Congregational Bible Experience Day #80: Revelation 1-3

Introduction

Congregational Bible Experience Day #80
Bible Reading: Revelation 1-3

Revelation is a book that both fascinates and preoccupies some Christian believers while turning others off because of its grotesque imagery, its obscure symbolism and its (supposedly) mysterious message.
Understood properly however, we do not learn anything new in Revelation that we have not learned elsewhere in the Scriptures. God has not waited until His last book to tell us something we need to know for life, faith, salvation, holiness or service. We do not discover new truth; but we are taught familiar truth in a new and memorable way.
In engaging with this book, John wants to awaken his readers out of their spiritual complacency, calling them to a refreshed, radical discipleship of following Jesus in a hostile world that is facing the other way. He wants them - and us - by faith, to really 'see' Jesus - to catch a vision of their Saviour, and ours, as He is really is, in all His unimaginable glory and sovereign power; to see the death of Christ and His victorious resurrection as the turning point of all of human history, and to understand that Jesus is the conquering Champion over sin, death and Satan - already; and so to see this world differently, in all its sham and emptiness, in its polluting filth and grasping for false dreams, overwhelmed and overshadowed by dark clouds of ignorance, despair and a sense of foreboding doom. And so, in the name of this same glorious Jesus to hold out hope, true hope, Gospel hope, eternal hope, unimaginable hope of a new life (Rev 21-22) to the lost and dying people in this lost and dying world.

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The book of Revelation is a book for our times.

Now, what I don't mean by that statement is that the Apostle John wrote Revelation with 2020 and all our current problems specifically in mind - although some well-intended preachers will undoubtedly be teaching that. Rather, Revelation is for our times in the same way that the book of Genesis, the Psalms, John's Gospel, Romans, and all the rest - are for our time. This is God speaking to us through His Word - truths that we need to know and believe. And note the unique promise of blessing for those who "read the words of this prophecy… hear it and take it to heart (1:3)". In other words, God wants to help us live lives that will please Him and will make a difference in this world as this book is understood, believed and embraced in our daily lives.

But perhaps Revelation is particularly helpful for us at this moment in history because of its underlying theme: namely, 'Things are not as they seem: Jesus really is the King'. This book is reminding us that there is more to life than we can experience with our senses, work out by our heads and feel with our hearts. By looking out of your window this morning, or by turning on the TV or reading your newspaper – you will never get what is really real. Revelation (the very title is the give-away) helps us to see (by faith) what cannot otherwise be seen (by sight):   that Jesus is in control of all things (1:7), that He is coming back and we - His believing, overcoming people - will be with Him, because we are His, on the winning side, and He will get all the glory!  Our newspapers will not tell us that Jesus is the Reliable Witness (1:5), the Risen Lord (v5), the Ruling King (v5), the Redeeming Saviour (v5f), the Returning Sovereign (v8). The BBC will not tell us that Jesus is coming (v7), that He is the Alpha and the Omega (v8), the Beginning and the End, and that everything has origin and purpose in Him.  In Revelation, God is saying:  "John, tell your readers: God says, I know you know Jesus is alive; but whenever you think about Him, this is how I want you to think about Him" (see particularly 1:12-20). 

And so, as John receives this vision of the glorified Saviour (this 'revelation'), and with the help of the Spirit he tries to describe the indescribable. To do so, he must use imaginative images, vivid visuals, memorable metaphors to grab our attention and convey with words spiritual truths and realities that will embolden our faith and strengthen our witness in troubled times, as relevant for embattled believers in John's own time as for our own. He wants us to have a renewed vision of Jesus and His glory that we might not be led astray by either the seductiveness of a godless society or be fearful because of oppression by state forces; but rather learn to be "overcomers" (see Rev 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21) as we see 'things are not as they seem' and live in light of what God has said.

And so to prepare His people for faithful living and enduring perseverance in the midst of an unbelieving - and sometimes, antagonistic - world, Jesus, in all His resplendent and majestic sovereignty, assures the believers and their churches, firstly, that He knows them intimately, for He stands in their midst, and that they are secure in His hand (1:13,20). But secondly, that in order for them to spiritually survive, there are aspects of their Christian lives that need to change: they need to repent of their unbelief, their lack of love, their tendency to listen to lies and to give in to peer pressure to conform to the patterns and ways of this world; and they need to stand up to oppression, remain obedient despite the inconvenience that might bring, and take the opportunities God gives for a bold witness and a loving service. These messages that Christ sends to the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3, are to real churches, with real people, who have real problems. But these churches are also representative of all churches, for we all - whatever the century, wherever the geography - at times face up to similar temptations and pressures as these churches did.  There are, therefore, lessons here for us all. For it’s a book about Jesus. Keep that thought in your mind and you won't go wrong.