The book of Revelation
Notes
Transcript
Now when we first hear about the book of revelation, what do we think about?
Some of us might think about low-budget Christian movies such as the left behind series
some may think of the crazies who turn their basements into a military fort loaded with guns, ammo, powdered milk and cans of vegetables that are stocked fully on several shelves.
Some of us might picture a hairy homeless pan-handler holding up a sign on the corner that says “The End in Near”
Darrel W. Johnson says “Imagery goes beyond the intellect and through the emotions into the imagination, informing the intellect and igniting the emotions .
Have you ever wondered how people can memorize long shopping lists and chapters of a book? I’ve known people who can memorize the whole gospel of John.
I read this one book called ‘Walking with Einstein”. It was written by a national memory champion. He talks about an ancient technique he uses called the memory palace.
It’s kind of like you know when you drive home or you drive to work or the grocery store and you always take the same route but you don’t even have to look at the street names because the route is so familar to you and the images you see, and the images you know.
The book of revelation is filled with images, with symbolism, metaphors that just open up our minds to heart of God.
This is why it’s important to focus when John says throughout revelation “I turned and saw or I heard. Those are windows being open and pictures God wants us to see
The Book of Revelation is perhaps the most misunderstood book of the Bible. Yet, there may be more books written on it than any other.
The word revelation means to “open,” “unveil,” or “make simple so all understand.” The Book of Revelation is often called the Apocalypse.
Let’s read...
Revelation 1:1–8 (NASB95)
1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
2who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—
6and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Speaking Christ (Revelation 1:1–8)
The Speaking Christ (Revelation 1:1–8)
During the time that the apostle John was exiled on the isle of Patmos, he received a vision from God concerning the events of the endtime.
Because many symbols are used throughout the Book of Revelation, we must remember to use Scripture to interpret Scripture.
We must keep in mind that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20).
I. THE PURPOSE—vv. 1–3
Since Jesus Christ is the giver of the revelation, its content is summed up in the phrase what must soon take place.
It is a message about the present and the future, and everyone is curious about the future.
This is the fascination and the appeal of the book of Revelation.
The phrase, “what will happen,” or take place, is found in another biblical book concerning the future, the book of Daniel , where it refers to the sovereign plan of God.
But now it is a matter of what must soon take place. One little word makes a big difference! Soon anticipates the announcement to follow that the time is near .
In Daniel it was a matter of what must happen “in days to come,” while here the events are soon (as in Christ’s repeated promise that “I am coming soon”.
Much of the flavor and excitement of the book of Revelation is traceable to this fervent conviction that the end of the world is near.
Many Christian readers and preachers today downplay that conviction in light of the fact that nineteen hundred years have passed, and the expected end has not come.
The conviction that the end of the world is near is what makes the book of Revelation larger than life.
Anyone who has faced the prospect of imminent death, whether from illness or accident, and then recovered knows how precious life then seems.
The colors of the world are brighter and its contrasts sharper. Everything around us is etched more deeply than before in our senses and in our memories.
When we assume that life will go on forever, one day often blurs into another, but when we are reminded that it has an end, every moment and every perception can come alive.
eschatological(Which is the study of end times) sees the book of Revelation: living every moment as though it were our last. This perspective pervades the entire New Testament, beginning with John the Baptist and continuing with Jesus, Paul, James , Peter and John.
But nowhere is it so consistently in evidence as in this last New Testament book. Far from covering life with a sense of gloom, the intense awareness of the end of all things infuses the book’s imagery with sharpness and rich color.
The announcement that “the time is near” provokes not resignation or a feeling that nothing matters, but a sense of jubilation at the preciousness of life and at the world God created and will create anew in the events that must soon take place.
For the writer of this book and for his readers, the time of the end will be a time of new beginning.
This is summed up in the saying of E. F. Scott, who called Revelation ‘a trumpet call to faith’
The book was written to strengthen the faith and courage of John’s fellow-believers in Christ. In the context of 1 Thessalonians and the rapture Paul tells believers to encourage one another with these words. The return of Christ isn’t doom and gloom for the believers but it’s our hope of eternal life.
