What is Revelations About?
Sermon Notes
Happy New Year’s everybody! My name’s Louis I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening. Welcome to those of you onsite and to those of you watching online, we’re glad you’re joining us online. At this time let’s dismiss our children to children’s church, and if you didn’t get to check your child in, please see our children’s ministry leaders in the back and they can assist you with that...Today we’re starting a new teaching series on a book of the bible called Revelation. It’s a series that’s all about finding peace in a world of chaos. The reason we’re doing this series is because 2024 is a year where our church is focusing on the theme of peace. We’re wanting to bring much peace into our lives, relationships, and city. The reality is we live in a chaotic world, and many people aren’t at peace. Some of you aren’t at peace, because you’re concerned about current events, happening in your life right now. Some of you are concerned about your marriage, family, finances...Some of you are concerned about your career, academics, athletics...Some of you are concerned about the political, economic, and moral decline of our country...Some of you aren’t at peace, because you’re concerned about current events, happening in your life right now.
But some of you are also concerned about future events. Some of you are concerned about the future of our national security having open boarders, and a military that’s declining in size and supplies while facing the possibility of WW3...Some of you are concerned about facing a future food shortage from a great depression, or from our natural resources declining beyond the ability to sustain human existence. I saw a study that said humanity has taken over 70% of the earth’s land, causing human consumption and natural habitat destruction to lead to an 83% decline in freshwater species, and a 69% decline in global species. Another study said if the current growth rate of humanity continues, it’ll take the natural resources of 3 earths to sustain the human population, by the year 2050...Some of you are concerned about the future of both our national security and our natural resources, but also the future of artificial intelligence exceeding human intelligence, criminals using AI to replicate human voices for ransom money, AI hacking military systems to cause global destruction. The future development of AI is such a concern, that Elon Musk, Apple’s cofounder Steve Wozniak, and 1000 other tech leaders signed a letter last year to pause the development of AI, because of its possible risks to human civilization...My point is 2024 has given us a new year, but it hasn’t given us less concerns. Both skeptics and believers still have current and future events we’re concerned about. The book of Revelation we’re about to study, addresses past, current, and future events in history. But the good news is, it’s also a book that can help us find peace for every chaotic event in history. It can help us find peace, in a world of chaos. So let’s turn to Revelation 1 and get into it. You’ll find Revelation in the back of the bible, it’s the last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation 1:1-8. Title of the message is What is Revelation about, and the big idea is Revelation points us to find peace in Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega of history...Revelation points us to find peace in Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega of history...
Here’s your context. The book of Revelation can be broken down into four major visions. The 1st vision is of Jesus and the Churches. The 2nd vision is of Jesus and the Cosmos. The 3rd vision is of Jesus Conquering. The 4th vision is of Jesus and his Consummation. Over the next several weeks we’ll be studying the 1st vision, which is of Jesus and the Churches. In today’s text we’ll learn the following three things: The Purpose, The Author, and The Promise. We’ll learn the purpose of Revelation, the author of revelation, and the promise of Revelation. Let’s check it out.
Revelation 1:1-8 states, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.” What we’re learning about here is The Purpose. We’re learning the purpose of revelation is to point us to Jesus Christ, and to show us some things that’ll soon take place. In the original Greek manuscript the word revelation, means to unveil or reveal. So this is about unveiling or revealing some things about Jesus, and some things about future events that’ll soon take place in human history. It’s the last book of the bible, the last book in God’s story of his restorative plans for creation. It tells us about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and about future events on how human history will end. In the bible the four Gospels teach us what happened in the past with the 1st coming of Jesus, but Revelation teaches us what will happen in the future with the 2nd coming of Jesus. It’s a book about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and what will happen when he returns. We’ll miss the primary purpose of this book if we don’t keep those two things in mind.
