4. We Are the Apocalypse
Audio OnlyWe begin this lesson by defining “the Apocalypse.” “We are the Apocalypse” is the normal Christian life. God means for all Christians everywhere to reveal Jesus to this world. –His knowledge made visible through you in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14).
The word “apocalupsis” in the Greek has a simple meaning and is used only in a few specific circumstances. It is best translated “unveiling,” that is, taking off the cover. It means that something that has been true or present all along is now seen to be true or present by all. But the Apocalypse is first a mystery, hidden and unknown.
An Age of Joy. The apocalypse does NOT mean worldwide devastation. It means the beginning of an age of joy and blessing. The word apocalupsis is typically translated “revelation.” Sometimes it means that, but often it means so much more. At the same time, the Greek word phaneroo and its derivatives, that is, “make visible,” is also closely related to the concept of unveiling throughout the New Testament.
The Unveiling, the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must happen immediately. And Jesus signed the Unveiling, having sent it through His angel to His servant, John.
Our Layout. I want to begin the page with a reasonably simple definition of the word “Apocalypse” as it fits the “mystery of Christ.” Only after that will we bring in the enflowing of faith.
The largest box on the page will be “From Source to Completion,” out from verse 8. Only inside of this way of thinking, coming out from Source, fulfilled as all Completion, can we know God’s meanings in the vision. The final box on the page will be a quick but strong definition of God’s “rule,” a concept referenced directly three times in this passage. We will not redefine a God who carries, but we do need the meaning of His “rule.”
Pointing towards Completion. The Apocalypse is the topic of this entire study. The truth is, I’m finding it hard to zero in on what must be included in a simple definition because there is so much.
Let’s begin with just a few things, mostly from the first verses of our passage. First – to show His servants what must happen immediately. Nothing in this vision is about things in the past prior to the establishment of the gospel in the Church. It is a forward-looking vision. Yet the words “must happen immediately” are God’s door into all Completion – open to those who believe now but closed to those who refuse.
Strong Encouragement. Then we ask the question – Why did Jesus not speak this word directly to John? Why did He sign it and then send it through His angel?
I am convinced it is the same reason that God swore an oath to Abraham, as Hebrews says. God, intending with full determination to demonstrate to the heirs of promise His unchangeable purpose, He interposed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable deeds [in this case, irrefutable word and a divine signature], in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might possess STRONG encouragement (Hebrews 6).
The Mystery of Christ. Then John writes: Benefited and enlarged is the one knowing the Unveiling for certain and those who hear the words of the prophecy and watch over to guard the things written inside of it. Those who place death upon John’s vision and remove life from it neither benefit nor enlarge themselves or others.
But “the words of the prophecy” are referring to the entire mystery of God – which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Glory is two things here, the deepest value is the revelation of Jesus Christ and a job well done is the resurrection of our physical bodies.
Watching over the Prophecy. But consider this mystery. – That the life of Jesus also may be made visible inside of our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:11). It is this word and others like it, words of the prophecy of Christ in us, that I have watched and kept guard over for more than forty years, that these things might be fulfilled in me. I am indeed benefitted and enlarged.
Then, consider this word. – Behold He comes now with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him, and all the ethnic groups of the earth will strike against Him.
What Does He Look Like? Here we hit up against two images of Jesus “coming back.” The prevalent image is of a superior and angry being coming out of the sky, using violence to bring God’s (lack of) control to rights on the earth. (We’ll bring in the word “control” later on, an evil thing, something God never does.)
When Jesus “appears,” what does He LOOK LIKE?
The metaphor of a “cloud” is easy – those who dwell in the heavens carrying rain for those who dwell on the earth. (The Annie vision.) Here is “what Jesus looks like.” – The Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Jesus who fills all inside of all.
How Did He Come? We are asserting that the appearance of Jesus in the earth is the Church, many just like Him loving one another.
This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven (Acts 1:11). How did He come? – Planted as a Seed, growing up inside our sphere, humbling Himself, revealing the Father, and murdered because He was not acceptable as “the Christ.”
The Apocalypse begins with you and me seeing one another as the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is complete when the whole world sees Christians loving one another.
Three Unveilings. One final point – in our list of verses of “To Unveil” and “To Make Visible,” there are three things that are “unveiled.” The first is Jesus, the second is the “man of sin,” and the third is the “sons of God.” Here is how I say it. Christ Jesus is all first, then, everything not-Christ vanishes away, and then I discover that I am just like Him – all three unveilings.
Let us also assert this, that a “Jesus” on the outside CANNOT save anyone. The seeing of a “Jesus out there” is not an expression of reality, but a fantasy of LOSTNESS.
The Apocalypse. Jesus returned at Pentecost: the Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Christ who fills all inside of all. ~ Yet no one sees Him, for all are looking in the wrong direction. This is the mystery of Christ in us. There comes that moment when God takes the cover off of our eyes and we see Jesus as He is. We see Him in the faces of our brethren; we see Him as reciprocal Love fulfilled among us. The Apocalypse begins as we see one another as the Lord Jesus, and it is complete when the whole world sees our Love. Two other things are unveiled as we see Jesus, not-Christ is seen as empty, and we are seen already like our Lord.
