1st Lesson Revelations 1:1-20
Opening
Questions
What are your New
Year’s Resolutions for 2024?
What is one
question you have about the book of Revelation?
REVELATIONS
All – Things
– New
_____________________________________
Have you accepted
Christ as your Lord and Savior?
If so, then you
have nothing to fear from God’s judgment of the world as described in the Book
of Revelation.
THE POINT of THIS LESSON
is that
God wants to give us hope
by helping us see reality as it is.
The Book of Revelations begins with a greeting to the seven churches of Asia Minor.
Revelation
1:1-20
1 The revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants[a] 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. 3 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.
Greeting to the
Seven Churches
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 blood6 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[b] 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.”
Vision of the Son
of Man
9 I, John, your
brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient
endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s
Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what
you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna
and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to
Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to
see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden
lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man,
clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs
of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame
of fire,15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his
voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven
stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the
sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him,
I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying,
“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. 19 Write
therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to
take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in
my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The Holy Bible: English
Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Revelation 1:1-20.
Purpose
of Writing:
The Revelation of
Jesus Christ was given to John by God “to show his servants what must soon take
place.” This book is filled with mysteries about things to come. It is the
final warning that the world will surely end, and judgment will be certain. It
gives us a tiny glimpse of heaven and all the glories awaiting those who keep
their robes white. Revelation takes us through the great tribulation with all
its woes and the final fire that all unbelievers will face for eternity. The
book reiterates the fall of Satan and the doom he and his angels are bound for.
We are shown the duties of all creatures and angels of heaven and the promises
of the saints that will live forever with Jesus in the New Jerusalem. Like
John, we find it hard to describe what we read in the book of Revelation.
Here are a few Quotes from
Sunday’s Message
- If the time was near 2,000 years ago, rest assured it’s nearer today.
- Because of our high view of scripture, we are careful not to elevate what we speculate.
- Ultimately, the entire Bible is the revelation of God.
- God’s intention is not to conceal, but to reveal Himself to mankind.
- We read the Bible, not to confirm convictions, but to determine them.
- There is nothing in the book of Revelations that should make a Christian fear.
- When considering the importance of context, the Bible can’t say to us now, something it never said to them then.
- The point of Revelations is that we see Jesus as He truly is.
STUDY
NOTES
Things are not just
as they seem. There is reality, and then there is ultimate reality. Revelation
is written to show us ultimate reality.
Revelation was written
by an apostle who was experiencing intense persecution and delivered to a
people who were going through immense suffering. In that suffering, Jesus comes
to encourage His believers. This encouragement comes when Christ shows His
people the ultimate reality of who He is and how He reigns, both now and
forever more.
Revelation
literally means “apocalypse” or “unveiling.” In other words, this is a book
about the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Christians get a peek behind the curtain
to see what truly is. It’s important to understand this as we begin the study of
Revelation because if not you may find yourself frustrated by the book.
Revelation is written to show us more of Jesus.
Revelation is not written to answer all our questions about when Jesus is coming back!
If we can wrap our
minds around that, then we can read Revelation and be blessed. (Revelation 1:3)
Two major points of
this lesson:
- Jesus Christ reigns in ____________.
- Jesus Christ reigns in ____________.
QUESTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION
Why is it more important
to see Jesus than to understand all the details of when Jesus is going to
return?
Christ is described
in very symbolic and glorified language. What feature most catches your eye and
what do you think it means?
How does a proper
vision of Christ help us endure suffering in a hostile world?
Does Revelation 1
remind you of any Old Testament visions of God? What does this teach us about
Jesus?
What is the most
encouraging thing to you about Revelation 1?
What does it mean
that Jesus is standing in the midst of the lampstands?
Spend this week reading the Scripture Revelations 1:1-20 along with the study notes and any other material you can find. Let be prepared to go DEEPER in this study with answers to the questions herein.
Commission
It is imperative
that everyone knows that we are to go into the world on mission for Jesus. You should leave class today focused on trying to live on mission.
Seeing Jesus - changes everything about our life!
Think about this:
How can this vision of Jesus change
how you
are going to live as you leave here?
Who in your life
needs to know Jesus?
END
Teacher Notes:
Click Play to Watch
What is one
question you have about the book of Revelation?
Things are not just as they seem.
There is reality, and then there is ultimate reality.
Revelation
is written to show us ultimate reality.
Upper / Lower Story
Revelation
1:1-20
1 The revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants[a] 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. 3 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.
Greeting to the
Seven Churches
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 blood6 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[b] 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.”
Vision of the Son
of Man
9 I, John, your
brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient
endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s
Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what
you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna
and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to
Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to
see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden
lampstands, 13 and in the
midst of the
lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden
sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool,
like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,15 his feet were like burnished
bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged
sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But
he laid his right hand on me, saying, “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. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the
mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden
lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven
lampstands are the seven churches.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Why is it more important to see Jesus than to understand all the details of when Jesus is going to return?
Christ is described in very symbolic and glorified language. What feature most catches your eye and what do you think it means?
How does a proper vision of Christ help us endure suffering in a hostile world?
Does Revelation 1 remind you of any Old Testament visions of God? What does this teach us about Jesus?
What is the most encouraging thing to you about Revelation 1?
What does it mean that Jesus is standing in the midst of the lampstands?
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