Who is Jesus? How you and I respond to this question identifies who we are. When opening up the Book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament and the Christian Bible, the answer to this question directly impacts the way we read and receive its writings. Revelation is a unique book in the New Testament, a blend of an apocalyptic writing (Rev. 1:1), prophecy (Rev. 1:3), and letter (Rev. 1:4) to the church. Revelation 1:4-6 reads,

“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, and from Jesus Christ the faithfulness witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

JESUS IS THE FAITHFUL WITNESS

Jesus is the key to reading and receiving the words of Revelation! As John opens the book, he declares, “Jesus Christ the faithful witness” (Rev. 1:5). Jesus is the Faithful Witness! A faithful witness is committed to God’s work. In fact the Greek word for “witness” (martys) is where we get the modern day word for the Christian martyrs, those people who give their lives for the sake of Jesus. Jesus laid down everything for the glory of God and the good of his people (John 3:16). In other words he truly was the “Faithful Martyr.” As he approached his eventual betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion, Jesus prayed in John 17:1b-5,

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorifying me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

THE FAITHFUL WITNESS IS MOTIVATED BY GOD’S GLORY

Contextually, Jesus was born into a Jewish world that had developed a remote view of God. The religious people of his day would never had directly addressed God out of fear of blasphemy. However, Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Our Father” (Matt. 6:9). We serve a relational God. Jesus prayed “that they know you” (John 17:3). The phrase “know you” is written in the present tense suggesting an ongoing relationship and taken from the Greek word “ginosko” which is a highly relational term. This relationship is rooted in and mirrors the eternal community of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One God. Three Persons. God the Son, Jesus, was fully dedicated to carrying out the will of God the Father no matter the cost! He used his authority for God’s glory. He laid down his rights for the sake of others. He continues his prayer in John 17:6-16,

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

THE FAITHFUL WITNESS PRAYS FOR OUR PERSEVERANCE

Monasticism, or the practice of living a religious life separate from the world, is a man-made invention not a God-given design. Jim Cymbala challenged, “Sitting safely in the shelter of Bible discussion among ourselves, or complaining to one another about the horrible state of today’s society, does nothing to unleash the power of God.” Darkness is darkness because of the absence of light. Jesus told us we are this light (Matt. 5:14). The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation from the world. Otherwise, how will anyone hear? God’s people are set apart for holiness (1 Peter 1:16) by the work of the Holy Spirit to grow more into the image of God day-by-day, but this “separation” is best practiced through persevering “infiltration.” Jesus concludes his prayer in John 17:17-26,

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, who you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made know to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

THE FAITHFUL WITNESS PRAYS FOR OUR OBEDIENCE

“Ideally, however, the church itself is not made up of natural ‘friends.’ It is made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income level, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything of the sort… In this light, they are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake,” observes theologian D. A. Carson. Jesus concludes his prayer by praying for our obedience (specifically our unity). This obedience to pursue and live in unity as “one” people for the glory of God makes the message known to the world around us. Our aims undergird our belief. Our good works result from faith empowered by the unmerited grace of God (Eph. 2:8-10). We now have the opportunity to be faithful witnesses just as Jesus was and is the Faithful Witness until we one day meet him face to face in glory (Rev. 22:4). Restoration is here. His Name is Jesus. Follow him today.

#RestorationsIsHere #JESUSis

• Written by: Dean Ross (9/15/20)
• This blog is part 1 of 7 based on the “Jesus Is…” series by Family Church NOLA. For more resources visit: http://www.JoinTheFamily.Church
• Jim Cymbala quote taken from his book “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God’s Spirit Invades the Hearts of His People” (Zondervan, 1997, pg. 173)
• D. A. Carson quote taken from his book “Love in the Hard Places” (Crossway, 2002, pg. 61)
• All scriptures quoted from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Crossway)