Revelation of Jesus Christ

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The Revelation of Jesus Christ- the unfolding of the Truth 1:4b-8

 

    The title of John’s epistle is apocalypse in the original language and it means an uncovering of something that was hidden.  It is a revelation.  This is something made known to us that we could not know by ourselves alone. Romans 16:25 uses the same word “ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery.”  This is really the core of our understanding of faith.  We could not know it except it be revealed to us. 

 

   This may be a crude illustration but it serves the purpose.  I was giving my dogs a piece of ham. I put it away .Then they went into the other room thinking there was some better treats.  At this point I decided to take out the ham and enjoy it again but there they were sitting in the other room waiting for food they were not going to get.  Is this not a picture of our ignorance?  We are in the other room so to speak but God has His treasure that is hidden from us like the delicious ham or whatever food you want to insert there!  We are waiting but we do not see what treats God has for us. Just like my two little Welsh corgies,  we do not see .  It must be uncovered or revealed to us.  This is what the Apostle John is doing when he receives the apocalypse of Jesus Christ. 

 

     We neglect it and waste away without its blessings. “ Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.”    Why has it been so neglected asks James Ramsey, “ …because of the mysteriousness of very much of it….that very mystery is often the chief source of the blessing .”  I will add that mystery and revelation are two things we need to listen to.  They show us that we are needy people. We cannot do everything ourselves.  We are not our own gods .  That is no fun after awhile.  People will tire at some point of their own doings we pray and see that they need God’s Word.

 

   In this passage we are reading today there are some things we need to take away:  “things which must shortly come to pass”

           “ Grace be unto you and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come”

            “Jesus Christ---the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth”

           “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father”

            “ Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they which also pierced him”

 

    So in the other room God is telling us that He has many treats of His unsearchable revelation and wisdom to give us that we may be comforted and encouraged in these days.  Jesus Christ is the Truth of God and the Revelation of God.  There is no other .

 

    Much like the wonderful little book by CS Lewis we must enter through another door, in his case of the Lion , Witch & the Wardrobe thru the wardrobe closet.  That is what revelation is.  Something we do not know or cannot comprehend is shown to us in a marvelous way that we are not expecting.  Grace and peace are ours in the possession of our eternal life in Jesus Christ.  That is not the gift we were expecting.  But it is ours through the gift of revelation. And now we are kings here and priests that we may show others the rule and the priesthood of Jesus as we pray for them.

 

     For one day and his says the “ time is at hand” we all see Him, the one who was pierced.  That is truth. That is an unveiling of the beauty of God’s revelation to us now. 

 

As James Ramsey concludes so must we, “  No man, with any tolerable knowledge of the powers of the human mind, and the productions of genius in different nations and ages, can deliberately and candidly read this book in connection with the other Scriptures, and then admit the possibility of its mere human origin. …bearing the impress of divinity, blessed indeed must all those be who hear and keep it.” 

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