Revelation 1:1-3; The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Revelation 1:1-3 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: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 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.
The study of the Book of Revelation holds the key to unlocking the door of understanding to current world events. As the future is unveiled before us in study of the Book of Revelation, it provides the clues to understanding current events leading to the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the climatic reunion between the church, the bride of Christ, and her bridegroom, Jesus Christ!
The heart-beat of the Book is well illustrated here by the late pastor Adrian Rogers:
“I guess the best picture I could get of this word revelation is for you to conjure up in your mind the idea of some city that has authorised a sculptor to do a sculpture for the city, and there’s a statue that he has sculpted. And, it’s ready to be presented to the city fathers, and they’re going to dedicate it. And, none of them have seen it yet. And, it’s covered by a piece of canvas, and it has a drawstring. And, at the appropriate moment, the sculptor pulls the drawstring, and the canvas falls away; and, there’s the statue. And, he has his intricate charts there, and he can tell when a train is approaching, or when the train is leaving. He has all of this in his heart, and he memorizes it. But then, there is a young lady there who may not know the schedule quite as well, but she knows that her fiancé is on the train that’s about to arrive; and, she can hardly wait for him to get there. Now, I’ve known people who have been like the stationmaster, when it comes to the Book of the Revelation. They have their charts; they have their facts; they have their figures—they have it all in their head. But, their heart is not beating with anticipation for the One they love. I want to tell you, dear friend, our Bridegroom is at hand, and I’d rather be like that young lady, who says, “He’s coming, and I can hardly wait.”
We could be the generation in which Christ will return. Therefore, we are responsible and held accountable as to how we will respond to the Apocalypse, the Greek word translated “Revelation”, this uncovering, unveiling, disclosure of the truth concerning the culmination of time and the ushering of eternity. Living in the Last, Last Hour of human history, we are called to be God’s witnesses to God’s redemption plan through His Son Jesus Christ.
There is an on-going rescue mission for salvation of the souls of men and women in this present hour, from the judgment of death and hell through Jesus Christ, for we are told, He alone “holds the keys of hell and death.” (Rev. 1:18b).
Truly, as the late pastor Adrian Rogers observed well, “There are two books in the Bible that the devil especially hates: Genesis and Revelation. I’ll tell you why the devil hates the Book of Genesis and why the devil hates the Book of Revelation: In the Book of Genesis, the devil’s doom is pronounced; in the Book of Revelation, it is carried out. And, the devil doesn’t like these two books.”
We are seeing the movement towards the formation of the Antichrist kingdom and believers need to be assured of ultimate victory as we are called to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints. Amen.