Rev 1:1 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:
From the opening line of this book, we gain insight into one of the most valuable things we could ever learn. This book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Many have pointed out that this book is not multiple revelations, but a single revelation of Jesus Christ. This book reveals Jesus to us. Everything that we should be pursuing is to gain intimate knowledge of Jesus. If the question is asked to any believer who is serious about their relationship with Christ, do you want more revelation of Jesus? The obvious answer to such a question would be yes. However, we need to understand that before you can receive any revelation of Jesus there must first come a revelation of yourself. To illustrate this point, before you are saved you must first see yourself as lost. Therefore, you will never receive the revelation of Jesus the Savior, until you receive the revelation of yourself as needing a Savior. You will never see Jesus the provider until you receive the revelation of yourself as in need. You will never see Jesus our strength until you receive the revelation of yourself as weak. On and on you can follow that line of thought.
One of the hardest things you will ever do is face the awful truth about yourself. This is what keeps people from the Lord Jesus Christ. It appears that we would rather spend our time justifying our behavior or validating our emotions, than understanding that we are totally and completely without holiness or righteousness of any kind outside of Jesus. We would rather feel good about ourselves than lose ourselves in Christ for our redemption. What a sad truth, but we keep ourselves from Christ while attempting to pursue Christ through our means and methods. The book of Revelation will not allow you to continue that line of thought and see Jesus at the same time.
You will never know Jesus until you know you. I have said many times, that the day I got saved, Jesus began introducing Himself to me through relationship and His word. He also began introducing me to me. Some of the ugly things He has revealed to me have been enlightening, to say the least. I didn’t know that I was the mess that I was. The most revealing thing was that I was blocking deeper revelation of Christ to me because I have been unwilling to see those things in me.
In terms of the specific nature of this verse, the Revelation of Jesus Christ was given for a direct purpose. This revelation was given to show things that that was yet to come, but that would surely come to pass. The journey John would write to us was ahead in time. This principle of truth teaches us that time cannot use its boundaries on spiritual revelation. Because God is eternal with no beginning or end, His revelation to us cannot be bound in time. Therefore, by nature of who God is and because of our relationship with Him as Father, time cannot validate or invalidate the revelation that is given. On the journey through this book, may God give us more revelation of Jesus Christ, and more revelation of ourselves.
Comments