Revelation Introduction 1: 1 - 8.

Marilyn C

Marilyn C

The book of Revelation is often discussed from the earthly view of `beasts, the dragon, world powers etc however I believe it will be good to focus on the Lord, Himself, as He is known in the heavenly realm & describe what we see.

INTRODUCTION ch. 1: 1 -8.

`The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him…` (Rev. 1: 1)

Revelation – from the Greek word `apocalypse,` meaning to `unveil.`

I believe there has never been any monuments in honour of great personalities throughout the centuries that is comparable to the magnificence of this unveiling of Jesus Christ & the magnitude of His triumph.

What inexpressible pleasure God the Father enjoyed when unveiling His Son`s true character & credentials, for the purpose of showing to His bond servants the regal nature of His Well Beloved.

This unveiling of Christ`s Deity was given to John, the Apostle. He was to write it down for the Body of Christ down through the centuries. `Blessed is he that reads…` (Rev. 1: 3) this prophecy as it shows the full manifestation of Christ enthroned & empowered on high. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, not only the Son of Man, but the Son of God.`

What is something that you see of our precious Lord, from the introduction of Revelation 1: 1 – 8.


Looking forward to your comments. Marilyn.
 
Hi Calvin & Angela,

Thank you very much for your encouragement. I pray that we will come to know our precious Lord more & more as we look through this amazing book of Revelation.

In Christ, Marilyn.
 
This unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the culmination of all the truths expressed from Genesis to Revelation, for all scripture is centred on one purpose and that is to reveal Christ to us in all His Glory.


There are four visions of the Son of Man as He is known in the heavenly realm & each vision in turn carries through to completion one aspect of the fourfold ministry of Christ which He exercised when on earth. His Kinship was expressed in Matthew, His Heirship in Mark, His Mediatorship in Luke, & His Judgeship in John.


Then there are three hundred & thirty (330) references, to the figures, shadows, symbols, types, patterns, persons, & buildings of the Old Testament, in reference to the Jesus. What a wealth of imagery to help us understand our heavenly Lord .
 
`The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which shortly must take place. And He sent & signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, & to the testimony of Jesus Christ & to all things that he saw.` (Rev. 1:1- 2)


This wonderful unveiling of the Lord as He is known in the heavenly realms, & His purposes of `things which must soon find their due accomplishment.` (Knox) The time was close to beginning the unfolding of these - `shortly must take place.`


`Blessed is he who reads & those who hear the words of this prophecy, & keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.`(Rev. 1: 3)

`Blessed is he that reads...` this prophecy, as it shows the full manifestation of Christ enthroned & empowered on high. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, not only the Son of Man, but the Son of God.


We then read that the whole Godhead is involved in bringing forth this wonderful unveiling

- The Father, delighting in fully presenting His Son, (Matt. 3: 17 Rev.1: 1, & 4)

- The Holy Spirit, who teaches & brings these truths to remembrance, (John 16:13)

- The Lord Jesus Himself who desires us to behold His glory. (John 17: 24)


Marilyn.
 
Christ`s First Triune Title.

John is writing to the seven churches in Asia, however they are but a representative of the whole Body of Christ down through the ages who will read this wonderful revelation.

Grace & peace are given from the Father, (who is....was...) the Holy Spirit, (7 fold Spirit) & Jesus Christ.

`John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you & peace from Him who is & who was & who is to come, & from the seven spirits who are before the throne, & from Jesus Christ...`(Rev. 1: 4 & 5)


The Father then presents us with the first of Jesus` Triune title.

`Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead,& the ruler over the kings of the earth.` (Rev. 1: 5)


The Faithful Witness – The integrity of His ministry.

As a witness Christ far exceeds all others because of the greatness of the witness He bears. He did not trifle over transient things but testified to eternal truth. In His message to mankind He unveiled the mysteries of God, foretold the future of nations & disclosed the issues of life.


The Firstborn from the dead – His conquering victory over the enemy.

This title shows Christ`s victory over Satan, sin & death. Christ battled against the enemy & conquered victoriously. He died, rose again & ascended to sit at the Father`s right hand on high. This certifies His authority forever as the One who can never know defeat. He is preeminent even of the dead, as the first manifested alive from the dead.


The Ruler over the kings of the earth – His ultimate authority over all Rulers.

Christ is ruler, king of the regency of truth in the heavenly realms. (John 18: 36 & 37) And finally He will bring this rule to bear over the nations of this world.


Marilyn.
 
The 3 Groups of People.

The Apostle John now gives a hymn of praise to the Lord, bringing out the three different groups that Christ is dealing with – the Body of Christ, Israel & the Nations. Throughout the book of Revelation we will see how the Lord deals with each group & what their outcome will be.

1. The Body of Christ.

John gives praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is He who loves us & gave His life for us. He has made us kings & priests to rule & reign with Him forever. This is the Body of Christ, for no other group has the privilege of being kings & priests. When the Body of Christ is complete it will be caught away to the 3rd heaven to rule & reign with Christ.

`To Him who has loved us & washed us from our sins in His own blood, & has made us kings & priests to His God & Father, to Him be glory & dominion forever & ever.` (Rev.1: 6)

2. Israel.

The second group that God has plans for is Israel. They have been blinded to the truth of their Messiah. However at the end of the tribulation they will realise that Jesus, their Messiah is the one that they crucified. It will be a traumatic time for them but healing will flow as the Lord reveals that He bought atonement to them individually & as a nation.

`Behold He is coming with clouds, & every eye will see Him, & they also who pierced Him.` (Rev. 1: 7)

3. The Nations.

The Gentile nations of the earth, the different tribes are also a group in God`s plan. When they see the Lord coming to earth they will mourn. Their rule & authority has come to an end & Christ`s awesome power & glory causes them to wail in fear, guilt & grief.

