How many of you have ever read the book of Revelation? Okay did you understand it? Did you think maybe you did and are you sure? Maybe you didn't understand it okay fine as one Theologian put it “few writings and all of literature have been so obsessively read with such generally disastrous results” You know there are many wild and Divergent ideas and confusion about what the Book of Revelation says and means and that's rather ironic when you consider its title the title comes from the Greek word apocalypses which means “an uncovering” an “unveiling” and literally “to pull the cover off of something”
The Book of Revelation then as it is today a great hope a great hope in the face of what looks like sometimes even the end of the world the Book of Revelation with all its apocalyptic literary style is really hear me church is really about worship. Let’s look at the introduction to the Book of Revelation and notice how the introduction reveals the themes and the focus of the book and invites us to rejoice in Christ Our King and to join in the Heavenly praise and worship of the great God.
Revelation 1:4-8 NIV Greetings and Doxology
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[b] and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[c] So shall it be! Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 1:4 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
- Revelation 1:7 Daniel 7:13
- Revelation 1:7 Zech. 12:10
Charities
Ross Jutsum State of the Heart – An inter-denominational ministry of music and worship.
New Life for Haiti New Life for Haiti - Home
Bengali Evangelistic Association Bengali Evangelical Association (bengalimission.org)
Bible Gateway BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.
GCI Grace Communion International (gci.org)