Pastor Josh preaches on Revelation 1 this Easter, looking specifically at verse 12-18. We see the exalted Jesus as the risen Lord who loves, frees from sin by his blood, and holds “the keys of death and Hades.” We look at Easter’s central claim: Christ conquered Satan, sin, and death, giving a weighty, present-shaping hope. Revelation is a letter written to persecuted first-century churches and describes John’s vision of the glorified Son of Man that leaves him undone yet comforted: “Fear not.” Through stories of funerals, grief, and fear, he insists death is an enemy modern culture denies or sentimentalizes, yet one Christ has defanged. Christians uniquely hate death and rage against it knowing that it is an enemy violating the restraining order. Yet at the same time christians are so confident that death has ultimately been defeated that they can sing at the edge of deaths grave. Like David’s victory for Israel, Jesus’ victory becomes his people’s; the gospel is grace, restoring relationship, and paradise as the garden regained.