But there are two major mistakes people make when reading the book of Revelation, and it’s two major mistakes we need to avoid. It’s the mistakes of symbolic confusion and symbolic conspiracy theories. Revelation is written in a literary form called apocalyptic literature, which means it uses a lot of symbols to describe certain truths about Jesus, his kingdom, and the future of our lives. But the mistake many people make is they focus so much on the symbols, that they miss the main truth those symbols are describing. So we need to avoid focusing so much on the symbols that it causes symbolic confusion, and we need to avoid trying to connect the dots of symbolic conspiracy theories, to the point where we miss the truth those symbols are describing. We need to remember the purpose of Revelation isn’t to confuse you, and it isn’t to get you to chase conspiracy theories connecting Putin to the antichrist. We need to remember the purpose of Revelation isn’t to hide the truth, it’s to unveil or reveal the truth. It’s to unveil or reveal some things about Jesus, and some things that’ll soon take place in human history. It’s about finding peace in a world of chaos. It’s about finding peace, in the 2nd coming of Jesus.
Again vs. 1 states, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near. 4 John: To the seven churches in Asia.” What we’re learning about here is The Author. We learned about the purpose, and now we’re learning about the author which is John. Historically we know this is the Apostle John, and he was an original follower of Jesus, he was very close friends with Jesus. He’s somebody Jesus trusted to write five books of the bible, which includes the Gospel of John, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John, and the book of Revelation. What we’ll learn next week is John’s writing Revelation while he’s living in exile on the island of Patmos. The Roman Emperor Domitian sent him there to labor and die because of his faith in Jesus, and so he’s writing this letter while suffering affliction and persecution from the Romans for his faith in Jesus. If you’re suffering, if you’re going through a tough time right now, John’s a guy who can relate with your suffering. In fact part of the reason Jesus gives John this vision is to give him hope and peace as he’s facing suffering, but also to give hope and peace to the seven churches! We’ll learn more about the 7 churches in upcoming weeks, but for now the point is Jesus isn’t just giving this vision to John. He’s giving this vision for John to share with the 7 churches and everyone who puts their faith in Jesus. He’s giving this vision for John to share so we can all have hope and peace as we face suffering in our chaotic lives and world. Listen carefully to what John says next, and the intentions behind the vision Jesus is giving us.
Vs. 3, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near. 4 John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits, before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves usand has set us free 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.” Notice John’s using words like blessed, grace, peace, and love. It’s because Jesus wants us to know this is a vision that’s intended to bless us, it’s intended to give us grace, peace, and love in times of suffering. We’ll eventually get to some places in Revelation that are very scary and horrific, when Jesus warns us about some of the things that’ll soon take pace. Jesus warns us that there will be global wars, global economic collapse, global hunger and famine. There will be natural disasters, floods, earthquakes unlike we’ve ever seen before. There will be the political rise of the most powerful and evil dictator the world has ever known, even worse than Hitler! Like I said before, some of you are concerned because it feels like our world is already on the verge of these things! It feels like we’re only one pandemic, one natural disaster, one global war, one dictator away from the push of a nuclear button that leads to our extinction. The reason it feels like our world is on the verge of falling apart, is because it is on the verge of falling apart! Jesus warns us in Revelation to expect that it’ll fall apart, to expect that it’ll get worse before it gets better! But he also wants us to remember chapter 1, to remember the intent of this letter is for us to run to him, to find our shelter in him. So it’s true that this is a book filled with prophetic warnings about scary and horrific things that’ll soon take place, but it’s also filled with great blessings, grace, peace, and love for those who put their faith in Jesus. The author John, is giving us something and someone to look forward to. It’s the 2nd coming of Jesus.
