The Unveiling By and Of Jesus Christ*

      The Book of Revelation has caused consternation as people have tried to interpret it. "Revelation" means "unveiling". It is unveiled by Jesus and we will see what Jesus intends to unveil to the Church. This Book begins: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly (tachos - quickness, speed: [when it happens it will happen quickly]) come to pass, and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word (logos - word uttered by a living voice [see Jn. 1:1, speaking of Christ]) of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth (anaginosko - read, to distinguish, to recognize, to know accurately), and they that hear (akouo - hear, to attend to, perceive, understand) the words of this prophecy, and keep (tereo - keep, attend to, guard, hold fast {do it, observe it]) those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Rev. 1:1-3).  This Book is to lead us into recognition and comprehension. We are not to be bench-sitters or pew-warmers, but "doers". We are called with a purpose. God knew you before you were in your mother's womb, and He knew the purpose that you would have in your life.

     John is writing this to the seven churches of Asia, telling them that this message is from Him "which is, and which was, and which is to come." (v. 4). Jesus was walking with His disciples on earth in the past, He is talking now to John and the churches, and Jesus will be returning again. We will see this nature of Christ repeated in this Book: past, present and future. John revealed Jesus further: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (v. 5-6). The blood of the spotless Lamb has also made us priests and kings, a promise made to Israel (Ex. 19:6). We have been grafted into that nation of kings and priests through belief in Jesus the Messiah/Christ, and are also being built into a living temple of God (see 1 Pet. 2:5-9). We are not meant to sit on the sidelines.

     Of Christ's return, John said: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." (v. 7, see also Dan. 7:13, Mt. 24:30, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Thess. 4:13-18). As we see the phrase "he cometh with clouds," we think of the Rapture, which has many theories as to timing, but scripture is to be interpreted only by scripture.

     Jesus then revealed to John: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (v. 8). "Alpha and Omega", the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are aleph-tav in the Hebrew, which is the language that Jesus would have expressed Himself with John, also a Jew. Aleph-tav appears many times in the Hebrew scriptures, the first time being in Genesis 1:1 - "Bereshiet Elohim aleph-tav...", which means, "In the beginning, God...", but it is God aleph-tav, or Jesus as He revealed Himself here in Revelation. In this verse from Revelation 1, we see again that Jesus identifies Himself with the past, present and future.

     John also describes himself as a brother in tribulation for the word of God and the testimony of Christ (v. 9). The church does and will tribulate, and the Great Tribulation has, in my opinion, already begun, especially in, but will not be limited to, the missions field areas. At the time that John received and unveiled this revelation to us, he had been exiled to the isle of Patmos, after his persecutors tried to kill him in boiling oil but did not succeed. Are we prepared and willing to take this kind of stand for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ as John was?

      The great voice that John heard this day sounded like a trumpet as it instructed him to send this revelation from Jesus Christ to the seven churches of Asia. When John turned to look, he saw an awesome figure standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks who held seven stars in His right hand, had a sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth, and whose face shone like the sun in full strength (v. 10-16). "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels (angels, messengers, pastors) of the seven churches: and the seven golden candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." (v. 17-20).  We see again a reference to the past, present and future. All things in the past, present and future were created by Jesus (see Jn. 1:3). The Book of Revelation is the only completely prophetic book in the New Testament. Christ, as having the keys to hell and death, means that we as believers in Him no longer need to fear death.

     The seven churches to whom Jesus sent messages are interpreted in different ways, but staying with the pattern of past, present and future given above, we know that while Jesus spoke to each church in its circumstances and characteristics then, there are also present and future applications for His "unveiling" messages to the churches.

     Jesus began with the angel/messenger/pastor of the church at Ephesus: "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come to thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans (meaning "destruction of the people" referring to those who promise liberty but end up in wickedness), which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Rev. 2:1-7).

     This church of Ephesus above tested those calling themselves apostles and rejected those who were not true apostles. There are true apostles in the church today that are still called to this office to bring the church to a necessary level of the unity of the faith, maturity growing into the perfect man and into the head, Christ, and the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (see Eph. 4:10-13). Until this is accomplished, Jesus will continue to appoint apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to the church.

Jesus also called the church of Ephesus above to repentance for falling away from their first love, which is Christ, although they hated evil and continued to do the works of the ministry. Jesus wanted to see the works of first love in them. Today, we in the church continue to allow things of this world to pull us away from the first love we had in Christ after we were saved. Like the church of Ephesus then, the church now needs to repent (see 2 Chron. 7:14) in order to draw back to Jesus. Jesus told Ephesus to hear by the Spirit, which He is also saying to the church today.

     The Apostle Paul (Eph. 1:1) was associated with the church of Ephesus and wrote a letter to them outlining their calling in Christ. The main point that he stressed was the unity of the body of believers in Christ: "...God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ...that we should be holy and without blame before him in love...Having made known unto us the mystery of his will...That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him." Eph. 1:1-10, excerpt). 

     This unity extends to the creation of a new man, of both Jews and Gentiles, formerly estranged, who have been reconciled through Christ into one body. Both, now one in Christ, have access to one Spirit and one God. This is the spiritual building that the Lord is building by the Spirit. (Eph. 2:11-22, excerpt). "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and in you all." (Eph. 4:4-6).

Paul also stressed to this church that the Body of Christ, the believers, is the fulness of the ruling Christ: "...the exceeding greatness of his (God's) power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his  mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."  (Eph. 1:19-23). The church is to make this mystery known to all men and to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This is the eternal purpose of God for us. (see Eph. 3:9-11). Paul beseeches the church of Ephesus to walk in this calling, not to be just hearers (Eph. 4:1). Our calling is found and fulfilled in our first love of Jesus.

     The oneness and spiritual unity that Paul spoke of above, and our first love for Jesus Christ and our submission to Him, is spoken of by Paul as being the same unity and love as is to be found between husband and wife. Jesus sanctified and washed the church by the Word of God: "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:22-28).

     Jesus unveiled this same truth in the Book of Revelation: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God." (Rev. 19:7-9).

     The fall feasts of the LORD are about to begin. They are the feasts that speak prophetically of Christ's return. This is not the time to be bench-warmers and pew-sitters, but doers by the Spirit of God.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 9/1/24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.