Revelations 1
Revelation 1:1-20
1 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,
2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
3 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.
4 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,
5 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,
6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 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.
8 “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.”
9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;
15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;
16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
In approaching John with the revelation to come, Jesus repeatedly refers to Himself as the beginning and the end. What He is about to proclaim is from the perspective of an overview, where everything to be described is completely within His control, that He will remain the Almighty through and after it all. From this understanding, there can be great confidence and freedom from anxiety and fear. For all those who hear from a position within Him, as witnesses to His triumph over death, there will remain great comfort no matter how ominous the impending events. There is a realm of the spirit that completely transcends the natural realm we are so impressed with. Though there will be physical effects of what is taking place in the spirit, much of what will be shared is in a realm that cannot be fully understood through normal descriptions. The heart that is most helped and influenced as intended will be the one that is full of the Spirit over full of themselves and their capacity to wield their own discernment.
From the heart of our Savior is a continual flow of the Father’s purpose expressed. Just as Jesus was preceded by an extensive number of prophecies that paved His way, so there is an established preparation for what is yet to come through insights into the spirit realm. With each presentation, whether fully understood or placed in the heart for gestation, there can be reception of this Father’s plan for each of us that includes security through whatever comes.
This verse jumped out this morning: “who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.”
That is my heart’s desire that I would bare witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus in all that I do!