The Enflowing of Faith. We follow our simple definition of the Apocalypse with the enflowing of the confessions of faith in our short passage.
We are the apocalypse. We are the body of Christ Jesus, His visible form in all heaven-earth. We are the unveiling, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus has signed His unveiling upon us. Jesus has been walking this earth since the Day of Pentecost. The cover is now removed that all might see the mystery of Christ fulfilled in us.
I am benefited and enlarged because I know the Unveiling of Jesus Christ through me in all certainty. I watch over and guard the truths of the Unveiling. I am loved; I have no connection to sin.
God is my source and my completion. God is continuously and actively coming into me through Jesus. God contains and carries me. We are always coming out from God; we are always His completion in all. We are the kingdom of God; we are priests to God our Father. The unfolding of the ages now comes out from our life together.
Another Riddle. Although everything in John’s vision is pointing forward, it is pointing to the Completion of all things from the start. We know the Completion only by knowing the Source first. We know the Source only by knowing the Completion first. This is another of God’s riddles. As the prophet said, “Known from the beginning is the completion of all His works.”
Here is our extraordinary verse. – I am the A and the Z, the Source and the Completion, says the Lord God, the One who is, and who always is, and who is continuously and actively coming, the One who holds and carries all, the All-Carrying One.
Every Word Fulfilled. Source – Knowing God. Completion – God made known. That looks simple, but it says everything.
1. The Pro-Thesis of God – Every Word fulfilled. This is an absolute. Every Word God speaks in the entire Bible concerning Christ in His Church MUST BE fulfilled in our lives in this age and on this earth. In the beginning was the Word – And God said, “Let there be light.” – “Did God really say that?” Asking God to fulfill His Word in us and then believing we have received goes straight to the Heart of God and is the fulfillment of all His Desire.
A Companion for God. 2. A lonely God – Synergeoing Together. God created Adam just like Himself, as He said. And in creating Adam, God left out a most critical thing. It was good, it was good, it was good – It is NOT good!
We understand that God was speaking of Himself when He spoke those words. – “It is not good for Me to be alone. I am lonely and I don’t want to be alone. I will bring forth a companion, a woman of My same kind. We will fellowship together as equals. I will plant My Seed in her womb and she will bring forth the Life of My knowledge into the knowledge of all.” (And I can defend this assertion fully.)
The Ability of Jesus. 3. Every Word planted as Seed – Full assurance of faith. Or we could say it as – Let it be to you – Let it be to me. – When the Son of man comes, will He find faith in the earth? – He must and He will.
4. The ability of Jesus – My strength becomes complete inside your human weakness. This one switched places, with the ability of Jesus as the original Source, and His ability COMPLETE inside our human weakness as the Unveiling.
5. In the beginning – The fulness of times.
Our Active Role. 6. A woman taken out from the man – the place of Church. We use the word “place” to denote that this is where all completion takes place – A woman clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing forth the knowledge of God into the knowledge of all.
7. Let there be light – Calling Completion. This is our active role as sons of God, to call the Completion of God into the experience of the Church first, and then, through her to all.
The truth is that every one of our seven principles of Completion are found in Genesis 1 and 2, that is, Source.
Jesus’ Outward Form. The Completion is the Unveiling of Jesus Christ. And everything of that Completion is found in this one verse. – The Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Jesus who fills all inside of all (Ephesians 1:23). His Body – His outward form. As I said earlier – the Apocalypse begins with you and me seeing one another as the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is complete when the whole world sees Christians loving one another.
Now we will find these seven principles of Completion woven all through John’s vision, and especially in Chapters 2, 3, and 6, our weapons and their use.
From Source to Completion. Every word God speaks, every work He performs, is complete even as it begins. Yet there is also a completion that must be known in our lives together on this earth. This is our role as the Age of Tabernacles swallows up all into life.
Every Word spoken by God inside of Jesus is fulfilled in all of its meaning in our lives together now in this present hour.
Every desire of God for a companion is fulfilled in us as we synergeo with God making His creation good and filled with His knowledge.
The faith of the Son of God inside the great risk God has taken is fulfilled in the earth now through our full assurance of faith. Jesus proves Himself faithful and true through our life together.
The ability of Jesus to accomplish every purpose of God in the earth through the love of the Spirit alone is now seen by all in our mortal flesh.
Everything that is true is now seen as true by all. Everything that is false is now seen as false by all. Every knee bows and every tongue speaks Christ.
With open faces we see the Lord Jesus in one another. We love one another; we love the gathering together. We are the Beloved of Christ.
All of God in Pro-Knowing and Pro-Determination we call now into our world. All who belong to Jesus we call now into the knowledge of God.
Ruling and Reigning with Christ. In our passage of eight verses, the concept of the Apocalypse comes first and the expressions of the being and nature of God and His rule come second. Of truth, this question is fundamental to our entire study, for the ruling verse of John’s vision is – Now have come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ.
In this first passage are three terms denoting the rule of God, krateo – dominion or strength of completion, basileia – kingdom, and pantokrator, usually translated “Almighty.” We must have a clear understanding of the Kingdom and of “ruling and reigning with Christ.”
