The revelation of Jesus Christ.

• That is how the book of Revelation begins.
• In the Greek the first three words are: “Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ”. Transliterated it is “apocalypse Jesus Christ,” and in our English translations we read—“The revelation of Jesus Christ.” These three words tell us everything we need to know as to how we are to approach this last book of the Bible, and through these three words we discover God’s intended message to us as he outlines the final chapter of Earth’s history and the transition to eternity.
• The meaning of the word apocalypse in the Greek is to reveal, to uncover, unfold, disclose, to bring to light. Our English Bibles without exception capture the meaning very literally in verse one: “The revelation of Jesus Christ.”
• No other book in the NT begins by stating God’s clear intention as Revelation does. I reviewed the first few verses of every NT book, and the only introduction that even comes close to the brevity and clarity of Revelation is Luke’s stated purpose to Theophilus in Luke 1.
• The intended purpose of God in Revelation is to reveal Jesus Christ. And we will see that it is in fact Christ revealing himself to us as we make our way through the promises, the prophecies, the warnings and the judgments of the book. We are directed to view everything in the book of Revelation through these words—“The revelation of Jesus Christ.”
• As we study Revelation, we must understand that our approach is everything. For example, many people have tried over the years to predict when Jesus Christ is coming. In the mid-1980’s one man put together a pamphlet he called: “87 Reasons Christ Is Coming in 1987.” And when Christ didn’t come in ‘87, he wrote … yes he did: “88 Reasons Christ Is Coming in 1988.” True story. We were in Wyoming at the time. He caused quite a stir. His misdirection twisted his study, if you could even call it study.
• We have prophecy wackos everywhere—TV, radio, books, magazines, internet. And they have a tremendous following. However, the big question is not WHEN Christ is coming, but will we be READY when he does come.
• And many over the years have spent their time and energy trying to identify the anti-christ. These people override God’s purpose with their own agenda, and the results are a foolish mixture of the weird and the heretical.
• The revelation of Jesus Christ. This is so relevant to our times, as it has been outstandingly relevant for every generation of humans who have ever walked the planet.
• We do not need to know who the anti-christ is, but we do need to know who the Christ is. I will repeat that. We do not need to know who the anti-christ is, but we do need to know who the Christ is.
• Not the palatable Christ of your imagination or the compromised Christ of your pragmatic, sensible religion or the Christ for whom you have somehow generously found the time to carve out a small niche in your crowded, busy life. Not the Christ that keeps you in good standing in the community. Not the man upstairs. Not the abridged, edited version of some liberal theologian or college professor. And certainly not the image represented by some picture on the wall.
• We need to know the revealed Christ, the One who is coming with the clouds, the Christ of glory, the Lamb who was slain and who will one day peal the seals away from the scroll of God’s terrible judgments and wrath.
• No one other Christ will do. Revelation is all about revelation. The revealing of Jesus Christ, glorified and coming again.

Message: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ!”
Message Text: Revelation 1:1-3