Understanding the Times

Jesus the Nazarene is the one who unveils the mysteries of God. Only he is qualified to reveal the essence of the “unseen God.” All the promises of God find their fulfillment in him, their “yea and Amen.” He is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and provides the correct understanding of Bible prophecy and the “times and seasons.”

The man crucified on Calvary is the center of the Apostolic Tradition 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 Jesus.

[Photo by Ernesto Velázquez on Unsplash]

The Prologue of John’s Gospel presents him as the logos, the one who embodies the full revelation of God. In him, the Word “became flesh” and the glory of God “tabernacled.” Moreover, John contrasts this same Jesus with the earlier revelation given by Moses - (John 1:14-18).

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 translated as “interprets” in English has no direct or indirect object - the statement is open-ended. Quite simply, Jesus interprets. Yahweh has declared His final “word” in him, not on Mount Sinai or anywhere or through anyone else - (Hebrews 1:1).

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is the sacrificed “Lamb” who alone is “worthy” to open the “Sealed Scroll.” In doing so, he unveils and executes its contents, the Divine plan of redemption, a process that will consummate 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 through his death. It is the “slain Lamb” who now reigns over all things - (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 know what events “must soon come to pass.”

The “Lamb” possesses all authority, including the “Keys to Death and Hades,” and all this is because of his Death and Resurrection. The glorious “Son of Man” who was slain is the one who “opens and no man shuts.”

He is the “Faithful Witness and Firstborn of the Dead,” therefore, Jesus is the key that unlocks the Book of Revelation, indeed, all of Scripture. 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 is an unsealed book because of the “Lamb” - (Daniel 12:1, Revelation 22:10).

Thus, Jesus is the indispensable key to understanding prophecy, Scripture, the Book of Revelation, and the essence and the “Mysteries of God.” The Christ revealed in the New Testament interprets the Hebrew scriptures, NOT vice versa, including the Book of Daniel with its all too often enigmatic visions.

Only in Jesus can we hope to understand the Scriptures and Bible prophecy, and if we wish to comprehend and embrace the true nature of God, we need only look to him, especially his Death and Resurrection.

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RELATED POSTS:

• 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)

• Decoding Bible Prophecy - (Jesus is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures, Bible prophecy, and the Mysteries of God)

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