Revelation

Revelation 1:1-3: “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.”

It is fitting that we are celebrating the Advent season. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming". It is when we as a church celebrate the coming of our savior as a child in the holiday of Christmas. We also have another celebration that we await, and that is the second coming of the Christ, not as a baby, meek and mild, but rather as a conquering king. Our blessed hope and the basics of our faith state that Jesus was born of a virgin, ministered, was crucified, died, and was buried. Yet, on the third day, he rose again, and He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Our hope, Jesus our savior is coming back. We will celebrate another Advent. The book of Revelation is the account of the second coming of Jesus.

This is the revelation of Jesus. The word revelation is singular and powerful. There is only one revelation of the savior of the world. That is what distinguishes Christianity. We have no need for any additional materials or books that claim a “New Revelation.” The Holy Bible is the revelation of Jesus and the only one to be trusted. The revelation that salvation comes only through Jesus is seen throughout the entire scriptures. The Messiah that is promised in the Book of Genesis, at the beginning of the Bible is revealed as Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
The Revelation of Jesus is the final salvo of Gods plan for this world and humankind to have a relationship with God almighty. God orchestrated this beautiful plan from the beginning. Moreover, it all points to Jesus. It is all about Jesus. The unfolding plan for God to offer eternal life to this world is leading us to this point in history, the Last Days. The unfolding or revealing is a warning that time is short and that the end of days is approaching. This is not a myth or an allegorical piece of fanciful literature. The truths in this book will shortly come to pass. John wrote, “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.”

For the Christ-follower this is an exciting time in the history of the world, as we are witnesses to the last days. For those who are not of Christ, this is a confusing and scary time. We will be called to choose sides. What side are you on?