Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Jesus Revealed In The Revelation #1

In this study we will see Jesus in the book of Revelation. Sometimes
we get so involved in the prophecies of this great book of the Bible
that we fail to see Jesus Christ himself. I intend to take many of the
words and phrases which either name Jesus or describe him and have
some simple devotions pertaining to Jesus himself in the book of
Revelation.

The first of these will be taken from Rev 1:1 where we read The
Revelation of Jesus Christ. We will take up, first of all the name
Jesus Christ. This denotation is mentioned six times in the book of
Revelation. In Rev. 1:1 we see that a revelation has been given to
Jesus Christ so that he can give it to John the revelator.

John bare record or witnessed of the message that God gave to Jesus
Christ to give to John. This gives us assurance that the message in
this book has good authority and is correct whether we understand it
or not.

The second time the expression Jesus Christ is used in this book is
in Rev. 1:2, which speaks of Jesus’ testimony. All the time he was
here on earth, he was a testimony of his Father; but now he is a
witness of things that must shortly come to pass. John is the
recipient of this testimony and must give it true.

Notice Rev. 1:5 where we are told that Jesus Christ is the faithful
witness, who witnesses what the Father tells him (John 8:28). He
sees what the Father sees, and he hears what the Father hears; and he
gives his prophets this witness so that we can hear it from the
apostles and prophets. We will speak of the other names in verse
five later.

In Rev. 1:9 we read this appellation again, Jesus Christ. He speaks
here of the “patience of Jesus Christ.” This is patience that Jesus
Christ had as the Son of God, and it was also the patience of the
believers that Jesus gave to them when he saved them by his grace.
This patience is shown in John in stating that he was in the isle of
Patmos for the word of God (I think for preaching the word of God),
for the testimony of Jesus Christ. If it had not been for the grace of God, John
would never have made it off the isle of Patmos, and we would never
have known the wonderful blessings of this precious book. It is all
of God’s grace and to his glory.

Rev. 12:17 uses this name again, Jesus Christ, and again the idea of
“testimony” is mentioned. He speaks of the saved, who have the
testimony of Jesus, the believers who believe what Jesus says and
depend upon his word rather than the word of men.

The last time we see this appellation is in Rev. 22:21, the closing out
of the book of Revelation, where John desires that the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with those who read the book. Certainly Jesus
is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2); he is the medium
of grace from God our Father.

Jesus is the Messiah (the meaning of the word Christ). He is the
promised One, and it is only by him that we can have eternal life. He
is the only mediator between men and God (1 Tim. 2:5). In this title
we see Jesus, the man, who came to earth and was made like unto
sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3), lived and died that we might have life (Matt.
20:28) , and promises to take us to Heaven to live with him eternally
(John 14:2-3; John 6:44).

Jesus, the man, and Christ, who is God. This makes our salvation
worthy of thanksgiving to God through his grace and mercy. This
makes us love Jesus the more because of what he has done for us (1
John 3:16). The Holy Spirit bears witness that we are the children of
God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:16; Gal. 3:26).

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