The Inaugural Vision

Revelation 1:1-20

READ 1:1-8

Verse 1-3        What is the source of this revelation?

God gives it to Jesus, to give to His bond-servants.  (Those that have given their lives to Him)

            God wants us to know these things.  More clearly stated than in other books of the NT, God in His goodness and loving kindness, sends us a message through Christ.

What we will be reading is important, and it comes from God, through Jesus, to us.

It is the revelation about Jesus Christ (at least the way I take it as an objective genetive)

Verses 4 – 9                WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER AND CLING TO

How is God described in verse 4?  Is there anything interesting about the order here?

                        Who IS, and Who was, and Who is to come – I Am that I Am.

            There is a focus on the present tense reality that God is – The reality of God’s presence and all that entails is NOW.  We read so much of what God has done in the past, yet when He describes Himself here, He begins with the present.  God is present with us NOW – even though it may not seem like it.

Also, He is described as the one “Who is to come.”  Stress on the forceful and final entry of God into His creation described here in Revelation.

The Seven Spirits of God?  

            Let’s look at the description of Christ in Rev. 5:6

            Is 11:2 – the LXX (Greek translation of the OT) added one more, godliness, to make seven spirits

            Zech 4:1-10  The seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord – not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.

Verse 5           Jesus IS:         The Faithful Witness – If he says it, believe it

                                                The Firstborn from the Dead

                                                Ruler of the Kings of the Earth – Why is this important?

                                                The One Who Loves Us

                                                The One Who Released Us From Our Sins

           

He has made us to be:           A Kingdom

                                                Priests to God

ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.  So it is to be.

Alpha and Omega – who is, and was and is to come – the Almighty.

There will be a quiz – a regularly scheduled Pop Test on this material.  Monthly, weekly, or even daily.  Better know it and believe it.

READ VERSES 9-20          

How does John address his readers?  They are fellow partakers in what?

Tribulation – Kingdom – Perseverance           These three are related and intertwined – they are in essence the same thing.

The TRIBULATION for John and his readers was the same as it is for Christians today:

Possible Exile, Imprisonment, Social Ostracism, Slander, Poverty, Economic Exploitation, Violence, Threat of Judicial Action, etc. 

ENDURANCE is the answer.

Seven churches, all located in what is now western Turkey.  They are in order as they would have been encountered if taking the road from Patmos.  You first hit Ephesus, then go north and make sort of a loop.

The comfort of Christ – all throughout the Bible, when godly people interact with God or angels, the first thing they are told is “Do not be afraid.”

DO NOT BE AFRAID – I AM FOREVERMORE, AND I HAVE THE KEYS OF DEATH AND OF HADES.