1:3 - We often relegate the book of Revelation to anonymity, but John seems to think that these words are important for every believer to know.
1:6 - Powerful statement...we are the kingdom of God, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ...priest to the God of all creation and His representatives to the world. And you thought you were unimportant!
1:9 - In the ESV version of the bible, John writes, "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation..." I think it is interesting that the ESV uses "tribulation" instead of "suffering", because there are many people who have the opinion today that Christians will be taken away from the earth before the tribulations begin (See bumper sticker: "If this car is suddenly an unmanned projectile of destruction, I've probably been raptured!"). I have always been of the opinion that we have been in the end times since Jesus left. Christians have always faced persecution and there has always been great evil in the world and we need to make sure that we are always ready...that we are living like this could be our last day.
1:13-16 - What are some of the words that pop into your mind when you read John's description of Jesus? Wise. Discerning. Judge. Powerful. Pure. Holy. Speaker of truth. The very image of Christ's presence conjures these type of powerful images. John does his best to describe the indescribable Son of God.
1:18 - The ultimate battle has already been fought...victory is ours. Now we must live like the righteous, victorious sons and daughters of God.
1:20 - It was very nice of Jesus to explain write out the meaning of the stars and lamp stands...I wish he had continued his explanatory commentary throughout the book of Revelation.
3 comments:
Revelation Brandon? Really? I've already read Left Behind so I'm pretty sure I know how it's all going to go down.
yesss. revelation.
your explanation of 1:9 brought a question to mind. is it possible that God may let humans run their course on Earth until the apocalypse or whatever wipes us out so that all men who ever live (past, present, future) can be saved?
I've always had that "left behind" kind of interpretation of the end times.
Matt, sorry about the late response...with the move into the new building, I have been working non-stop basically every day, so I figured I would take a few weeks off the blog. I' am not sure I completely understand your question, but I do know this...God wants all people to be saved, and He has also given people the freedom to choose to be saved or not. I have always thought that Christians should be around through the bad stuff so that we can set the example for what faith looks like, i.e. be a light to the world.
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