Key Bible Verse: "I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever!" (Revelation 1:18). Bonus Reading: Revelation 1:9b-18

The Bible book title "Revelation" means "disclosure." It should really be called "A Self-Disclosure of Christ." It's all about Jesus strengthening the resolve of Christians in the Roman world. He was making sure they understood he was worthy of their trust, committed to their well-being, and certain of his own ultimate victory over the wicked forces arrayed against them.

John found words inadequate to describe the triumphant Lord he saw in his vision. But when he reported the message Jesus gave him, the words are clear: "I am the First and the Last." Jesus wanted people to know that he was intimately involved in the beginning of all things and in charge until the end of all things.

As the "living one" he was distinct from all the dead gods worshiped by others. But he wasn't just any "living one"—he had died! He wasn't just alive, he was alive from the dead, "forever and ever"! Because of his resurrection, Jesus had defeated death and was now in charge of both death and the grave. Bracing words indeed for Christians facing the possibility of death at the hands of an insane emperor!

—Stuart Briscoe in The One Year Book of Devotions for Men

My Response: Since John's vision of the risen Jesus paralyzed him with fear, why would it encourage persecuted believers?

Thought to Apply: Jesus entered our world through a door marked "No Entrance" and left through a door marked "No Exit." —Peter Larson (author)

Adapted from The One Year Book of Devotions for Men (Tyndale, 2000) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, let me glimpse the staggering nature of the Resurrection, and its transforming power.

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