Knowing Jesus 9

BS1 Knowing Jesus 9

The Aim of this devotional study is to grow in our revelation of Jesus Christ and respond appropriately.

Look at this short interview of U2 singer Bono to learn from his faith in Jesus Christ:

Scripture

Revelation 1:1-18

1  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, 2  who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5  and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6  and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty… 17 Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Observations

The Apostle John were banished to the island of Patmos (v9) by Emperor Domitian about 95 AD where he had The Revelation of Jesus Christ, but returned to his church in Ephesus after this Emperor was removed from his office and all his edicts reversed.  Many times we feel intimidated by the figurative speech in this book but today let’s focus on the intent of the writing: to grow in understanding of Jesus Christ and his majestic reign.

1. Write down the names / titles attributed to Jesus in these opening verses of Revelation. (look in v1, 5, 8, 17, 18). Shortly record next to each how you know more of Jesus because of each of these names/ titles.
2. What does John remind his readers of what Jesus did for them? (v5, 6, 18)
3. What does John write about Jesus’ future actions? (v6, 7, 8, 18)

Application

1. John was given this Revelation to share with the church severely persecuted by the Roman authorities in his day. Why would even this introduction about the person and ministry of Jesus Christ be very encouraging to the first readers?
2. Who do you know can be encouraged by this truth today?  Send them a short message of encouragement now.
3. Reading the phrase “he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him” (v7) – do you feel excited about that? Why?  Why not?

Prayer

Spend time worshiping Jesus with the names/ titles attributed to him in this introduction.  Then pray about his coming, and how you feel about seeing him.  Respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in this regard.