Untitled Sermon (3)

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which aGod gave Him to bshow to His bond-servants, cthe things which must soon take place; and He sent and 1communicated it dby His angel to His bond-servant eJohn,

Verse 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,

“The revelation of Jesus Christ”

the central theme of the book of Revelation is Jesus Christ in His present and future glory

The book of Revelation is the counterpart of the Gospels, Christ is now in His glory in contrast to Christ in His humiliation and death.

W. A. Criswell, long-time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, gave the following explanation as to why Christ must yet be revealed in glory:

The first time our Lord came into this world, He came in the veil of our flesh. His deity was covered over with His manhood. His Godhead was hidden by His humanity. Just once in a while did His deity shine through, as on the Mount of Transfiguration, or as in His miraculous works. But most of the time the glory, the majesty, the deity, the wonder, and the marvel of the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, were veiled. These attributes were covered over in flesh, in our humanity. He was born in a stable. He grew up in poverty. He knew what it was to hunger and to thirst. He was buffeted and beaten and bruised. He was crucified and raised up as a felon before the scoffing gaze of the whole earth. The last time that this world saw Jesus was when it saw Him hanging in shame, misery, and anguish upon the cross. He later appeared to a few of His believing disciples, but the last time that this unbelieving world ever saw Jesus was when it saw Him die as a malefactor, as a criminal, crucified on a Roman cross. That was a part of the plan of God, a part of the immeasurable, illimitable grace and love of our Lord. “By His stripes we are healed.”

But then is that all the world is ever to see of our Saviour—dying in shame on a cross? No! It is also a part of the plan of God that someday this unbelieving, this blaspheming, this godless world shall see the Son of God in His full character, in glory, in majesty, in the full-orbed wonder and marvel of His Godhead. Then all men shall look upon Him as He really is. They shall see Him holding in His hands the title-deed to the Universe, holding in His hands the authority of all creation in the universe above us, in the universe around us, and in the universe beneath us; holding this world and its destiny in His pierced and loving hands. (Expository Sermons on Revelation [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969], 1:16–17)

The word revelation means a revelation, disclosure, or unveiling

a revelation about Jesus Christ, a disclosure of future events, His second coming when Christ will be revealed, and it comes from Christ.

It is written to be understood, as the book of Genesis and all other books are.

“which God gave Him”

It is given by God the Father to Christ the Son and then revealed “unto his servant

John mentioned this in his gospel he wrote (Jn 14:10, 12:29, 14:10, 14:24)

“to show to His bond-servants”

bondservants. Doulois (bond-servants) literally means “slaves a special type of slave, one who served out of love and devotion to their master. Exodus 21:5–6

“things which must shortly come to pass”

Soon translates tachos, which can mean “in a brief time,” or “quickly.

There are two thoughts of the meaning of soon in this verse.

Not the speed with which Christ moves when He comes, but the nearness of His coming is one of the thoughts. (2 Peter 3:8)

The other thought is the idea it’s not that it will occur soon, but that when it does, it will be sudden or quickly. The Greek word is “tachus” which is also used in James 1:19.

“and He sent and communicated(KJV reads “signified) it by His angel to His bond-servant John”

John was chosen by Christ to receive the Revelation. But John had to be available. Jesus always chooses a man or woman to carry the messages of God to others. But before He can choose a them, they must be available and must love the Lord and must be surrendered to Christ.

“His angel” It was the angel of Christ who gave the message to John. The word angel means messenger. This angel is said to be “His angel,” that is, the personal angel of Christ, who serves Christ as His very special messenger, some angel who is appointed as the very special servant of Christ.

Once again bond servant is used when addressing John