We hear stories of lives transformed, and how future hope can be found in Jesus - no matter our current circumstances.

In Revelation 1, John sees a magnificent vision of Jesus. This chapter presents us with the magnificence of Jesus Christ - the Lion, the Lamb, the one of whom all in heaven and earth forever cry “Worthy.”

In Revelation 1: 4 - 20 John receives a vision from God, v 19, “what is now and what will take place later.” To John’s readers, under great persecution, this was to be a hugely comforting set of messages and visions, There is always more of Jesus to know and experience.

Jesus is at one and the same time both priest and sacrifice, but in a far greater order than anything that came before.

Jesus Christ is not just another messenger, but the unique and decisive voice/word, as explained through His glorious nature in who He is, and His glorious work in what he has done for us.

To counter some false teachers Paul paints a picture of the supremacy of Jesus Christ. That he really is enough and that nothing needs to be added to wholeheartedly trust in him alone.

Not only did Christ humble himself; he was then exalted to the highest place, as will be acknowledged fully when all confess him as Lord and bow before him.

The gospel highlights both the dire predicament of those outside Christ and the remarkable position given to those who are now in Christ. Paul writes, “you were dead in your transgressions and sins” but now God has “made us alive with Christ.”

‘To be “in Christ” means to be organically united to Christ, as a limb is in the body or a branch is in the tree. It is this personal relationship with Christ that is the distinctive mark of his authentic followers.

One of the glorious ways of looking at the gospel is seeing all that being ‘in Christ’ has saved us from, in contrast to all that was ours ‘in Adam.’

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Absolutely extraordinary! We can say that we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved; salvation is past, present and future.

Paul’s argument to this point has been, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” But God has done something about our predicament, righteously made a way for the unrighteous to be made righteous

The gospel is essentially the announcement about what God has done for us in/through Jesus Christ. And it is not simply the way into the Christian life. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s of Christianity, but it is the A to Z of Christianity.