Understanding Scripture
Jesus the Nazarene is the one who unveils the plans and mysteries of God, only he is qualified to reveal the nature of the “unseen God.” In him, all the promises of God find their fulfillment, their “yea and Amen.” He is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew scriptures and provides the correct understanding of prophecy, and this becomes especially so in the Book of Revelation.
The Nazarene who was crucified on Golgotha is the center of apostolic traditions preserved in the New Testament.
The proclamation of “Christ Crucified” is the true “power and wisdom of God,” and the key to understanding and receiving the promises of God. There is no true knowledge of the Father apart from him.
 |
| [Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash] |
The Prologue of John’s Gospel account presents Jesus as the LOGOS, the one who embodies the full revelation of God, the one in whom the Word “became flesh” and in whom the glory of God now “tabernacles.” Moreover, John contrasts this same Jesus with the earlier revelation given by Moses - (John 1:14-18).
The “grace and truth” of God are found in His “only born Son.” Moses “gave the law,” but “GRACE AND TRUTH came to be through Jesus.” He alone has seen God, and therefore, he is well-qualified to “INTERPRET” anything and everything about his Father.
- “For of his fullness, we all received, even grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only born Son who is in the bosom of the Father, HE INTERPRETS” - (John 1:16-18).
In the Greek clause, the verb rendered as “interprets” in English has NO DIRECT OR INDIRECT OBJECT - the statement is OPEN-ENDED. Quite simply, Jesus interprets. Yahweh has declared His full and final “word” in him, not on Mount Sinai or anywhere or through anyone else.
SLAIN LAMB UNVEILS THE FUTURE
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is portrayed as the sacrificed “Lamb” who alone is found “worthy” to open the “Sealed Scroll.” In doing so, he unveils and executes its contents, a process that concludes in nothing less than the New Creation.
For this reason, all creation declared him “worthy” to receive ALL power, glory, and authority, for “by his death, he redeemed men and women from every nation to become a kingdom of priests for God.” He achieved victory for humanity and the Cosmos through his death. It is the “slain Lamb” who reigns over all things, not the “roaring Lion of Judah” - (Revelation 5:6-12).
The vision received by John on the Isle of Patmos is the “REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.” He is the one to whom it belongs, and he gives it to his servants so they may understand events that “must soon come to pass.” Moreover, he interprets and applies the contents of this revelation through the several visions received by John.
The “Lamb” possesses all authority, including the “Keys to Death and Hades,” and all this is because of his past death and resurrection. The glorious “Son of Man” who was slain is the one who “opens and no man shuts.”
The events portrayed in John’s visions do not occur without the knowledge and authorization of the “Lamb.” Even the “Beast from the Sea” cannot unleash its war against the “saints” until the time determined by Jesus - (Revelation 1:1, 1:17-20, 13:7-10 – “it was given to him…”).
He is the “Faithful Witness and Firstborn of the Dead,” and therefore, Jesus is the key that unlocks the Book. Upon his arrival at the Throne, he took possession of the “Sealed Scroll” and immediately began to unseal it.
Unlike the Book of Daniel, Revelation was and is an UNSEALED BOOK because of the “Lamb” - (Daniel 12:1, Revelation 22:10).
Jesus of Nazareth is the indispensable key for the correct understanding of prophecy, Scripture, the Book of Revelation, and all the “Mysteries of God.” The Christ revealed in the New Testament interprets the Hebrew scriptures, NOT vice versa.
Only in Jesus do we begin to understand the “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” He is both the Revealer and the contents of the visions of John, the one who possesses and opens the Sealed Scroll.
RELATED POSTS:
Comments
Post a Comment