Decoding Bible Prophecy

Jesus is the one who unveils the Mysteries of God, and only he is qualified to reveal the nature of the “unseen God.” In him, all the promises of God find their substance. He is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and provides the correct understanding of Bible prophecy, and this is especially so in the Book of Revelation where the sacrificial “Lamb” reigns over all things.

Jesus of Nazareth is the center of Apostolic Tradition preserved in the Greek New Testament, and the proclamation of “Christ Crucified” is the true “power and wisdom of God.” There is no knowledge of the Father without him.

[Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash]

The Prologue of John’s Gospel presents him as the logos, the true and unfiltered expression of God. The Word “became flesh,” and in him, the glory of God now “tabernacles” for all men to see.

Everlasting truth and light are unveiled in His “only born Son.” Moses “gave the Law,” but “grace and truth came to be through Jesus Christ.” He alone has seen God, and therefore, he is well-qualified to “interpret” 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 translated as “interprets” has no direct or indirect object. The statement is open-ended. Quite simply, Jesus interprets everything about God.

Likewise, according to Hebrews, the “Word” of God spoken in His Son is His complete word. In contrast, the “word” spoken previously “in the prophets” was partial and incomplete – “In many parts and in many ways” – (Hebrews 1:1).

Unlike the prophets and Levitical priests who came before him, the Son “achieved the purification of sins,” sat down at God’s “right hand,” thereby inheriting the “name” that is vastly superior to that of angels, Moses, Aaron, or any other predecessor - (Hebrews 1:1-4).

THE LAMB REVEALS

In Revelation, he is the slain “Lamb” who is “worthy” to open the “Sealed Scroll.” He unveils and executes its contents, a process that will end in nothing less than the New Creation and the descent of “New Jerusalem” to the Earth.

All creation pronounced him “Worthy” to receive all power, glory, and authority, BECAUSE “by his death, he redeemed men and women from every nation to become a Kingdom of Priests for God.” He achieved victory over sin, Satan, and Death for humanity and the Cosmos through his sacrificial death on the Roman Cross - (Revelation 5:6-12).

The vision received by John and described in the Book of Revelation is the “revelation of Jesus Christ.” He is the one to whom it belongs, and he gives it to his servants to show them “what things must soon come to pass.” He interprets and applies the visions and symbols of the Book to his “assemblies.”

For example, the “one like a Son of Man” explained that the “Seven Golden Lampstands” represented the seven “assemblies of Asia,” and the “Seven Stars” held in his right hand symbolized “Seven Messengers” - (Revelation 1:20).

The “slain Lamb” possesses all authority, including the “Keys of Death and Hades.” He “opens and no man shuts,” including the realm of the Dead. Nothing is beyond his reach.

None of the events in Revelation occurred without his knowledge and authorization. Even the “Beast from the Sea” could not launch 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 the Firstborn of the Dead,” therefore, he is the Master Key that unlocks everything whether prophecies or mysteries of God:

• “Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY which has been kept in silence through times everlasting, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.”

[Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash]

He is the true and greater Tabernacle and Temple, the inaugurator of the promised New Covenant, the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, the one who overcame sin and death, and the Ruler of the Cosmos and the “Kings of the Earth.”

The substance foreshadowed in the old system is found in the “Crucified Messiah,” the rock-solid “power and wisdom of God,” and in him alone, all the promises of God receive their “Yea!” and “Amen!”.

God cannot be known apart from His Son, therefore, everyone who has seen and comprehended Jesus has “seen his Father.” He is the “way, the truth, and the life,” and no man or woman comes to the Father apart from him.

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RELATED POSTS:

• Literal and Nonliteral Language - (The Book of Revelation informs the reader from the start that it communicates visually and symbolically)

• Unsealing the Scroll - (Daniel was commanded to seal the Scroll, but the angel sent by Jesus commanded John NOT to do so since the season is now – Revelation 22:10)

• Revelation of Jesus - (The Prologue of Revelation presents the key themes of the Book and declares that the season of fulfillment has arrived – Revelation 1:1-3)