08 Jun Revelation Series

As you may have heard if you were here last week, but we ended our series in Genesis and this week begin a brand new series for the summer, looking at the book of Revelation, called, simply:

Revelation: Hope for tomorrow…for today.

Now, whether that scares you or intrigues you (and as I have mentioned the upcoming series to some people I have encountered both reactions!)—or a little bit of both—allow me to take you through a quick FAQ about the book and the series. Here we go!

Why Revelation?

The short answer is, historically, the church of Jesus has done really well when it has hung onto, in the right way and with the correct balance, the book of Revelation and the study of last things, often called eschatology (to use the theological word).

Our word “Revelation” comes from the Greek word “apokalypsis”, which has nothing to do with destruction, but means, literally, “laying bare”, or in our terminology, something close to “full disclosure”. In other words, the name of the book has a double meaning: the book is the full disclosure of who the person of Jesus is, and his full disclosure of the future. Who he is, and what the future holds, are revealed.

Why am I scared of this book?

Well, on one hand, you shouldn’t be. It is, after all, the only book of the Bible that promises a blessing to those who read it or hear it! So, you’ll receive some sort of Bible blessing just for being here this Sunday (…yet another reason to gather with God’s people)!

But apart from some of the more colorful imagery in there (the book was even quoted in the original Ghostbusters!), I think the reason some people are scared of it is because it has been frequently misused by the more conservative wing of the church over time. That is, it has either been used like a bully club to beat people into something, or it has been obsessed over and used as a way to draw attention to oneself or one’s ministry by predicting the end of the world, supposedly based on a numbering system only made available to that one special person (you know what I’m talking about).

My goal is to do none of the above. No one knows the date of Jesus’ return, and my personal opinion is that maybe, just maybe (and this is meant to be humorous), God the Father may change the date He had in mind, if someone just happened to guess it correctly, just to prove Himself correct.

Why am I not intrigued by this book?

Well, I don’t know, but let me give you two possible suggestions: first, you might see the book as some of the more liberal wing of the church has: as just a nice, poetic metaphor for some general goodness at the end of the Bible. But that’s not what the book promises. It’s either real, or a lie, but it’s not meant to be nice and poetic!

Or, second, you might be mistaking our nation now, or some political leader now, as the highest possible expression of the Kingdom of God, and let me explain.

For the first 300 years of its existence, the church, while it suffered, deeply held onto the book of Revelation.

But then, things changed. A New Emperor came to power in 313 AD, someone named Constantine, who ended the persecution against the underground church and declared Christianity a legal faith. And the people of God rejoiced, for the killing for the most part, was ended. But something strange began to happen. Church leaders and Christians began to see Constantine’s rise and the church’s growth as proof that Rome and the Kingdom of God were the same thing. They saw the Emperor as their man, God’s man for their hour, and they declared Constantine God’s chosen vessel, and while he did some incredibly helpful things for the church, he also lived as a pagan and died as a heretic, only being baptized on his deathbed to hedge his bets.

And because the church began to see their nation and the Kingdom of God as one and the same, they slowly began to let go of the life to come. The church began to let go of the book of Revelation. They began to let go of eschatology. They only focused on the now, and let go of a crucial book that must shape the faith of every Jesus follower.

Why does this matter? Here’s the point: When the church lets go of the world to come, it also loses its prophetic ability to speak to its own nation. Why? Because all it has is the now, and it can never, therefore, do ministry in light of what God’s desired future is. When the church lets go of Revelation and the future, it cuts itself off from a dynamic power for change in the present.

What can I expect from this series?

If you are expecting to learn (if you are familiar with these terms) who the 3rd horn of the beast is, or who the Antichrist is, or who “the whore of Babylon” is (sorry), don’t hold your breath! Christians have debated these things for centuries and still have not come to agreement on them, and sometimes have even used their wild guesses in ways that make us cringe today. The point is, the writer is using apocalyptic language, which is always difficult to determine. It is its own genre of literature, and should be respected as such.

You can expect to see some of the major themes come through, some fresh ways Jesus reveals himself, and more than anything, I hope and pray that you get massive doses of hope and encouragement in your life, right now. That, more than anything, was why the book was written in the first place! It was written to suffering peoples in an encouragement to persevere!

Should I bring a friend to hear this?

Yes.

Should I bring them this Sunday?

Yes.

Are you sure about that?

Yes.

By God’s grace, it’s going to be great.

Can’t wait to look more deeply into who Jesus is with you.

Morgan