The Bible has a wonderful beginning in Genesis and a wonderful conclusion in Revelation. Without the book of Genesis, the divine revelation would not have a proper beginning. The first ten chapters of Genesis require more than thirty messages of the Life-study of Genesis to cover them. Likewise, without the book of Revelation, the Bible would not have a proper conclusion. It is very meaningful that the Bible concludes in the same way it begins. It begins with the tree of life in Genesis 2:9. Then throughout most of the remainder of the Bible, the tree of life seems to disappear. When I read the Bible as a young man, I wondered where the tree of life went after the way to it was closed. Eventually, the tree of life returns in the book of Revelation (2:7; 22:2). In this way, the Bible begins with the tree of life, and it also concludes with the tree of life.
The Bible also begins with man as God’s expression (Gen. 1:26). That man was created by God in His own image means that he was created to express God. Man was destined to be the expression of God. In the final two chapters of the Bible, man eventually becomes the true expression of God. The One sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper, and the New Jerusalem, with man as a component, also has the appearance of jasper (Rev. 4:3a; 21:11, 18-19). That jasper is the appearance of the holy city signifies that man becomes the expression of God. Therefore, in the first two chapters of the Bible there is life and the expression of God, and in the last two chapters there is again life and the expression of God. The only difference is that the Bible begins with creation, but it concludes with building. What is there in the first two chapters of the Bible is mainly God’s creation. In the beginning God created the heavens, the earth, and many other items, including man. In the final two chapters, however, there is a city built with precious materials. A city is not something of creation but something that has been built. The building with which the entire Bible concludes is a building with the divine life, and the purpose of the building is to express God. If we grasp these few points, we can see the intrinsic significance of the entire Bible. Therefore, we must spend adequate time to get into Genesis and Revelation.
The book of Revelation is a mysterious book. On the one hand, it is a book of prophecy, but to say this with the proper understanding requires us to know what prophecy is. Prophecy is not merely a prediction, as the Old Testament prophets would say, “Thus says Jehovah.” It is something more weighty, higher, deeper, and more excellent. Although Revelation is a book of prophecy, prophecy itself is not the subject of this book. Revelation 1:1 begins, “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” We must keep this in our memory. This is a book of revelation, but the revelation is of Jesus Christ. Among the Christian teachers, there are different schools concerning the meaning of this one phrase the revelation of Jesus Christ. Some say this refers to the revelation given by Christ, but this is an inadequate interpretation. This book is the revelation concerning Christ and unveiling Christ.
We may have seen Christ in the four Gospels, the Acts, and all the Epistles, but Christ is much more even than this. Regrettably, most Christians only know Christ mainly from the Gospels and a little from the Acts and the Epistles. In the past fifty years I have met many Christians of different kinds and from different parts of the world, and I have always tried to humbly receive what they had. Throughout my entire Christian life, however, Brother Watchman Nee was the only person I met whose ministry I could fully respect. Among all the other Christian teachers I met, almost no one else truly knew the Christ in the last book of the Bible.
The Christ in Revelation is absolutely different from the One in the four Gospels. In the past I have been condemned for saying this. One preacher even said, “This is heresy. This man says that he has a different Christ.” Nevertheless, in this message I repeat strongly, the Christ in Revelation is different from the Christ in the four Gospels. Yes, He is the same Christ, but He is the same Christ in different aspects. In the four Gospels Christ was mild, gentle, and kind. Whenever He looked at people, they felt loved. His most intimate disciple could even recline on His bosom (John 13:23). This same Christ, however, appears differently in the book of Revelation. He has not only two eyes but seven eyes, which are like a flame of fire (1:14; 5:6). If such a Christ appeared to us today, we would all be shocked. Luke 4:22 says that words of grace proceeded out of His mouth, but Revelation tells us that a two-edged sword proceeds out of His mouth (1:16; 19:15). Moreover, in John 1:29 He is introduced as the Lamb of God, but in Revelation 5:5 He is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is foolish to say that the Lion is the same as the Lamb. The book of Revelation unveils Christ to us not in a common way but in an extraordinary way. This way is absolutely different from that in the Gospels. In this sense, Revelation continues the Gospels and the Epistles, but it does not reveal Christ according to the Gospels and the Epistles. The revelation of Christ unveils Christ in a different aspect.