Vs. 7, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth, will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. 8 ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” What we’re learning here is The Promise. We learned about the purpose, the author, and now we’re learning about the promise, which is that Jesus is coming back. Jesus is coming back as the Alpha and Omega of history. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, meaning Jesus is the God who’s in control of the beginning, middle, and end of history. The text says he’s the God who was, who is, and who is to come. He’s the God who’s in control of the past, present, and future. He’s the God who’s eternally existed before human history, during human history, and he’s coming back to restore his creation at the end of human history. Jesus is the Alpha of creation, we’re the Beta of creation. It goes Alpha then Beta, which means the more you align your heart with him as your Alpha, the more at peace you’ll be in life. It’s because your heart’s finally aligning with the one who created your life. If you don’t align your heart with his heart, then you’ll align your heart with something else that isn’t an Alpha, it’s a Beta. Whatever that thing is might give you some peace for a little while, but eventually it’ll fail you because it isn’t meant to be the Alpha of your life. In the words of St. Augustine, “You’ve made us for yourself Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you!” So if you want to have rest and peace in life, then stop trying to be the Alpha of your life, and stop trying to make something else the Alpha of your life...Stop trying to be the Alpha of your life, stop trying to make something else the Alpha of your life, and start aligning your heart more with Jesus who’s the real Alpha of your life...A great question to ask for a New Year’s resolution, is how can you align your heart more with Jesus this year?...How can you make Jesus more the Alpha of your life this year?...
But notice it doesn’t just say Jesus is the Alpha, it also says he’s the Omega. This means he didn’t just start history, he’s also making sure history ends according to his plans. It means he’s the final judge, he gets the final word at the end of history, since he’s the Omega of history. But if he’s the Alpha and Omega of history, if he’s the God of the beginning and end of history, then it means he’s also the God of the middle of history. It means he’s the God who’s willing to be involved in your life today. Author Paul Tripp states, “Your world isn’t a world of constant chaos controlled by impersonal forces. Your final destiny isn’t in your hands or in the hands of other people...If you’re a child of the King of Kings...then you’re a part of his plan, which means the exercise of his power and authority is for your blessing...We can press on, when little around us makes sense.” We can press on knowing Jesus is working out his plan in the middle of history, which includes a triumphant victory over all our struggles at the end of history. I know when we’re facing struggles it can sometimes feel like Jesus is absent and doesn’t care. But our struggles can’t mean he doesn’t care, because if he didn’t care he wouldn’t have died on the cross for us and he wouldn’t have given John this vision to share with us. He died on the cross for us and gave John this vision because he cares and wants us to know it’ll all end well for us in his 2nd coming. So when you can’t make sense of the things he’s doing in your life, especially in your struggles. Rememberthe promise that he gives you, which is that a day is coming when he’ll put an end to all your struggles. In his 1st coming he came concealing his deity in the veil of human flesh, but in his 2nd coming he’ll come unveiling his deity with power and glory. In his 1st coming the world saw him come in weakness dying on the cross for our sins because of his great love for us, but in his 2nd coming the world will see him come in great strength as a Warrior King fighting victoriously for those who love him. In his 2nd coming he’ll defeat Satan, sin, suffering for all eternity, and John’s saying until that day comes we need to cling to Jesus as if our lives depend on it, because it does. He’s the Alpha and Omega of history. He’s the Alpha and Omega of our lives.
The big idea of the message is that Revelation points us to find peace in Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega of history...Revelation points us to find peace in Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega of our lives...If you’re trying to find peace in something else you’ll never find it, because that something else is just a Beta. Whatever your concerns are, whatever your current and future concerns are, you need an Alpha over those concerns not a Beta. You need an Alpha over those concerns, and you need an Omega who will one day put an end to all those concerns. Revelation ch 1 is teaching you to put your faith in Jesus, because he’s the only Alpha who can help you with your concerns, and he’s the only Omega who will one day put an end to all your concerns.
As we study the rest of Revelation what we’ll see is that it keeps pointing us to Jesus, and to some things that’ll soon take place with the 2nd coming of Jesus. What we’ll see is all hell breaks loose, as all heaven marches in. What we’ll see is a massive cosmic battle between heaven and hell, between good and evil, but the one who’s victorious in the end isn’t Satan and the kingdom of hell, it’s Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. In the end Satan and the destructive power of sin will lose, but Jesus and the restorative power of grace will win. The promise is that Jesus is coming back...The promise is that Jesus is coming back, and in the end there will be eternal peace and victory, for everyone who puts their faith in him as the Alpha and Omega of history...Let’s pray...