This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:1-2 NLT
Revelation is a book that intrigues some and scares others. Those who are intrigued are excited about its interpretation and implication upon our lives. Those who are scared don't want to read its sacred content because it reveals eschatological events that frighten them. Eschatology is the branch in theology concerning the final events of the history of the world. As believers in Jesus Christ, we need not fear the things coming on the earth. Jesus is our Lord and Savior!!! This means that the REVELATION (not Revelations - plural, as some mistake) is about Him and His will. He has prepared, in advance, the things that must take place before the end of the age. Jesus has redeemed us from sin and it's curse. The curse of sin fell upon all of humanity (Adam's race) and everything under his command. In Genesis 1:26-28, God blessed man with the governorship of the earth and all of its contents. When Adam sinned, everything under his command became cursed (see Genesis 3:1-19). Adam forfeited everything God gave him to govern, to Satan. This is how Satan became known as the "god" of this world. “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT Satan doesn't want us to know the God who created us and who re-creates us. Jesus is the God who created us. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.” John 1:1-4 NLT “And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” Hebrews 1:2-3 NLT “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” Colossians 1:15-17 NLT Who Jesus is, matters!!! He is the One through whom God revealed Himself to man. In Christ we see, and know, God! Through Jesus Christ, God has redeemed everything that man lost in the Garden of Eden. “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.” 1 Peter 1:18-21 NLT “And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10 NLT Do I hear a swell of thundering praise and adoration to our One God and Master? Come on church, give Him some praise!! He is worthy!!! Adam, the first man, fell to sin, and we died. Jesus, God who became man, overcame sin by living a sinless life and died as a perfect sacrifice to defeat death. (see Romans 3:23; 6:23-26). “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:16-19 NLT (see also I Corinthians 15:45-58). Jesus has prepared, in advance, the restoration of all things. There must be events that unfold before the restoration takes place, but through Jesus, God has redeemed man from the death and destruction that is impending. “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” Romans 8:18-25 NLT Jesus has revealed these things to man. Jesus is the REVELATION of God and the REVELATOR of the will of God!!!
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March 2020
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