For many Christians the book of Revelation is the hardest book in the New Testament chiefly because of its strange, lurid and sometimes violent imagery. As a result many Christians who are quite at home in the Gospels, Acts and Paul are much less sure of themselves when it comes to Revelation. But Revelation is a very important book offering a clear vision of God’s ultimate purpose for the whole creation and the way in which the powerful forces of evil, particularly at work in tyrannous political systems, can be and are being overthrown through the victory of Jesus and the resulting victory of his followers. The world in which we live is no less complex and dangerous than that of the first century and so engaging with the visions in Revelation can make a major difference to our attempt to be faithful witnesses to God’s love within it.
The original series was entitled The Challenge of Revelation, running during September and October 2011 and covering the first seven chapters of the Book of Revelation.
Returning in 2012 under the new title The Book of Revelation, during January and February, chapters 8 to 14 were covered. Across our morning services during these months we looked at idolatry and unpacking its nature and subtleties. Revelation is concerned with much the same theme as its writer exposes the pagan culture surrounding the churches it is written to. Containing many mysteries, Revelation still possesses a great deal that can help us through its realism about the nature of evil combined with its confidence about Christ’s victory over this.
The final chapters were then covered suring May and June, when we considered the sustained focus of the Book of Revelation upon why so much evil still exists in the world if God really has won the victory over it through the death of Jesus. This is one of the most perplexing issues that many Christians face, particularly as we get older. Why does the world seem to be getting worse rather than better? Why does God seem to be allowing evil to have such power? Revelation deals with these questions head on and its pastoral power lies in the way that it shows how the suffering that Christians are called to endure is all part of the implementing the victory of Christ.
