What do you make of the book of Revelation? Does it seem like a lot of very confusing, even frightening, symbols that are not even worth approaching unless you’ve studied theology to degree level at least? Does it seem difficult to find much that seems relevant to living for Christ in the here and now amongst all of its phantasmagorical depictions? Or do you go to the other extreme, seeking in every image to see a prophetic fulfilment in our time?
We may not go as far as seizing upon barcodes as the mark of the beast or behaving as though every war-mongering politician is the antichrist, but we can easily get caught up in futile guessing games, seduced by the mystery, and as a result miss the real point of Revelation and in fact the point of Scripture altogether. What the Bible does is to reveal Christ to us in all his glory, greatness and mercy. That’s what we need to be looking for, not obscure clues hidden in symbols and cryptic messages.
If we have eyes to see, as we read the Bible we will see Jesus in hi-def, as Jonathan Bell puts it in the title of his series on Matthew’s Gospel this month. Through a series of snapshots of Jesus’ encounters with diverse people in the Gospels – the rich, the needy, worshipping children and hard-hearted priests – we gain insights into God’s priorities, purposes and passion.
The book of Revelation is full of the powerful truth that the Lord Jesus is Lord over all things, and because of this we have the wonderful assurance that the promises and plans of God, established before time began, cannot be shaken and will reach their fulfilment in due course as he wills. This is a message of the most immense hope we have – not some distant and disembodied fairy tale telling of ‘pie in the sky when you die’.
Christ is Lord of everything, past, present and future. No matter how difficult our current situation is, his power and peace rule over it and sustain us, so that God’s kingdom may be established through our lives. That’s how Revelation is relevant to living for Christ in the here and now. We just need to look at everything in the light of Jesus’ death for our sins, his resurrection victory and his ascended glory, letting heavenly vision flood our perception of our own lives and the world around us…
Applying John’s visions to us, John Hosier writes this month: ‘You may not have seen heaven standing open, but prayer gives you access to an open heaven with the extraordinary privilege of speaking directly to God. You won’t have seen the great white throne, but you do see people every day who must one day give an account of their lives to the Christ on that throne. You have not yet seen the new heaven and the new earth, but every day you are looking at the wonders and the beauty of God’s present creation. You won’t have seen the river of the water of life, but you can experience the flow of the Holy Spirit bringing you refreshment right where you are today.’
I hope you see Jesus in hi-def this month,
Phil Andrews
Editor