A God Who Carries. Let’s start with three primary Apocalypse verses from Peter.
You are being guarded, watched over, and kept inside of the power of God and carried through faith into a salvation that is complete and ready to be unveiled inside of the final season of opportunity. – So that the proving of your faith, which is more precious than perishing gold, being refined through fire, that your faith might be found into praise and glory and honor inside the unveiling of Jesus Christ. – Therefore, since you have girded up the loins of your mind and are sober-minded, set your hope fully upon God’s enabling presence carrying you inside of the unveiling of Jesus Christ.
A “God” Who Controls. There are two images of God. The more prevalent is a God who controls. Not many look at God through Jesus and see a God who carries. Nonetheless, the concept of “carry,” Greek – pheron, fills the Bible, and especially the JSV.
The theology of a God who “controls” is fundamentally unsound. This God insists that everyone obey Him, yet NO ONE does. If God actually controlled, then everyone would always obey Him and there would be no sin and death. Then, this God of “control” gets His vengeance by punishing all who do not allow Him to “control” them. Those whom He “saves” ought to be punished, but He alters them into “obedient” creatures to “prove” His control?
Not Found in the Bible. “Control” is a mechanical concept. If I am driving a car, I control that car by manipulating the steering wheel, gas pedal, and brakes. There are two causes of an accident, that is, a car out of control. One is mechanical failure and the other is driver negligence. Both are entirely the FAULT of the one who is in control. What you CANNOT do is blame the car, though it also suffers.
If God “controls” then it is right to accuse Him of being the cause of all hurt in the human experience. The concept of control and a God who “controls” is not found in the Bible; neither is it found in the creation of sentient beings.
By My Spirit. You see, this goes to the heart of God’s Desire, that He wants a companion of His same kind. God endures all human awfulness because the only Woman He will know is one who comes to Him of her own free will, one who sits beside Him as His equal, one who loves Him just as He loves her. This is why the synergeoing together in Romans 8:28 CANNOT be God controlling circumstances. Synergeoing is only God and us together turning all things into goodness.
The rule of God is one thing only – By My Spirit, says the Lord.
A Love that Carries All. The Spirit of God nudges, convicts, leads, and speaks to, but the Spirit never forces anyone. Angels prevent, but they do not force. I know of so many instances in my life and in others where angels blocked evil, whether physical harm or terrible circumstances or spiritual evil. I have never heard of an angel striking. The Spirit moves only as a River and as the Wind, directing over great periods of time, bringing forth change bit by bit.
The rule of God is one thing only, it is calling forth the knowledge of God into the knowledge of all. – Father covers all, believes all, hopes all, carries all. The rule of God is Love.
The Rule of God. The rule of God is Love by the Spirit. The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, the throne of God, by His Spirit given to us. The Spirit is Devoted and will never stop until the object of Love has been won. Yet Love never compels, but only woos and blows upon, convicts, draws, and rains upon, until that moment when each one gives thanks in all and speaks Christ as their life. Love covers all for all, believes all for all, hopes all for all, carries all for all. Love never fails. Love rules by the Spirit forever. The Kingdom is Love.
The Fulfillment of Jesus. This is the third version of this lesson. It has taken me a lot of writing to see what must go into it. I am pleased with the final result and I believe that I have touched on the many things that are essential to the Unveiling of Jesus Christ.
God seen and known is a simple and obvious thing. God seen and known, the fulfillment of all that Jesus is, is Christians loving one another as the Church. This is My full completion, that you love one another in full reciprocity in just the same way that I have loved you. – The fulness of Jesus who fills all inside of all.
Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “We Are the Body of Christ.” For that session, read Revelation 1:9-20 in the JSV several times. Notice that when John turns to see the one speaking to him, He sees One inside the lampstand, that is, inside the Church. And then he describes this One whom he saw, that is, the parts of His body.
Our verses here must be from Paul. – For just as the body is one, but has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Jesus does not have two bodies. Ephesians 4:4 & 5:30 – There is one body. – For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.
Let’s Pray Together. In our prayers, now, we are alternating between casting down and rivers out, between protecting the Church and providing for her. We will often be praying both together.
“Lord Jesus, Your people today are caught beholding the same imagination of You that the Pharisees held in Your time, that of a super-being appearing with violence. Yet You came as a meek and lowly man, revealing the Father by humbling Yourself. And so You come again, just as You said. Lord Jesus, You have come inside Your Church, and as all who belong to You. Yet no one is aware of Your appearing.
“As Your voice and inside of Your name, Lord Jesus, we open the eyes of Your people all across the earth that they might see You as You are, and that they might love You inside of one another. And in the same authority we cause the false image of “Christ” to dissipate as a vapor, as a fog vanishing in the light of the rising sun. We bind all the powers of darkness that make that false and fanciful image to appear real in the eyes of our brethren, and we cast those powers down.
“Lord Jesus, we are inside of You and You are inside of us, Your people. We place You upon all that we are and upon all Your Church. – Know Jesus Sent into you.”