Revealing God
Jesus of Nazareth is the one who unveils the plans and mysteries of the Almighty, and only he is qualified to reveal the nature of the “unseen God.” In him, all the promises of God find their fulfillment. He is the key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and fulfills prophecy. This principle is presented explicitly in the opening paragraph of Letter to the Hebrews and pictorially in the Book of Revelation when Jesus is pictured as the “Lamb.”
The
prologue of John’s Gospel presents the Nazarene as the logos, the ultimate revelation of
God, His glorious expression unveiled in Jesus. He is the one in whom the Logos,
the word of God “became flesh” and His glory now “tabernacles” in
His Son. John contrasts this same Jesus with the earlier revelation given by
Moses - (John 1:14-18).
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| [Photo by Michael Held on Unsplash] |
The grace and truth of God are found in His “only-born Son.” Moses “gave the Law,” but “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” He alone has seen God, and therefore, he alone 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 rendered as “interprets” in English has no direct or indirect object - the
statement is open-ended. Quite
simply, Jesus interprets. God has declared His full “word” in
him, not on Mount Sinai, in the Torah, or anywhere or in anyone else.
Likewise,
in the Letter to the Hebrews, the “Word” of God spoken in His Son
is His complete word. In contrast, the “word” spoken
previously “in the prophets” was partial, incomplete, and promissory.
Unlike
all the prophets before him, the Son “achieved the purification of sins,”
and sat down to reign from God’s “right hand.” Therefore, he inherited 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,
Jesus is presented as the slain “Lamb” who alone is “worthy” to open
the “Sealed Scroll.” In doing so, he unveils and executes its contents,
a process that will end in nothing less than the New Creation, the “holy
city, New Jerusalem.”
For this reason, all creation pronounced him “worthy” to receive all power, glory, honor, 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 for humanity and the Cosmos by his sacrificial death and resurrection - (Revelation 5:6-12).
The
reality portrayed so graphically in Chapter 5 of Revelation is
conceptually parallel to the “word spoken in a son” in Hebrews. Like
the “Lamb,” the “Son” overcame sin and all its consequences
through his sacrificial death, and therefore he now reigns on the Divine Throne
over all things. It is to him that his “brethren” turn to find help and
solace in times of need.
The vision
received by John 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 provide
them with the understanding of events that “must soon come to pass.” And
he interprets and applies the contents of this “revelation.”
The sacrificial
“Lamb” now possesses all authority, including the “keys to Death and
Hades,” and all this is because of his past death and resurrection. The
glorious “Son of Man” is the one who “opens and no man shuts.”
None of the events portrayed in John’s visions occur without his knowledge or
authorization. Even the “Beast from the Sea” cannot 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 firstborn of the dead,” and therefore, Jesus is
the key that unlocks the visions of Revelation. He takes the “Sealed Scroll”
and immediately unseals it for his servants. Unlike the Book of Daniel, Revelation is
an unsealed book because
the sacrificial “Lamb” has broken its “seven seals” - (Daniel
12:1, Revelation 22:10).
Thus, the “Word that became flesh”
is the indispensable key to unlocking prophecy, Scripture, and all the “mysteries
of God.” The Jesus revealed on the pages of the New Testament interprets
the Hebrew scriptures, not vice versa.
Moreover, he is the true and greater
Tabernacle, the inaugurator of the promised New Covenant, the “once-for-all
sacrifice” for sin, the “high priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek,” the one who overcame sin and death, and the present ruler of
the Cosmos who mediates before God on behalf of his people.
The substance foreshadowed under the old
system is found in the “Crucified Messiah.” In HIM, all the covenant
promises of God find their “yea” and “amen,” in him, God has spoken
His full and definitive “word.”
