This Revelation Must Take Place “Two” SOON!

The Testimony of Jesus, Chapter 4

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place.… Revelation 1:1

SERVANTS

As mentioned last time, the Lord Jesus Messiah was God’s wise Servant (Isa 52:13), His suffering Servant (Isa 53:3-5), who came to earth, not to do His own will, but the heavenly Father’s will (John 6:38). Moreover, the Lord Jesus, as perfect, sinless Man, received the full revelation of Himself as Messiah from the heavenly Father, as we read in the first part of the verse, and examined in the last lesson. Our generous Lord and Savior did not receive this revelation just to keep it to Himself; He received it to show this revelation to His servants.

You and I, who have been saved by God’s grace, are Christ’s bondslaves, the plural Greek δουλοις (DOO-lois). We are willing slaves unto Him who redeemed us. Jesus set us free from the bondage of sin and of Satan, and having been liberated and regenerated by divine love, we now willingly becomes slaves to both our Redeemer and to righteousness (Rom 6:16-18). The Old Testament presents a beautiful picture of salvation’s bondslave:

“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same.” Deuteronomy 15:12-17, emphasis added

Now, as Christ Jesus has lavishly provided for our salvation, He continues to liberally furnish to us all the blessings of His empowerment for us by revealing to us who He is and what He has done. Just as the Father gave the revelation to Him as Heir of all things, the Father gives it to us through the Lord Jesus Christ— for revelation of the Lord Jesus, in who He is and what He has done by the cross, must be opened up to us by the heavenly Father, as it is written:

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 16:16-17

SHOW

While this Greek word, δειξαι (DĪX-ai), translated ‘show,’ conveys a similar context to the previous English word ‘gave’ in our verse (according to M. R. Vincent, D.D., Word Studies in the New Testament, 1886), studying this Greek word out in all its varied uses in the New Testament, presents more than a gift or inheritance. It seems to contain a teaching that accompanies this gift for the benefit of one’s understanding; and an illumination which also accompanies the gift to enlighten previously undisclosed mysteries; and an enlarged explanation to more fully develop the knowledge extended and received; and finally, this gospel revelation is a special gift given as a possession, a keepsake that endears the recipient to the Giver more intimately. All these definition make sense, being consistent with the last part of the sentence, “the things that must soon take place.” We will get to “soon take place” in a moment, but first…