Sunday, November 21, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Lessons from The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Shalom from Dar es Salaam!

Today we kickstart a verse by verse, chapter by chapter, study on the book by which this blog is named after - Revelation. The full title of this book and its meaning thereof is provided in chapter 1 verse 1 which reads:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Revelation 1: 1)

Lets pause for a minute and reflect on this verse. First of all it tells us that this is the Revelation of none other than Jesus Christ. It is also telling us that it was given unto him by God himself. We are told that its main purpose is to show his servants, that is, those who serve God as per Romans 6: 22, things which must shortly come to pass. To that end this Revelation was sent and signified by his angel unto one of his trusted servants, that is, his beloved servant John.

Probably none other than John tells us more about who Jesus is in relation to God. In verse 1 of chapter 1 in the Gospel according to John we thus read:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1: 1)

Later on, in verse 14 of the same chapter of this Gospel, John reveals to us that this Word, that is God, was made flesh (read physical human body). In verse 17 John clearly states that he is referring to Jesus Christ through whom "grace" and "truth" came to us. Elsewhere in 1 John 1: 1 he refers to Jesus as the "Word of life" and, in regard to him, he thus further affirms:

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you may also have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1: 3)

Such is the relationship between the givers and bearers of the message of Revelation as described in Revelation 1: 1. It is indeed a message from God, through his Son Jesus, also known as the "Word of life" (1 John 1: 1) and the "Word of God" (Revelation 19: 13), to his servants - you and I - through his beloved servant John as signified by his angel and concerning angels, the Apostle Paul asks rhetorically: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Hebrews 1: 14)

In sum this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to us - to you and me!

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