The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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What’s it All About
What’s it All About
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The first issue we must deal with is the purpose, direction and subject matter of the book
In verse one we are told the it is the “revelation” of Jesus Christ
The word here is “Apokalupsis” or Apocalypse
Unfortunately, Hollywood has given us a picture of death, war, destruction and devastation!
In reality, the word means “to unveil” or “to disclose” and it’s object is Jesus Christ
So we see that there is something clouding man’s vision of God - sin
We mentioned last week that the tabernacle was the physical representation of God’s throne room on earth
It was the place of meeting at the mercy seat of God
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
“Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze;
blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair;
ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood;
oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense;
onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.
Once the tabernacle was finished, the presence of God filled the palce
And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
“Is not God in the height of heaven? And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!
And you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the deep darkness?
Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see, And He walks above the circle of heaven.’
Interesting choice of words since we know the Holy of Holies was a “Vaulted area 15x15x15!
Man had the wrong idea - God can’t see us when in reality it was man that could not see God!
Now, In the Holy place there was a veil that separated man from the presence of God that could only be breached after the blood of the sacrifice was poured out upon the alter in the Holy place
But even once inside the Holy of Holies God could not be clearly seen!
Only the shakina glory was manifest
God was still a mystery - not clearly seen by sinful man so we read the following:
The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Look at the word there - “dwelt among us”!
Hallelujah! - before God was dwelling among them but they could not see Him, now Jesus is dwelling among us and we can now clearly see God!
Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
So Jesus qualifies to be the model of what God is like
The problem is that man’s vision is still in the fog of sin and needs enhanced
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Yet you do not believe Me
Paul said:
Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
So just as in the OT, still under the Law, our life before Christ, there is a separation between man and the presence of God represented by the veil in the temple
History reports that it could have been as much as 15’ high and 18’ thick!
It was impossible for a man to rip the veil and enter but we are told the when jesus died:
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
The ripped veil was the representation of His body that was broken for us signifying that now the way to the presence of God was through His shed blood which brought forgiveness not covering for our sin!
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
and having a High Priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
I pray that you see the picture clearly
Man is separated from God because of his sin, therefore the priest needs to take the offering of the shed blood to the alter of judgement and pour it out. A portion is then carried into the Holy of Hollies where it is poured out over the mercy seat above the testimony of God’s faithfulness. There God says He will meet us!
God no longer dwells in a temple made with hands
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
This letter was written to you, one who bears witness to God and the testimony of Christ
It contains a blessing of hope for you, for you will read and hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things written for the time is near
You will have grace and peace for the Savior Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead has washed you from your sin by the shedding of His blood
For you are now the priest of the new temple, your body, one made without hands!
So we begin our journey with the clear focus of the purpose of the book
It was written to give us a blessing and wisdom concerning the moments in which Jesus Christ will begin the purpose of collecting on the redeeming the earth from the hands of Satan!
Read, pray, expect that blessings. peace and comfort will come from a revelation of the finished work of Christ!