It's All About the Messiah

In the Gospels of our beloved Bible and between the pages, we meet Jesus as meek, humble, and dying on a cross. He submitted Himself to the enemies on earth. In Revelation however, we see Jesus is in all His glory and in absolute control of the universe!

Hi everyone, I’m Tammy Becker.  Welcome to the Almighty God & Gospel Girl Podcast.  This is week two into our brand-new series of Revelation and our podcast today is titled:  All About the Messiah.   My podcast today will be based on the reading of Revelation chapter 1:1-11.  And if you would like to follow along with the notes or maybe you would like to find the links to anything mentioned in the podcast today, you can go to the link in the description or by visiting www.youministries.com and visiting the corresponding page.  As we get started today, I would like to remind you that as always…do not take my word, or anyone’s word for what you read…get yourself in the Bible and let God discern His Word to you.  I am only human and make many mistakes and do not claim to know or understand everything in the Bible…I just hope by bringing out this study that your interest is sparked enough to get into God’s Word and begin to deep dive on your own.

Let’s get start now that the housekeeping is out of the way!

As we begin to read Revelation, we will note that this will definitely be a different view of the Messiah than that in the Gospels.  He is still the Lamb of God, but we see the wrath of the Lamb that terrifies the earth. He fills the horizon of the total Word of God. Jesus, the Messiah, makes a promise to all who read and hear this book: “You will be blessed,” He said. And both the reader and the hearer are to keep these things which are written in the book (v. 3).

Many people are frightened by what they see and hear here, but remember Jesus says He loves us; so we have no need to be afraid of anything that is to follow. And as a gentle side note, please note the title of this book is Revelation—singular, not plural. It is the Revelation, that is, “the uncovering, unveiling, or revelation” of Jesus Christ. The Gospels only tell us half the story. Revelation completes it. It takes off the veil so we can see Jesus Christ, the Messiah in His unveiled beauty and power and glory. This book is the opposite of a secret or a mystery. It discloses secrets and uses word pictures and symbols so we can interpret it in light of the entire Word of God.  Remember, to understand the end, you must understand the beginning and all of the book in between.

You may be asking yourself so when will these things happen that are written in the book of Revelation? John writes, “things which must shortly take place” (v. 1). This doesn’t state a date they will happen but that it will happen with absolute certainty, and once it begins, it will take place in a hurry, in a brief period of time.

The book of Revelation is actually a letter, and like any letter it has an author and an intended audience But unlike any other letter in the Bible, this letter has a unique chain of custody. If you are unfamiliar with chain of custody, it is something that is taken very seriously.  When I worked in law enforcement for example, when obtaining a piece of evidence, the chain of custody began from the time the evidence was discovered.  The evidence began being documented and photographed at the very location it was found, written down and signed by whom it was found by and then sign off to whom it was handed over to all the way to the evidence locker.  This would ensure that nothing was left out in the case as the trial begins and the jury could trust that nothing with that evidence had been tampered with due to the chain of custody being handled with precise care.  

Now bear with me as I relate my story and the Bible.  Beginning in v.1 as the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the Greek word for revelation can also be translated “apocalypse" It’s apocalyptic literature, a type of Scripture heavily dependent on symbols to explain future events And no other letter in the New Testament is said to be the direct revelation of Jesus Christ Furthermore, we hear this revelation passes through a remarkable chain of custody It starts with God giving this Revelation to Him (meaning Jesus), which tell us that “God” refers to the Father.

So the revelation we have in this book went from the Father to the Son, and the Son shows this revelation to His bond-servants, and on a side note just in case is a bond-servant in the New Testament is a term for the followers of Jesus, and between us and Jesus there were a couple more steps in this chain of custody… The revelation goes from the Father to Jesus to His angel and, the word angel literally means “messenger”, and that’s the primary role angels play in Scripture. The word angel is singular here, so we don’t know which angel is in view here. As we study through the book of Revelation, we will see angels featuring prominently as messengers.   Finally, the last in the chain of custody is the angel(s) will communicate the details to John.   We’re told John is the Apostle John, and as church history records it.   Since the text does not mention which John, then the logical assumption we make is that the Lord expected us to know and the John most familiar to the early Church would have been the Apostle John.

So the lets recap the COC went like this, the message of this book originated in heaven with God the Father, who gave it to His Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah, who gave it to an angel, who gave it to John, who wrote about what he saw as an eyewitness of the visions. Take that in for a moment…an eyewitness, not a vision, like total time travel witnessing as it was occurring in what will be future to us.  Yeah I know, like a total Sci-fi production going on right here in our Book of Life, the final chapter, the finale!

