Revelation is the consummation of the New Testament and the Old Testament

[jidong xiao]

约壹一章一节说，“论到那从起初原有的生命之话，就是我们所听见过的，我们亲眼所看见过的，我们所注视过，我们的手也摸过的。”这封书信开始于“论到那…。”使徒约翰用“那”开始他的书信，并揭开神圣生命里交通的奥秘。他在这里没有用人称代名词说到主，含示他所要揭开的乃是奥秘的。

保罗的职事是要完成神新约经纶的神圣启示，（西一25～27，）就是三一神在基督里成了赐生命的灵，产生基督的众肢体，以构成并建造基督的身体，使三一神在宇宙中得着完满的彰显─神的丰满。（弗一23，三19。）保罗的著作大约完成于主后六十七年。在他离世前后，他的完成职事就受到背道的损坏。过了四分之一世纪，约在主后九十年，约翰的著作出来了。他的职事不仅是要修补受了破损的保罗职事，更是要给旧约和新约、福音书和书信，全部的神圣启示作一终结。这样一个职事的中心点，乃是神圣生命的奥秘。约翰福音是福音书的终结，揭示主耶稣基督的身位和祂工作的奥秘。约翰书信，特别是约翰一书，是书信的终结，揭开神圣生命交通的奥秘，就是神的儿女与父神，并神的儿女彼此之间交通的奥秘。然后，约翰的启示录是新旧两约的总结，启示基督是神儿女生命的供应，使祂得彰显，以及祂是三一神宇宙行政的中心这个奥秘。

First John 1:1 says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld, and our hands handled concerning the Word of life." This Epistle begins with the words "that which." The Apostle John uses the expression "that which" to open his Epistle and unfold the mystery of the fellowship in the divine life. The fact that he does not use personal pronouns here in reference to the Lord implies that what he intends to unfold is mysterious. 

Paul's ministry is to complete the divine revelation (Col. 1:25-27) of God's New Testament economy, that is, the Triune God in Christ as the life-giving Spirit producing the members of Christ and building up the Body of Christ so that the Triune God may have a full expression--the fullness of God (Eph. 1:23)--in the universe. Paul's writings were completed around A.D. 66. His completing ministry was damaged by the apostasy preceding and following his death. Then after a quarter of a century, around A.D. 90, John's writings came forth. His ministry was not only to mend the ministry of Paul that had been broken, but also to consummate the entire divine revelation of both the Old Testament and New Testament, of both the Gospels and the Epistles. In such a ministry, the focus is the mysteries of the divine life. In his Gospel, as the consummation of the Gospels, the mysteries of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ are unveiled. In his Epistles (especially the first), as the consummation of the Epistles, the mystery of the fellowship of the divine life, which is the fellowship of God's children with God the Father and with one another, is unfolded. Then in his Revelation, as the consummation of the New Testament and the Old Testament, the mystery of Christ being the life supply to God's children for His expression, and the center of the universal administration of the Triune God is revealed.