1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another abounds, 4so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. 5This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer. 6For it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, 7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 8punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, 9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
11To this end we also pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith with power, 12that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation (Gk. ἀποκάλυψις, apokalypsis) Strong’s 602
This word is used eighteen times in the NT. It means to “uncover, reveal.” It can be used in the sense of revealing truth, or revealing a thing or person, such as the glory of Christ, the Lord Himself or the children of God. Revelation seems to refer to the uncovering of some aspect of reality previously hidden, either conceptually or physically. This can include the arrival of a person, whose very presence constitutes a revelation of some important aspects of reality, especially if that person is divine.
This word used in Rev 1:1 is tantamount to a title. Beyond this, the word seems to be used with a double meaning in this verse. The revelation of Jesus Christ definitely refers to an event, in the context of the book, and that event is the second coming of Christ. There is also much that is “revealed” to John in the discussion surrounding that event, and what is written is likewise a revelation to his readers. The book of Revelation, then, is both an announcement of the revelation (coming) of Jesus Christ, and a window on the nature of certain very dramatic spiritual and heavenly realities that will find profound physical expression and that are here revealed ahead of time.