The Glorious Revelation of Jesus!

I recently finished studying the book of Revelation, and I simply cannot keep its glorious teaching to myself. Although I would enjoy doing an overview of the entire book, I am going to focus specifically on the ending of the book of Revelation.

Interpreting the Book of Revelation

To be sure, Revelation can be a very difficult book to interpret. The book’s title, Revelation, comes from a Greek word that means “apocalypse,” “revelation,” or “unveiling,” and in this situation, it is referring to the unveiling of future events and realities.

Apocalyptic literature in the Bible would also include books such as Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah in the Old Testament, and Matthew 24, Mark 13, and 2 Thessalonians 2 in the New Testament. This type of literature is considered more difficult to understand and interpret because of its use of rich imagery, symbolism, and prophecy. Many events are described through the use of metaphors instead of the use of literal terms. This certainly doesn’t make it impossible to correctly interpret, but it surely makes for a more difficult job of interpretation.

So we see in Revelation things like this:

• a scroll with seven seals;
• four living creatures that are full of eyes and that look like a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a man;
• trumpets blowing that lead to great disaster;
• a dragon;
• beasts;
• many angels;
• plagues;
• horses of different colors;
• a lake of fire;
• and much more.

Perhaps the most discussed part of the book of Revelation is the meaning of the “one thousand years” found in chapter 20. And although all of the above is certainly important, the main theme that (clearly!) runs throughout the entire book is the glory of King Jesus!

Revelation 1: John’s Vision of Jesus 

Before we jump to the ending of this book, let’s first check out the very beginning. It starts like this:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. – Revelation 1:1-2

The Apostle John, the servant to whom Jesus gave this revelation, then had a vision in which he saw the Son of Man! Listen to this description of Jesus:

…clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. – Revelation 1:13b-16

The Apostle John then fell at the feet of Jesus in awe, and the Lord Jesus laid his right hand on him and said this:

Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. – Revelation 1:17b-18

Notice that Jesus, though He came into the world as a humble servant, has been exalted to the place that He occupied prior to His incarnation (His coming into the world as a man)!

Related Article: Who Is Jesus?

Jesus is the main character of this book (as well as every book in the Bible), and He is the “Alpha and the Omega…who is and who was and who is come, the Almighty” (1:8), the Judge who is feared, worshiped, and completely victorious! Satan and the world may have thought that they won at the cross, but the Resurrection of Christ proved otherwise!

Revelation 21: The New Heaven and the New Earth

Please forgive me for the unfortunate fast-forwarding through Revelation, but we come now to chapter 21. At this point, Jesus has defeated all evil! Satan, death and hades, and all who were not written in the book of life (all who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior) have been thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

In chapter 21, John writes this:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” – Revelation 21:1-5

The new heaven and the new earth! This is where all of God’s redeemed saints will live for all of eternity in their glorified body. Notice these incredible truths that are revealed to us:

1. God will dwell with His people! We will be His people, and He will be our God!
2. He will lovingly wipe away every tear from our eyes!
3. No death!
4. No mourning!
5. No crying!
6. No pain!
7. All things will be made NEW!

How does that sound to you? As followers of Jesus Christ living in a fallen world, we are going to witness and/or experience personally the following during our pilgrimage on this earth:

1. God with us! But unable to see Him with our eyes quite yet.
2. Many tears.
3. Much death.
4. Much mourning.
5. Much crying.
6. Much pain.
7. All things wasting away.

Is it any wonder that the Apostle John would end the book of Revelation with the prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20)”?

We will, by God’s grace, experience much joy and blessing in this world. But we will also experience the effects of living in a fallen, sin-filled world. My hope is that you will always remember that Christians do not grieve as others do who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), for we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we therefore have a firm assurance of things not yet seen.

Fear not, though, for the Lord has been gracious in allowing us to see the future with eyes of faith, as Revelation 21 is a beautiful picture of what we, who are in Christ, have to look forward to! We have a glorious future in which we will see the face of God (Revelation 22:4), and the river of water of life will flow from God’s throne through the middle of the golden street in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:1).

Whatever it is that you’re going through, you can count on God to wipe away those tears, because He has promised to do so in the place where there is no more tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain!

Conclusion

As Christians, we set our eyes and our hope on the glorious realities that are to come. They are often the very truths that motivate us to continue living a faithful life of love here in this fallen place. Never believe the fool who says that there are people who are “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good!” If a person is truly setting their mind on the things of Heaven (and more specifically, the God of Heaven), then they we will be of great worth to this earth.

As you probably know by now, the Scripture teaches that we become more and more like Jesus as we behold Him and His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18), and nothing could be better than people walking around this world who are increasingly becoming like the Lord Jesus!

We see the world as it is now. We see what the world to come will be like. Let us with joy pray along with the Apostle John: “Come, Lord Jesus!”