Revelation: ‘Apocolyptic Literature’
Revelation means revealing, and it’s all about Jesus!
Many BIG Questions get answered…
At the beginning of Revelation, Chapter 4, John is told; “Come up here and I will show you things that are to come.”
Immediately what he thought was a just a new location, is also a new awareness. His ‘eyes’ are opened to a spiritual dimension that his flesh is not designed to perceive. That is what Apocolyptic literature is. It shows an existence that is as real as what we now see and hear and touch, but is anything but touchable to us. It is not John’s imagination, nor is it a symbolic vision, but it is the spiritual component of creation. In the case of the book of Revelation, we are shown some of the final pages of God’s plan for creation, but sequencing and time must be handled with much care, remembering that you are seeing outside of time and space. God knew His goals from the very beginning, …but WE could not. Though He is not at all the cause of the terrible drama that has unfolded through history; it was never a surprise to God!
We needed this revelation of Jesus’ as He truly is, and why He said from the cross, “It is finished.” We are strengthened to move forward when we grasp WHY a good and all knowing Creator allowed pain and corruption. Apocolyptic writings permit us to see the endgame, and answer the question that is present at every funeral: “How then should we live?” The words of the 24 elders and 4 creatures in Chapter 4, verse 11 beg a question:
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for
you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.”
We see God honored and glorified in Heaven because everything He has done is perfect, and everything that is done, good or bad is under His jurisdiction! WHAT?
Is it not all too obvious that the earth is horrendously flawed?
We shed tears for good reason…. But then we read about a NEW song as the ‘Lamb who was Slain’ takes the scroll in chapter 5, verse 9:
“Your are worthy to take the scroll…
You have redeemed us to God by your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
AND have made us kings and priests to our God…”
It could not have been accomplished by anybody else or in any other way. God himself, God the Son, The lamb, was slain. Now, once again, God’s original plan is back on track. Along with all the earth; Man can be one with God, and this time, man owns the decision! The first song proclaims God’s amazing greatness, but the NEW song, His far more amazing… GRACE.
Praying for a blessed 2023! – Paul
