In today’s
blog, I would like to help answer this question: By the “after this” of Revelation 4:1, what should have happened to those
who “read aloud… hear… and keep”[2]
what is written in the book of Revelation? Or, what should have already happened
to us in order for us to benefit from what comes after the “after this” of Revelation 4:1?
1. By Revelation 4:1, we should already have
experienced a true revelation of Jesus Christ to carry us through the rest of
the book of Revelation, and the rest of the history the book of Revelation
describes.
“After this” leads into a picture of
heaven’s throne room. However, it comes after the vision of Jesus that John has
already described in the first chapter. This vision is made of two parts: the
first is what John saw, and how he explained it in a collage of similes; the
second is what he heard from Jesus’ own mouth, and the way Jesus wanted John to
think of him as he received the rest of the visions. John describes the first
part of the vision like this:
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was
speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son
of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hairs of his head
were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like
burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many
waters. 16 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.
This vision
was enough to cause John to fall at Jesus’ feet “as though dead.”[3]
It was then that he heard the second part of this encounter. Jesus said, “17Fear not, I am
the first and the last,
18 and the living one. I
died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” These were Jesus’ own words calling John’s attention to the
attributes of his divine nature and work that were the foundation of all that
would follow.
Obviously,
everything else in the book of Revelation is “after this”, so why is this first? Because, if we haven’t
encountered the Christ of the first chapter, we will have serious trouble
seeing him in the rest of the book, or in the unfolding events of history the
revelation talks about. “After this”
is not just the next thing in a series of word-pictures; it is the next thing
for those who have come to know the Christ of the first chapter.
2. By Revelation 4:1, the Church should
already have experienced a true revelation of our condition in the sight of
Jesus Christ, the head of the Church.
“After this” comes right after the
letters to the seven churches. In these letters, Jesus tells each church how
they are doing. We must accept that, before we see the rest of these pictures,
and visions, and revelations, we must accurately see Jesus as he really is, and
we must see ourselves as we really are.
This means
that, those who have received what is written in these seven letters so that we
are even more determined to do the things Jesus commends, and have repented and
renounced any of the things Jesus condemns, we can now see how we fit into the
next scenes. Those who have obeyed Jesus in the first three chapters, whose
hearts are pure in the cleansing blood of the Lamb, who have confessed and
renounced their sins, and opened their heart to be filled to the full with the
righteousness of faith, they are the conquerors who can travel victoriously
through every scene that is described in the rest of the book.[4]
In other
words, we who have obeyed the Savior in the first three chapters, can continue
through the book as conquerors reading about our further victories in Jesus
Christ. At the same time as we see ourselves as the conquerors the book of Revelation
reveals, we will also be conquerors in whatever life-situations we are facing,
no matter whether we know how they fit into Revelation’s montage of history, or
we are clueless about how the book of Revelation applies to anything we are
going through at all. Those who have risen up in faith where Jesus commended
and encouraged, and fallen down in humble repentance where Jesus reproved and
rebuked, are going to be conquerors reading the book, and conquerors in living
the life of the book.
On the other
hand, those who have not adjusted to the letters to the seven churches, are not
doing the things of which Jesus approves, and are not renouncing the things of
which Jesus disapproves, will not be conquerors, and will not see what the
conquerors see.
For example,
think of a family that is divided. Some are living true to the values and
ideals and heritage of the family, while others are in rebellion to their
family-identity. If all of them show up for a family reunion, and there is an
unveiling of a picture about what is ahead for the family, a picture that is
totally consistent with all the history, and values, and heritage, that has
already been part of the family from the beginning, those who are living up to
the family name are going to view the picture in one way, while those who are
rebelling against their family identity will see it in another.
Those who love
what the family is about, who are striving to live up to the family name, who
work on their faults and failings that make them different from what their
family is all about, will look at this picture of their future with desire to
know everything about it because they want to experience it to the full.
On the other
hand, those who hate what the family is about, and have tried to dissociate
themselves from anything to do with the family’s values and heritage, will see
the picture of the future as one more thing they hold in disdain. They hear the
grandfather say, “I have a dream!” and they hear themselves scoff, “You have a
nightmare!”
The point is
simple: those who are living as conquerors now will see all that the book of
Revelation shows them about being conquerors all the way through their lives.
Those who are living as rebels, as disobedient, as victims of sin who have no
faith in Jesus to save them from sin, or help them have victory over sin, will
not be able to see what Jesus could do for them in the future.
To put it
another way, if anyone is blind to the vision of Jesus in chapter one, and unmoved
by the wonders of who he is, what he is about, and what he is like as already
revealed, they cannot expect that anything is going to happen to them as they
continue looking through the Revelation. It is just more about Jesus! And, if they
haven’t been moved by Jesus in the first chapter, with the revelation of his
glory, and they haven’t been moved by Jesus’ assessment of their lives in
chapters 2 and 3, so that they have adjusted to his divine will, they are not
going to see the wonders that fill the pages of the next nineteen chapters.
This is the
point where, if you realize you are not entering the fourth chapter of Revelation
as a conqueror, that you get right with Jesus before you do. Take another look
at who he is. Take another look at who you are. Call out to Jesus to open your
eyes so you can see him. Call out to Jesus to make you feel the ugliness of
your sin in the hope of the gospel that provides you with the Savior who
delivers from sin.
9 …if you
confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified,
and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in
him will not be put to shame.”[5]
From my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Revelation 4:1
[2]
Revelation 1:3
[3]
Revelation 1:17
[4]
“37 No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8)
All seven of the letters to the churches include a word
to “the one who conquers”. This sevenfold reference to
those who conquer is a central theme of the Revelation.
[5]
Romans 10:9-11
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