This end was done by focusing on the following themes:
1. The sovereignty of God in Christ, in that time as in all times. Just as Jesus made known the advent of the kingdom of God in his ministry, death, resurrection and coming again, so that theme is central to Revelation from beginning to end.
2. The inescapable judgments of the Lord upon those who submit Satanic rules of this world rather than God’s rule.
It is significant that the second and third series of the Messianic judgments of this book remind us of the plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who resisted the word of God through Moses.
Revelation bids us ‘consider the kindness and sternness of God’ (Rom. 11:22).
3. The confident Victory that we have in Jesus Christ
The victory is ‘sure’, for the devil is a defeated foe already in the death and resurrection of Jesus, which anticipates the ultimate completion of God’s purpose of good for the world he has made and redeemed (21:9–22:5).
II. SEVEN IMAGES OF CHRIST (Revelation 1:5-7)
1. HE IS THE FAITHFUL ONE – FAITHFUL WITNESS (5)
– Loyal, trustworthy, true & dependable.
2. HE IS THE RISEN ONE – FIRSTBORN FROM DEAD (5)
-Jesus rose from the dead. Christ resurrection shows us to stand firm in our faith when the odds seems to be against us and in the end we will have victory!
3. HE IS THE REIGNING ONE – RULER OF KINGS OF THE EARTH (5)
an all-powerful King, victorious in battle, glorious in peace. Satan had tried to tempt Jesus with an offer of ruling all the nations of the world if Jesus would bow and worship him. Jesus refused
4. HE IS THE LOVING ONE – TO HIM WHO LOVES US
5. HE IS THE LIBERATING ONE –– WASHED / LOOSED US (6)
also Jesus had set them free, no matter how they might feel. Jesus had set them free from their sins by his blood, that is, through his death on the cross. Through that blood, he had made his people to be a kingdom and priests
6. HE IS THE GLORIOUS ONE – GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN
7. HE IS THE COMING ONE “Behold, he is coming with the clouds.
-A reminder of the ascension of Christ. Jesus said that he is going where his disciples cannot follow
III. THE PERSON OF CHRIST—vv. 7–8
A. His coming—v. 7. When He comes, every eye shall see Him
B. His character—v. 8. The Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. C
Christ had no beginning and will have no ending. Christ was with God at creation (Gen. 1:26). John said all things were made by Christ (John 1:3; cf. Col. 1:16–17).
APPLICATION
Now when we think of the book of Revelation we need to know that it is a...
Revelation of Jesus Christ
It’s a letter/epistle that circulated to seven different churches
It’s prophetic in nature
Saying all that, we should know that it’s a book God wants us to understand. It’s the only book that says we will be blessed by just reading it.
It gives us snapshots and visuals of Jesus as faithful, true, victorious, loving , liberating, glorious and one who is coming soon!
It reveals unseen spiritual realities of the world that we see physically.
Revelation 12:1–4 (NASB95)
1A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
2and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
3Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.
4And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
Now that is a totally different Christmas story than what we are use to hearing, isn’t it? We are use to the cute baby Jesus in a manger and us singing Christmas carols and exchanging presents.
But, no. Here in chapter 12 we hear about a dragon standing before Mary who was about to give birth to Jesus but the dragon is waiting to devour Him and make war against the lamb and his people.
Now which one is able to capture and captivate our imaginations more? Is it sweet baby Jesus in a manger or is it a dragon waging war waiting to devour Jesus? This is what the prophetic does for us. It provides vivid pictures of God vs. the devil, of Good vs. Evil. Of all the triumphs of righteousness over the power of sin are being put to the test!
Revelation is a battle scene of God’s faithfulness to His people.
It’s a love story of a conquering king against His enemies.
It’s not a war to frighten us.
It’s a victory fought for us!
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