“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, …” Rev 1:1

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, …” Rev 1:1

The book of Revelation perplexes many, causes fear in others, and in most of us, lots of wondering; yet for the Christian, it may well be the best book in the bible.

Its entire message can be summed up it 2 words: Jesus wins.

A main reason many people find the book difficult to understand, is that they don’t see the main point, we can almost say, the only point of the book, which is to reveal Jesus Christ, just like the first few words say.

The book is not about future events per say.

The book tells us about what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing and will do; it is not the events that are important, it is the controller of the events who is the theme of the book.

The next number of Blogs will be about the book of Revelation.

Jesus controls the events; he controls the unfolding of these events; he controls history.

Think of it: “history” is = His Story! History is the recording of what Jesus Christ has done and is doing, both here on earth, where we can see, and in heaven, where we cannot see.

He declares himself to be:

“the Alpha and the Omega” = the first word and the last; all knowledge and plans come from him; everything happens according to his plan.

“The beginning and the end” = the source and consummation of all things.

“The one who is and who was and is to come” = the eternally self-existing One.

And the one saying this, is the man Jesus of Nazareth, who says! He says, “I am he who lives, thought I was dead. Look! I am alive forevermore”. The very same Jesus who worked in the carpenter’s shop, walk around Judea, hung and died on the cross, is actually alive, and living forever more.

We will see that he is the sole controller of events; not just the chief controller, as if there were others who could or do control, but he alone controls events.

John says, “I began to weep loudly, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look in it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, he has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Rev 5:4-5

No other person in the entire Universe was either worthy (by virtue of the worth of their person or the worth of their achievements) or able (by virtue of their knowledge, understanding, or power) to open the seals which unfold the events of history; only Jesus Christ.

We then read that he goes to the Throne, takes the scroll from the very hand of God the Father, and begins to open the seals, one by one. He alone was worthy to go to the Throne, and to take the scroll. He alone had the authority, status, worth of person, and ability to do that.

He opens that seals in the order he wants. He determines the order of events, the timing of events, the time which elapses between events, the duration of each event, the location of each event (wheat and barley, but not oil and wine), and the people who perish with each event.

All of this is absolutely under his sole control, based on his sovereign fore-ordained plan.

The scroll was already there, he had already written out the events, this was all already planned out, now he was controlling its unfolding of the events which he had previously written down.

If you hold to a cyclical understanding of the seals, dishes, trumpets, then there are only 7 judgments; if you hold to a sequential understanding, then there are 21 (3 sets of 7), but take note, neither I nor any other person knows where we are in the sequence of all of these events.

Many can give their opinion, saying “We are here,” but nobody knows for sure where we are on this continuum; we do not know if even the first seal has been opened yet! So trying to identify a particular event in history as either a specific seal, or dish, or trumpet, is pure speculation, of no benefit at all, and misses the point on the book.

The point is that Jesus controls these events, he wins, that is why the first words are, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”; NOT “The Revelation of what will happen.”

Christian, fear not, our savior controls history; our personal histories and world history.

Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows.” Mat 10:28-31

A sparrow does not fall to the ground apart from the plan, not knowledge, but plan of our Father in heaven. He does not just know the number of hairs on our head, as if he had counted them, he has ordained the number of hairs each us will have.

Christian, our savior, the Lord Jesus controls it all.

However, unbeliever, be afraid, be very afraid. The Jesus you spurn, whose name you use as a curse word, whom you mock, will one day bring to your mind every idle word and sinful deed you have done, and he will judge you for all of them, each and every one of them. You will stand before him, in all of his majesty as the king of heaven, and he will pass sentence upon you. He is the one who can cast body and soul into hell.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his recompense in the body, according to what he has done, whether it was good or bad.” 2Co 5:10

Now he is calling to you “Repent and believe”; then he will say “Depart from me.”

And in the name of Jesus, I am saying you, “Repent and join us, great sinners that we are, but forgiven sinners, based on the death of Jesus for us.”

Now he is the Savior, then he will be the Judge.

The book of Revelation reveals this Jesus to us.

10 June 2024