punished. Here is no sentimental confusion of right and wrong. Here is no weak tolerance of evil. There is mention of “the Lamb that has been slain” but also of the “wrath of the Lamb.”
There is a river of water of life, but also a lake of fire. Woes are pronounced, bowls of wrath are poured out, and overwhelming destruction is visited. A brighter day is to come, but there is thunder before the dawn.”
Let us believers give bold testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ is surely one day coming again. Rev. 1:7; 19:11-16; 22:7,12,20.
Martin Luther King Jr. the civil rights leaders was also a Baptist preacher. He was murdered by an assassin’s bullet in April 1968. The very day before he died he delivered these words before a group of sanitation workers in Memphis:
“I’ve seen the promised land. And I ma not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land…I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Coming of the Lord.”
The Book of Revelation is great encouragement to God’s people because in it our eyes behold the glory of the Coming of the Lord.
III. Finally, the Theology.
“…specifically it is Christological, as the material is to reveal Jesus Christ as the glorified One in contrast to the Christ of the Gospels, who was seen in humiliation and suffering. The climax of the book is the second coming of Jesus Christ.” [John Walvoord]
“The whole structure of the book reveals its Christological character. Each of John’s four main visions presents some portrait of Christ. In the first vision He is seen as the Lord of the church in the midst of the golden lampstands (1:12-17). In the second vision He is the Lamb on the throne, judging and ruling over the creation with authority (5:1-14). The third vision reveals Him as the Word of God, the invincible conqueror riding in triumph
(19:11-16). And the fourth vision does not contain a separate descriptive paragraph about Him, it does place Him at the very center of the new creation in the eternal city of God.”
[Harold Foos]
Tenney offers an excellent guiding principle for the study of Revelation, “By beginning with the Person as the chief interpretive factor, fruitless debate over detail can be minimized, and the main purpose of the book can be kept constantly in sight. The thread of continuity in its thought may be followed more easily, and the initial interpretation can be noncontroversial. Whatever one’s eschatological scheme may be, he must agree at the outset that the person of Christ is supremely important. All evangelical schools of interpretation would accept this concept as a point of departure.”
In studying the Book of Revelation it is of the utmost importance that one keeps Jesus Christ as the constant focus. I believe anything that gets us sidetracked from Him is not worth our time.
Thomas Brooks, “Christ is a jewel worth more than a thousand worlds, as all know who have Him. Get Him, and get all; miss Him and miss all.”
Jonathan Edwards, “Christ is like a river. A river is continually flowing, there are fresh supplies of water coming from the fountain-head continually, so that a man may live by it, and be supplied with water all his life. So Christ is an ever-flowing fountain; He is continually supplying His people, and the fountain is not spent. They who live upon Christ, may have an increased blessedness that is new, and new still, and which never will come to an end.”
Con:
1. The Person of this Prophecy is Jesus Christ!
2. David Peterson former pastor of First Presbyterian church in Spokane Washington was once working on his Sunday morning sermon. His little daughter came in and asked, “Daddy can we play?” He said, “I’m sorry sweetheart but I’m working on my sermon but in about an hour we can play.”
She said, “Ok Daddy, when you’re finished I’m going to give you a great big hug.” She left but then came running back and gave him a big bone crushing hug. He said,
“I thought you said you were going to give me a hug after I finished? She said, “Well I just wanted you to know what you have to look forward too!
That is the Book of Revelation in a nut shell!
Johnny Palmer Jr.
www.strugglingthruscripture.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/profile.aspx?userurl=pastor-palmer
