Wednesday, May 27, 2009

What is the Blessing behind the Veil that is being Lifted in Revelation 1:1-3?


How is the book of Revelation to be interpreted? Is it to be interpreted in a order of chronology? A book of Worship? Is it a book of eschatology? One thing that we do know with absolute certainty is that the book of Revelation is about the Unveiling of Jesus Christ. If we get out our rapture charts and are Eschatological grids, then we have missed the point of the book of Revelation, thus making our Hermeneutical-motivation wrong. The point I'm trying to make is that if we come to the book of Revelation trying to prove our Eschatological Interpretaion then we have been duped into a wrong understanding of Revelation. My prayer is that we do Luke 24:44-45, "Then He said to them, 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.' My fear is that many of you will say, I agree with you. Then, you go back to Revelation and still try to fill out your brackets like you do during March Madness.

My prayers is for us all to have our minds opened up to understand that the Bible is all about unveiling the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Let's remember that He is the focal point of the Scriptures. Since the point of the Bible is to unveil Jesus Christ in every part. Then, Revelation (Whatever else it is) is the culmination of unveiling Jesus Christ, and that is why we are blessed when we read it. The difficulty of understand the book as the Apostle John says is not rooted in figuring out our eschatology brackets and charts. The blessing (1:3) is not based on getting your chart filled out, but your heart opened as Jesus removes the veil of All that He is. Paul elucidates this point in his first letter to the Church at Corinth when he says, "For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away... For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" (I Corinthians 13:9-10, 12). The blessing that John is telling us is that Jesus will be 100% unveiled and He will be fully known. We will see Him face to face. At that time we will get it. We will know fully what John was trying to tell us in Revelation. We will see His nail pierced hands as a constant reminder that all of our sins have been atoned for. That is the blessing in Revelation. Really it is the blessing of the entire narrative in the Bible. Jesus is the culmination of Genesis 1:1 and here is the blessing, "Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." WOW!

No comments: