Focus on Jesus • Devotion 1

Jesus!
Pastor Ryan Story

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:1-3

As we begin our series on the book of Revelation, we have to set up some ground rules. The simplest rule to keep in mind when trying to navigate through what the Bible is trying to teach us is, “Jesus is always the answer.” Throughout the next couple of months, we will be tackling some amazing theology, heartwarming doxology, confusion of imagery and symbolism, and at times some beasts that seem to be from the wildest imaginations of a child. However, all through Revelation, Jesus is always the answer.

The most beautiful truth to start our journey through the last book of the New Testament and the Bible, is to understand the first statement of this book. Revelation 1:1 reads, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants.” The first thing to know is that the word “revelation” in Greek is “apokalupis” which means “a revealing, an unveiling.” The first statement of this amazing book is the revealing of Jesus Christ. Everything that we read about in the coming months, as David Guzik says, “Belongs to Him. He is the one doing the revealing.”

There are a lot of schools of thought about Revelation. There is entire pseudo-Christian literature devoted to interpreting this book. There are many misuses of the book of Revelation, and one of them is to conclude that the main point of this book is anything other than Jesus. Jesus is the answer throughout this entire book; to only take away tribulation thoughts, political thoughts, and timelines is missing the entire book of Revelation. Revelation reveals Jesus to us; to miss Jesus in the book, we miss the book of Revelation.

Over the next couple of weeks, enjoy the sweet time you get to spend in God’s Word. Praise God for revealing His Son and the work Jesus did on the Cross. Enjoy taking a fresh look at God’s Word and resting on the truth that Jesus is always the answer.
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