Reading… and Thinking

John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia:
    Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
     Look, he is coming with the clouds,
     and every eye will see him,
     even those who pierced him;
     and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
     So shall it be! Amen.

— Revelation 1:4-7 (NIV)

The Revelation generally provokes one of two reactions: some don’t like it and avoid it whenever possible, while others love it and can’t get enough of it. Mostly this reaction is based on the visions John records, and whether trying to figure them out is appealing or not.

Regardless of which group you’re in, or whether you fit either of these generalizations, there is a considerable amount of plain teaching in the Revelation. The first three chapters, for instance, do have some figures, but they’re explained, and there’s a lot to be learned here. A lot of people miss the plain teaching because they avoid Revelation altogether, and others miss it because they can’t wait to dive into the visions. It’s a real mistake to focus just on the symbolic visions, and pay little attention to the plain teaching.

In the passage above, there is great deal of plain information about the Lord Jesus:

• Jesus is the faithful witness. Witness to what? Throughout his ministry he bore witness that God is, that He is involved in human affairs, that He is gracious, and much more. But the statement here is in present tense. He is still the witness. He is alive, and his words and his redemptive work are still active.
• Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. He died—and he needed to be redeemed out of death, just as we do. (See Hebrews 5:7) The redemption of us all is indicated in his designation as being first, meaning others will follow.
• He is the ruler of kings of the earth. Present tense. All authority has been given to him. (See Matthew 28:18)
• Jesus loves us. That means he loves me, as flawed and unworthy as I am.
• Jesus has freed us from our sins by his blood. Our enemy is our sin; that’s what the atoning work of Jesus took care of.
• He has made us into a kingdom of priests. Why this terminology? The idea of a kingdom is important, and this theme runs throughout the Scriptures. Priesthood is a position of immense privilege—priests have access to the presence of God, and bring His message to others. That’s the position we hold—present tense.
• Jesus’s God and Father are, of course, also our God and Father. Sometimes it’s forgotten that Jesus has a God, and serves Him. (See John 20:17)
• Jesus is worthy of eternal glory and power—and it is our place to voice the “amen” to that.
• He is coming again, in clouds. When he does, he will be recognized for who he is. Someone has counted, and says that there are over 200 references in the New Testament to Jesus coming back to the earth, to establish God’s Kingdom. Here is one of them.
• The Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah are fulfilled in Jesus. These prophecies are validated and declared to be true. (The quote here is from Zechariah 12.) It remains important to study and understand the Old Testament, in order to appreciate the work of Jesus.

There’s no reason to be daunted by the Revelation. There may be parts that you have to admit you don’t understand just yet. That’s OK. There will also be parts that are perfectly clear, and you don’t want to miss them. Remember the name of the book: Revelation! It’s intended to reveal, not to obscure!