`And & all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen`(Rev. 1: 7)

Marilyn.
 
Wow awesome, Marilyn! Lots of information to digest. A godly woman Marilyn Hickey has a book about finding Jesus in every book of the Bible :)

Thank you and God bless
 
Hi Cturtle,

Thank you for your encouragement. So glad you also love to read & learn about our precious Lord.

Blessings, Marilyn.
 
Christ`s Signature

Christ would now have us to see His eternal attributes. This is His Deity that was hidden behind the `veil` of His flesh while on earth. He is the all- knowing, all powerful One throughout time & eternity. The `I am.`

“I am the Alpha & Omega, the beginning & the End,” says the Lord, “who is & who was & who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1: 8)



His Omniscience – “I am the Alpha & Omega,”

Christ is the whole alphabet, from whom the entire vocabulary for expressing revealed truth is derived. All the treasures of wisdom & knowledge are in Him. There is no such thing as knowledge before Him & there cannot be any beyond Him.

` Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge.` (Col. 2: 3)

Christ, as the Alpha & Omega, is the only way to spiritual secrets, He is the key to unlock the treasures of truth, Himself the interpreter of the invisible, & the Door of entrance to eternal enjoyment.

`At your right hand are pleasure for evermore.` (Ps. 16: 11)



His Omnipresence – “The Beginning & the End.”

Christ commenced & will conclude all time periods. He conceived the duration of the ages & will yet crown & consummate the ages to come. Everything is under His control. And no event came before the exercise of His will & none will come after His counsel.

`Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15: 28)

In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; therefore outside of Christ there is no wider, broader, deeper, higher, greater or vaster measure or authority known.

`For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; & you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality & power.(Col. 2: 9 & 10)



His Omnipotence – “which is, was & is to come, the Almighty,”

The strength of Christ`s might & majesty transcend all others in ability & authority. He is the competent & self-sufficient One in His almightiness. When we pause to ponder His enormous energy, His great power, His awesome strength & might, these qualities with their tremendous potential causes us to tremble . But, when we turn & learn of the blended qualities of goodness, gracious care, glorious love which are lavished so freely, our fears depart for we view His heart.

`God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ (by grace have you been saved), & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.`(Eph. 2: 4 – 8)

Marilyn.
 
Marilyn C said:
Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge.` (Col. 2: 3)
Click to expand...

Not only is all the treasures of Wisdom, and knowledge hidden in Christ, but we are complete in him were all these treasures are located in plain sight!!!

Col 2:9.. For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10.. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
 
Hi Abdicate,

I didn`t know that, - 22 letters, 22 chapters of Revelation. I can work out the Alpha (beginning, introduction) & Omega (the end, the conclusion). Are there any other correlations you can think of. That is really very interesting. Thank you for that info.

Marilyn.
 
Psalm 119 has a section for each of the 22 letters of the hebrew alphabet, but be that as it may, I think you are doing a really great job with Revelation...please keep it up.
 
Marilyn C said:
Hi Abdicate,

I didn`t know that, - 22 letters, 22 chapters of Revelation. I can work out the Alpha (beginning, introduction) & Omega (the end, the conclusion). Are there any other correlations you can think of. That is really very interesting. Thank you for that info.

Marilyn.
Click to expand...
Honestly I've not looked into it. I find many read Revelations like an allegory and only see symbols. I'm a realist (even in artwork) and so I see how things can happen and what they could mean. Not to jump the gun, but here's an example:

Revelation 8:7 (KJV)
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.​

The realist in me says that this will happen. So the question to myself is, how? A mega CME (Coronal Mass Ejection). The sun spews out weak CME matter which hits the earth at speeds of 310 miles/second (500 km/s). A mega CME will be much stronger. When that happens, the ensuing shock wave will compress the upper atmosphere with all the lower atmospheres until all the moisture is frozen and then when the shock wave pushes through it'll be a fireball knocking out of the sky all the planes flying. So what falls to the ground: ice (hail), fire mingled with blood (from those poor souls in the planes) hitting the earth and burning up 1/3 of the earth's trees and all the green grass. In fact the earth missed one of these events by just 3 weeks back in 2012. A massive CME (and there are levels) would have hit the earth had it happened three earlier.

So normally when the earth receives a CME our magnetic field shields us from the effects of the CME. However, our magnetic field is currently weakening and if an extra large CME were to hit, the scenario I spelled out will happen. The last known mega CME had a direct hit on the earth was in the late 1859 when all the wiring from the telegraph wires burned up worldwide. CMEs hit all the time but they are usually weak, yet when they are pretty strong, auroras happen and we see beautiful light shows in the skies the closer you get to the poles.

Now imagine if a mega CME hit when this was going on:

enhanced-buzz-wide-14002-1385594464-11.jpg


All of them would fall from the sky. The last big one in 1859 burned up the wiring. God says this one will burn up 1/3 of the trees and ALL the green grass! That's a bigg'en!

Anyhow, that's how I read Revelations, in reality.
 
Hi Abdicate,

I agree with you that so many people try to allegorise Revelation. The symbols are obvious & so is the literal. That was an amazing explanation of the CME. I can see you will give us great insight as we go through Revelation. I am only doing a section at a time on different threads so we can concentrate on that portion & not get lost in a pre-mid-post trib. type discussion.

I`m glad you have that knowledge & interest so we can visualise what it will be like. Looking forward to when we do that section of Revelation & to hear your descriptions, if you want to share.

Marilyn.
 
One favor though: if you call someone out, to get their attention, put a @ in front of their user name. That'll notify them that you're talking to them. If not, I might miss something. :) Like this: @Marilyn C
 
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