Revelation – Revealing Christ to Christians – 1

Revelation 1:1-8

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. 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.”

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An apocalyptic event from history (September 11, 2001, or Pompeii).[1]

The city of Pompeii is famous because it was destroyed in 79 CE when a nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted, covering it in at least 19 feet of ash and other volcanic debris. The city’s quick burial preserved it for centuries before its ruins were discovered in the late 16th century.

What if you knew of the event one day before? What would you do? We should think of Revelation in this way. In movies where you have an apocalyptic event happen, they kinda allude to this. There’s always that old disheveled homeless-looking dude that is grungy and has a long beard who is holding a big cardboard sign, and what does the sign always have on it? Something like, “THE END IS NEAR.” I guess that’s how the world sees Christians, as some caricature. It’s probably because, if we’re honest, they don’t see actual Christians doing it. Proclaiming the end is near. Telling people they need to repent and believe. They know what Christians believe about this and how they should react, but we so often don’t act consistent with what we believe. We should view the book of Revelation and our response to it in the same manner as the homeless-looking dude on the street a day before Pompeii is covered with ash. What will help us get to this point is in realizing why this book of Revelation matters.

Why Revelation matters: It reveals. It reveals Christ. It reveals the way things are and will be.

We love when things are revealed. We don’t like things to be hidden…unless they are bad. Revealing can be good and it can be difficult. Two renovation shows that highlighted how celebratory revealing can be is Extreme Home Makeover and Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Fixer Upper. After the renovation in Extreme Home Makeover, a big bus would be in front of the house, obstructing your view of the renovations. Everyone would yell, “Move that bus!” Then the homeowners and viewers would get to see the house as it is now. It’s the same with Fixer Upper. They would have a huge picture of the old house obstructing your view, then they would wheel it apart, revealing the renovation. And what is always the response from the homeowner. They lady almost always immediately starts crying because she is overwhelmed with what she sees. This is how the revealing of Christ in Revelation should be for us. The curtain is being pulled back and we are seeing things as they are. Jesus is the only one worthy. And as John sees this, he can’t help but weep. And neither can we.

On the other hand, there are some things we don’t want revealed. Why do girls wear makeu