The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Revelation 1:1-2

“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.” Revelation 1:1

Thanks be to God! He reveals Himself to us via His Son Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews 1:1-4, it is written, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

In Amos 3:7, it is written, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

In Daniel 2:28, it is written, “There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

The Book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. The whole Bible is a revelation from Christ because all divine revelation comes through Him and points to Him. Especially in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son. Christ, as King of His Church, has shown His church the rules and ways by which He will govern it. As the Prophet of the Church, He has also revealed the things that will happen in the future. [1]

Jesus helps finite-minded people to know God. In Matthew 11:25, Jesus prayed, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”

In Matthew 11:27, Jesus stated, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

The Book of Revelation is a revelation which God gave unto Christ. Although Christ is God and has life and light in Himself, He receives instructions from the Father in His role as Mediator between God and man. Our Lord Jesus is the great keeper and messenger of God’s revelation. Through Him, we learn what we may expect from God and what God expects from us. [2]

In Luke 24:32, a disciple of Jesus remarked, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scripture to us?”

In Luke 24:45, Jesus opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”

Revelation 1:1 says that Christ sent and signified His revelation to John by His angel. God gave the revelation to Christ, and Christ used an angel to communicate it to the churches. [3]

In Acts 7:53, Stephen testified, “You received the Law by the dispensation of angels…” The Lord dispensed His angels to graciously bring His Word to people. Hebrews 2:2 says, “The Word spoken by angels was steadfast.”

How fitting that the last book of the Bible is entitled, “Revelation” which means to uncover, unveil, and reveal. Satan’s propaganda against God is strong because his time is short. He spreads lies against God and His people. Thus, we need Jesus Christ to reveal the truth to us.

Revelation 1:1 says that God gave this book to Jesus to share with His douloi. Douloi is the Greek word for bond slaves. Douloi are slaves of their own free will. They want to be bound to their Master! Being a douloi of Jesus is not bad because He takes care of His servants. He reveals truth to His servants that He does not reveal to others. [4]

“Shortly” is the ancient Greek phrase “en tachei” which means ‘quickly or suddenly coming to pass,’ indicating rapidity of execution after the beginning takes place. The idea is not that the event may occur soon, but that when it does, it will be sudden.” [5]

“He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.” Revelation 1:1-2

“He signified it by His angel to His servant John.” “Signified” or Sign-ified – Revelation is a books of signs. Signs of the time! [6]

After John received the revelation, he bore witness to the Word of God, the testimony of Jesus, and the things the Lord showed by way of divine visions. Revelation is the Word of God. It, like all Scripture, testifies to Jesus. In John 5:39, Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” In Luke 24:44, Jesus said, “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

The Lord gave John visions of things to come. In Numbers 12:6, the Lord said, “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision. I speak to him in a dream.” Many words of major and minor prophets came to them via visions. In the Gospels, Zechariah, Joseph and Mary received God’s Word via visions of angels. In Acts, there are words derived from angelic visions. These visions fulfilled God’s promise to Israel recorded in Joel 2:28.

The Book of Revelation is the testimony of the triumph of Jesus Christ over the devil. In the Book of Revelation, light triumphs over darkness. Christ’s Bride – the Church triumphs over Satan’s harlot – Babylon. Revelation gives us a general understanding of how God’s providence and government will work in and around His Church. [7]

John faithfully recorded what was shown to him. Everything came from God and was the testimony of Jesus. John added nothing to God’s revelation, and he left nothing out that God had shown him. He faithfully declared the purposes and counsels of God.

“Thank You Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords for revealing to us the Father, and for speaking to us concerning the things that are to shortly come to pass.”

[1-3] Material developed and edited from Matthew Henry’s Commentary
[4-7] Enduring Word Commentary