Recap of Revelation

And so, dear reader of the unveiling of Christ, you have seen what the future of mankind, and what your future, holds. Jesus! Not just a little child lying in a manger, nor just a good teacher, nor even the savior dying on a cross for the sins of mankind. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What has been unveiled?

Firstly, the attributes of Christ, detailed in Rev. 1:13-18, 2:1,8,12, 18, 3:1,7,14, and 19:11-16.

•      His appearance being gleaming white, recapping the transfiguration on the mount (Mark 9:3)

•      Eyes like fire and feet like glowing, heated bronze, His face shining like the sun, expressing the intensity of His holiness

•      A voice of many waters, speaking to the nations in their own tongues (Acts 2:5-11). You can understand this much better if you have experienced Pentecostal or charismatic worship services

•      Holding in His hand the seven stars, messengers to the churches

•      The sword of His word is spoken from His mouth (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12), and one of His names is the Word of God (John1:1)

•      His word becomes a rod of iron which rules nations that will not choose to be disciples

•      The alpha and omega, the beginning (John 1:1, Col. 1:15) and the end (Rev. 22:13)

•      Through His death and resurrection, His eternal life places the keys of death in His hands

•      He rides a white horse, the true Hero who faithfully and truly wars and judges in righteousness

•      He wears many crowns with names and attributes that are beyond our comprehension

•      He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Secondly, the commendations, critiques, and admonitions that Jesus has for His churches (us!) recorded in Rev. 2-3. Jesus speaks to the reader, speaking from eternity to those of us on earth

•    Rev. 2-3, a detailed look at the strengths and shortcomings of the churches

•    Commendation for perseverance in the face of persecution. This is only theoretical for those of us in the West. Would we have the grace and dedication to persevere in the face of the intense persecution the early church endured? Will we, if we enter the great tribulation described by John?

•    Commendation for walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. We are saved by faith thru grace, not by works. But to what extent will Jesus see our conforming to His example as evidence that we have allowed the Holy Spirit to affect our life and actions? (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

•    Criticism and judgment for allowing and tolerating false teachings and false teachers in the church. Isn't that contrary to not passing judgment on others? But how can we stand before the Lord and make excuses for allowing His children to be led astray when the falseness of the teachings are incontrovertible?

•    Admonitions to hold fast to the truth and to right actions, even in the coming tests. Everyone has trials of some type; Jesus calls us to keep our faith even in the most severe test, and beyond that to keep right practice when it is a struggle just to hold onto our faith.

•    Disappointment over loss of the fervency of love and resulting lukewarmness. The true challenge of prosperity, going back to the Israelites after they first settled in the promised land, is harder than rejecting the lure of materialism. It is truly a challenge to remain emotionally intense in our devotion to the Lord who saved us, for the long haul. This makes Jesus nauseous.

•    Promise of rewards to those who persevere. The staggering nature of these promises is that they dwarf anything that person might grasp on their own. Those who receive the wildbeast's mark will endure eternally the stench of their own sin, while those who choose Christ will sit on eternal thrones.

•    He is coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who keeps his garments (Rev 16:15, Luke 12:39-40, Rev. 22:10-15). How can the unexpectedness of His return be a consideration in every action and decision of our daily life? What if His return is in the form of sudden personal calamity?

•    The making of all things new has already begun. Jesus promises living water to the one who (over)comes. (Rev. 21:5-8, John 7:38) How can we experience this living water continually?

Thirdly, what true worship of Jesus looks like when all pretense and all inhibitions have been removed. John described his vision of this worship in which the reasons for worship of Jesus are incorporated explicitly, and speak primarily of His wonderful actions as manifesting and growing out of His divine love and perfect holiness. The unveiled Jesus makes the attributes of God's glory unavoidably worthy of worship, as described in 4:8 & 11, 5:9-14, 7:10-12, 11:15-18, 14:3, 15:3-4, 16:5-7, 19:1-7. The Father and the Lamb are worshipped for

•      Their worthiness because of their actions, specifically for creating all things, and for  Jesus' atoning blood that redeemed people

•      God's divine intervention in human history to establish His kingdom on the earth in righteousness and the subsequent obedience of the nations, and His righteous judgment of those who do evil

Some of the heavenly worship songs have been adapted for church or contemporary worship. What will it be like when the adoration of the full scope of the nature and character of Jesus and His wonderful acts is at the center of the governance of mankind, as it is in the government of eternity?

Fourthly, the way that Jesus will work in our lives to remove the hold of:

•    The world (symbolized by the wildbeast and the system he sets up);

•    The world is a system of economics, business, finance, government, and authority. At its core is the belief that life can only be lived by principles based on the natural world and human wisdom. God created nature and gave mankind dominion over it. God gives wisdom freely upon request. The fundamental evil at the core of the world system is the presumption that God is not telling man the whole truth, that He is withholding something wonderful from mankind, and that mankind can do better on its own using human wisdom. We know when and where this evil lie originated. (Genesis 3:1-5) This same presumption daily tries to persuade us to do things our own way. Sadly, it has a larger hold on us than we usually recognize.

•    The flesh (symbolized by the great harlot);

•    God created the human body with all of its natural needs and desires. It was very good. The human tendency, apart from a close relationship with God, is to seek to gratify these needs and desires continually in ever-greater measure. The world has embraced this approach to life. It is always in our face, in television, the Internet and movies, in advertising, and in social norms. This culture wars against our soul-life. (1 Peter 2:11)

•    The devil (played by himself, but cloaking his actions in the world and the flesh).

•    The world system and the flesh tell us they offer life. Behind them the devil has everything lined up to destroy us. (1 Peter 5:8)

To free us Jesus is going to trash everything in our lives that is out of place (i.e., sin) so that they no longer have any influence on us. We will see their ultimate futility. (Ecclesiastes 1:2 & 12:13-14) This is described in Rev. 6-20, with occasional intermissions for worship services. This struggle to the death will be incredibly painful. Jesus shed His blood to win it. To encourage us through these struggles, God gives us interludes of blessed joy and rejoicing in His presence.

•    This conflict ends with judgment of all that is right and destruction of all that is wrong.

•    We will all one day stand before God to give account. May we have acts of love and devotion to Him that on that day He will judge worthy of eternal treasure. (Matthew 6:20-21)

           

Fifthly, a glorious future in which we will be united eternally with Jesus in a love covenant, which also involves sharing the responsibility and authority to rule over creation. (Rev. 21-22, Ge. 1:28)

•    The church is portrayed as a bride, the bride of Christ, adorned for her husband, consummating a continuing Biblical metaphor (the Song of Songs; Isaiah 50:1; Hosea 2:19-20; Matthew 22:2-14, 25:1-13; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-32)

•    God will dwell among His people and care for them intimately

•    The curse of Genesis will be removed and God's people will have access to the tree of life

•    The river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God will be the main venue of the city of God.

            The unveiling of Christ closes with the reminder that these things will come to pass quickly, as God's grace will not allow us to proceed without His intervention to set things right. How will you respond to these things?