"This is the revelation from Jesus Christ which God gave Him concerning the events that will happen soon...God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church and He blesses all who listen to it and obey what it says. For the time is near when these things will happen....Grace and peace from the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come from the sevenfold Spirit before His throne, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead and the commander of the rulers of the world." Revelation 1:1, 3, 5
When it comes to the Book of Revelation, you typically find two approaches by people who study God’s Word.
For some, the Book of Revelation is a book that rarely is read or studied. For them, it is a bit of a mystery…a unique writing that is hard to read and understand. For this reason, it is bypassed in deference to the rest of the New Testament.
For others, the Book of Revelation is an obsession. Filled with so much prophecy about Jesus’ return, these fans of the apocalypse painstakingly examine this book with the hope they can unveil new clues to the day and time Jesus will indeed return. Often times, these obsessive Revelation readers will not spend as much time in the rest of the bible than they will spend in this book.
Regardless if you fall into category one or two, the most important thing you need to do is ensure you read, study and share this book. John, who received this revelation and authored the book, tells us several reasons why we should not fail in our responsibility to do this.
1. "This is the revelation from Jesus Christ"…our personal Lord and Savior who died on the cross for us, who was the "first to rise from the dead", and who is coming back again. When Jesus speaks, we are to listen to Him, learn from Him, and obey Him. He brings us guidance straight from the heart of the Father and, in this instance, the guidance involves "events that will happen soon." Since Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, we can always trust that the words from His mouth will guide us to His Will for us.
2. "God blesses the one who reads the prophecy to the church and He blesses all those who listen to it and obey what it says." Please note that the promise of blessings comes with a qualifier…you must not just hear what the Lord is saying through the Revelation text but you must obey it.
3. "The time will come when these things will happen." The coming events described throughout Revelation are just not predictions but facts. There’s no need to dabble in whether Jesus is returning or when that will take place. He is returning and He has assured us that we won’t know the time when He does. Frankly, trying to figure out the exact time and place when Jesus will return is counter-productive. Jesus would rather have us focus our energy on the Great Commission instead.
4. "Grace and peace from the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come…". Finally, we need to read Revelation because it came from the only true Authority in the world, God the Father who passed it to us through His Son. God has been there from the very beginning. In fact, the beginning began with God. He made everything from the ground up. Our entire living environment came from the works of His hands. If that isn’t enough in its own right to motivate us to study this book in obedient faithfulness, I don’t know what else will do it. I look forward to our Revelation journey together.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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