What is Revelation about?
The purpose of Revelation isn’t to tell the future, make predictions, or decode signs. The purpose of Revelation is to give people a clearer picture of God. Eugene Peterson said, “Revelation is not prediction but perception.” When John was alone and imprisoned on an island. All the other disciples had been brutally killed. As the church entered centuries of systematic persecution, God gave John a vision of Jesus. Because what he (we) needed most was NOT to know what his future held, but to know who held his future.
Like John and the early church, when we’re going through times of uncertainty and pain, we need Revelation, too. Because it reminds us: 1. God loves us. 2. God is with us. 3. God has a plan. 4. God’s plan will prevail. 5. A promise to end suffering. 6. The peace and assurance of salvation. 7. Finally, the power to continue “fighting the good fight.” This is why when God gave John the Revelation, it wasn’t a prediction but a Person. Because it is only in Christ that we can be sure of each one.
1. God loves us.
Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t die for us after we cleaned ourselves up and was an asset to him. No! He loved us when we were nothing but liabilities. Because that’s true love. God loves us so much that “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10).
2. God is with us.
Matthew 1:23: “She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” There is nothing we can go through that we can ever say God is not with us. Do you struggle with depression? Jesus was a man of sorrows and aquatinted with grief. Your family rejected you? Jesus was rejected by his family. Was your child abused? God’s child was abused. Are you bullied? Jesus was bullied. Have you experienced injustice or mistreatment? So did Jesus. Has someone you love died? God knows what it feels like to lose someone you love. There is nothing you can go through that you can say God is not with you. This is why Hebrews 4:15 says, “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.” This is why you can trust God when he says, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5). John was not alone on his Patmos, and we’re not alone on ours either.
3. God has a plan.
Even when everything seems to be falling apart, God has a plan. In Chapter 1, John turns and sees Jesus standing in the middle of seven lampstands. The lampstands represent God’s people. Jesus is at the center of your life, holding it together and fulfilling his plan. God did not cause the chaos; sin did. However, our God can bring creation out of chaos just like at creation. Jesus tells John to write down everything that God shows him and to send it to seven churches in order to remind them of his plan.
4. God’s plan will prevail.
The only way early Christians could go through what they went through, getting burned alive, eaten by animals, and crucified upside down, all without denying their faith, is if they knew God’s plan would prevail. They knew death wasn’t the end. Hebrews 11:35-38 talks about people who were tortured, imprisoned, stoned, afflicted, and slain with the sword. People who lost their children but did not accept deliverance. Why? “That they may obtain a better resurrection.” They knew God’s plan would prevail! How? Jesus. “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Rev. 1:17–18) Because Jesus went into the grave and defeated death, you, me, and all those who have died in him will come out of the grave.
5. A promise to an end of suffering.
Because God’s plan has prevailed, we have a promise one day, there will be no more pain and suffering. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new—these words are trustworthy and true.” (Rev. 21:4–5)
6. The peace and assurance of salvation.
Jesus’s victory over sin and death promises an end to suffering and pain, which gives us peace and assurance. Revelation chapter 5 begins with John seeing God holding up a scroll sealed with seven seals. An angel asks for someone worthy enough to break the seals and open them. But no one in heaven or on earth could open it (vs. 3). John starts weeping. This wasn’t a small cry or just a little teary-eyed. Because the Greek means “weep profusely, and many times.” John is hysterical. He’s completely distraught. But then an elder tells him he can stop weeping because “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Some scholars believe this scroll represents a deed to humanity. Jesus purchased us back from the slave block of sin. We’re not worthy, but because he’s worthy, his worthiness is imputed to us. We’re adopted into a new family. Our salvation is secure. It is not dependent on our performance but Christ’s performance. Knowing this turns our worry into worship. Like those surrounding God’s throne in Revelation 5:9, we can sing “a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,’”
7. Power to keep fighting
Because of the Revelation of God in Christ, I know that God loves me more than I can imagine. I know that just as John wasn’t alone on his Patmos, neither am I. When everything seems to be going wrong in the world and in my life, when I look at Jesus, he reminds me that God has a plan. Pain wasn’t part of his original plan. “An enemy did this.” (Matt. 13:28). But the good news is no matter how much pain, hardship, and evil the enemy does, God’s plan will prevail! In fact, God’s plan has already prevailed. The moment sin entered the world, God introduced his plan: “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Vs. 15). On the cross the enemy struck Jesus’s heal with all the venom he had, killing Jesus. But three days later, Christ stepped out of the grave and onto the serpent’s head. The accuser will continue to attack in the short time he has left, but remember he’s been crushed. God’s plan prevails. Jesus is going to put an end to all the pain and suffering. “He will wipe away every tear— I am making all things new!” (Rev. 21:4-5). “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17). We can let the past go now. Our “life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3). We can have peace and assurance that Christ’s victory is ours. We are liberated from fear and no longer controlled by what people think. There is nothing anyone can do to us that will ultimately destroy us. They may beat us down, even kill us, but at the Resurrection, he will raise us back up! We are empowered now to continue fighting: fighting poverty, fighting addiction, feeding the hungry, and helping the hurting. We can stand up for the truth and speak out against injustice. Now that we see Jesus more clearly, we can reflect God more clearly to others. “By beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18).
Knowing the future or seeing signs or predictions—can’t provide that. If we’re constantly worrying about the beast and talking about the dragon, then we’re missing the entire point of Revelation, which is the Lamb. Revelation is 100% about giving people a clearer picture of who God is through his son Christ Jesus. That’s what people need. That’s what people are looking for. That is the only thing that can help us through times of intense difficulty and pain. By “Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.” (Heb. 12:2–3). That’s the purpose of Revelation. That’s the purpose of the Bible. That’s what you, me, and the entire world need.