Part 1: The Revelation of Jesus Christ (pt. 1)

Covenant Presbyterian Church

The Book of Revelation is perhaps the most enigmatic book of the Bible. Understandably, many Christians feel overwhelmed when reading the Book of Revelation given its seemingly opaque metaphors, symbolic references, and strange visions. Indeed, no book of the Bible presents interpretive challenges so great as the Book of Revelation. Sadly, much of the contemporary preaching and writing on the Book of Revelation has done more to cloud the picture than grant clarity. As a result, there remains the common misconception that Revelation operates as a sort of secret code for unlocking future events meant almost exclusively for 20^th or 21^st century Christians. But what if the Book of Revelation was written not to hide the truth in codes but in order to illuminate truth for every generation of Christians? This is precisely the position that the church ought to take when reading Revelation. God did not give us the Book of Revelation to satisfy all our curiosity or to provide a linear chronology of history but in order that our faith might be strengthened. As one contemporary theologian puts it: “God gave us Revelation not to tickle our fancy, but to strengthen our hearts.” The central theme of the Book of Revelation is that God is the Ruler of history and in Christ is bringing about the consummation of the age according to his perfect plan of redemption. The Book of Revelation is a book of prophetic patterns set forth in such a way as to highlight the movement of the Lamb and his redeemed from warfare to final victory. The victors are the Lamb and all those who have been washed in his shed blood. Revelation was written to a church increasingly suffering under the heavy hand of persecution, a reality for the church in every generation. So John marshals vivid word pictures for the purpose of unveiling the ongoing conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. As one commentator observes: “Revelation is for a church under attack. Its purpose is to awaken us to the dimensions of the battle and the strategies of the enemy, so that we will respond to the attacks with faithful perseverance and purity, overcoming by the blood of the Lamb…We read this book to hear the King’s call to courage and to fall down in adoring worship before him.”