LOGOS - Unlocking Scripture
Jesus of Nazareth is the one who unveils the plans and mysteries of the Almighty, and only he is qualified to reveal the nature and glory of the “unseen God.” In him, all the promises of God find their fulfillment. He is the interpretive key that unlocks the Hebrew Scriptures and provides the correct understanding of Bible prophecy, and this is especially so in the Book of Revelation with Jesus portrayed as the slain “Lamb.”
The
prologue of John’s Gospel presents him as the logos, the great and ultimate revelation of God, His
glorious expression unveiled in the man from Nazareth. He is the one in whom the
Word has “become flesh” and the glory of God now “tabernacles.” John
contrasts this same Jesus with the earlier revelation given by Moses - (John
1:14-18).
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| [Photo by Timothy Eberly 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. Yahweh has declared His full “word” in
him, not on Mount Sinai 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) – “In many parts and in many ways of old, God spoke to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days, He has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages; who being an eradiated brightness of his glory, and an exact representation of his very being, also bearing up all things by the utterance of his power, purification of sins having achieved, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty in high places, by so much becoming superior to the angels, by as much as, going beyond them, he inherited a more distinguished name.”
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 pronounces 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 - (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 now reigns on the Divine Throne over all things.
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 Book. He takes the
“Sealed Scroll” and immediately unseals it for his servants. Unlike
the Book of Daniel, Revelation is an unsealed book - (Daniel 12:1,
Revelation 22:10).
Thus, the “Word become 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.
Jesus of Nazareth is the true and greater
Tabernacle, the inaugurator of the promised New Covenant, the once-for-all
sacrifice for sin, the one who overcame sin and death, and the present ruler of
the Cosmos.
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.”