What John saw and heard and sometimes smelled, he tells us in picturesque language. John first communicated the account of the Revelation to seven churches in Asia. Having been a pastor in this region, John knows these churches. He writes from Patmos, a small Greek island where he was exiled from about 86 to 96 a.d. It’s a lonely, rugged, volcanic island where he was given this great experience of the Revelation. John opens in (v.4), “Grace to you and peace”. The word grace (charis) is the Greek greeting, and peace (shalom) is the Hebrew. Peace flows from grace, and grace is the source of all our blessings today.

The Revelation reveals the grace of God and gives us peace. We don’t need to be frightened as we study this book; God’s children have His grace and peace. This grace is also from the Lord Jesus Christ. In just two verses, Revelation 1:5-6, we learn seven titles for Jesus. (Read the verses yourself.)

1. Jesus is the “faithful witness,” the only trustworthy witness to the facts of this book that are about Him. He testifies of Himself. When it’s difficult to believe other people, we can believe the Lord Jesus.
2. Jesus is the “firstborn from the dead,” the first to rise from the dead, never to die again, back from the dead in a glorified body.
3. Jesus is “the ruler over the kings of the earth,” speaking of the time when every knee should bow and every tongue will confess He is Lord (see Philippians 2:9-11).

4. “To Him who loved us” emphasizes His constant attitude toward His own. Jesus Christ didn’t love us only when He died on the cross, although He loved us at that time, but He also loves us today. Right at this very minute, Jesus loves you.
5. “Washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Jesus Christ gave His life. (See also 1 Peter 1:18-19 and 1 Timothy 2:5.)
6. “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father” (kjv) who will rule with Him. Did you notice that it reads, “unto God and his Father.” Why doesn’t it read, “our Father”? Because God is the Father of Jesus in a unique way. We become sons of God through regeneration, being born from above, by accepting Jesus as Savior. But Christ’s eternal position in the Trinity is that of the Son.
7. “To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever,” emphasizing Jesus’ title for eternity. “Amen.” Jesus Christ is the amen, the subject and the object of this book. He is the mover of all events, and all events move toward Him. He is the far-off eternal purpose in everything. All things were not only made by Him, but all things were made for Him. This universe exists for Him.

John tells us that one day, Jesus Christ will personally and physically come back. When Jesus appears in the clouds, everyone will see Him. When Jesus earlier took the church out of the world at the Rapture, He doesn’t appear to everyone nor does He touch down on earth—believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. When Jesus Christ returns to earth as King, He will come to establish His Kingdom in the Millennium. But this time, when everyone sees Him, not everyone will be happy. Those who reject Him on earth will wail—they’ll beat their breasts in anguish. The world won’t want to see Him. But nothing will stop the Lord. Nothing will change the plan. What He started, He will finish. Jesus said, “I am Alpha and Omega.” These Greek letters are like saying, He is the A and Z and every letter in between. A small detail gives us great insight here. When this was first written, the word “Omega” is not spelled out as is the “Alpha.” Why? Because Christ is the beginning, and the beginning is already completed.

But the end is yet to be; so Jesus didn’t spell out the Omega. One day He will complete God’s program. And that is what we are discovering. He is the “Word of God”—the full revelation and intelligent communication of God. He’s the only language God speaks; Jesus Christ the Son is the only way to God the Father. Since Jesus is the beginning and the end, He embodies all time and eternity. When we see Jesus on that day, coming in the clouds in His glorified body, He is coming as the Great High Priest in the Holy of Holies.

As we read the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is doing what Jesus promised He would do. He’s taking the things of Christ and showing them to us. The Lord’s exact words were, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14).

We are beginning to get a vision of the glorified Christ. “I was in the Spirit,” John says (v. 10). The Holy Spirit was moving on John and giving him a panoramic picture in all its reality of sight and sound.

Next week we will see through John’s eyes the beginning of this great and grand revealing.  We will see what he saw and heard.  I suggest you pre-read Revelation chapter 1: verses 10-20 to prepare for next weeks episode.

That’s it for today friends.  Make sure to head over to youministries.com and find the corresponding show notes and any links I have mentioned in this podcast.  You will also find the link in the description as well.  This is Tammy Becker.  Have a blessed week, see you next time.  Bye.