Why We Need Revelation (Revelation 1:1-8)

Big Idea: We need to learn what’s really happening in the world so we can live with God’s blessing.

We’re beginning a journey today that is going to take us all the way into next year. We’re starting one of the most interesting and challenging books of the Bible. We are embarking on our journey through the book of Revelation.

Revelation is going to seem unfamiliar. Someone’s said it’s like entering a foreign country. It’s full of symbols that are hard to understand. It’s a sensory book. Someone’s said it’s “like something Dr. Seuss might have thought up after a sleepless night reading Stephen King.”

Revelation is going to challenge us. And yet, as we’re going to see today, the payoff is huge. It’s not a book that’s meant to confuse or divide us. It’s a book that’s meant to help us. David Campbell writes, “Revelation is not a handbook to last-day events. It is a pastoral letter written to Christians of every age and generation on how to live lives faithful to God and Christ in the midst of all the challenges a hostile pagan world throws at them.” This is meant to be a very practical book.

The Canadian preacher Darrell Johnson says that the Bible ever became illegal, as it is in some parts of the world, and he was allowed to keep only one book of the Bible for personal use, he would, without hesitation, keep the book of Revelation. Why? No book of the Bible presents the gospel as powerfully as this book does, he says. In no other book of the Bible do we see Jesus as clearly and compellingly as we do in this last book. “And no other book, in all of human literature, crystallizes what it means to belong to and follow Jesus in this world.”

Today I want us to dip our toes into this book by looking at the first 8 verses. These verses answer two questions for us: what is this book, and why should we pay attention to this book?

What Is This Book? (1:1-2)

That’s the first question we need to ask: what is this book? The first two verses tell us:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him 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, even to all that he saw.

Here you have two important pieces of information that we need that are going to set us up to read this book well. It tells us what this book does, and where this book came from.

What this book does

What kind of book is it? It’s a revelation. The word could be translated apocalypse, which has come to be associated with the end of the world or catastrophic destruction. But that’s not what apocalypse means in the Bible. Apocalypse means to uncover or unveil something that was previously hidden.

And this is so important for us as we start Revelation. Right away we have a great description of what Revelation is designed to do. It’s meant to reveal something that we need to know if we’re going to understand the world.

How do we know what’s going on in the world? I open up the news app on my phone. I can go online and find out what’s going on with world events any time I want.

But sometimes I go deeper. I read long-form journalism, or if I want to go deeper, I pick up a book on current events. That’s how we normally figure out what’s going on in the world.

But Revelation does something. It tells us that if we really don’t understand what’s happening in the world because we’re missing some important information. And then it unveils what we’ve missed. It shows us some realities that we could never figure out on our own, but are absolutely necessary if we’re going to understand the world. It lifts the veil between heaven and earth, so we see a fuller picture of the way that God’s working out his plans for this world.

Revelation unveils what’s really happening. It shows us:

• the resurrected and glorified Christ
• hidden angelic and demonic forces behind what’s happening in the world
• the ugliness of the world’s system
• the hidden beauty of God’s people
• God’s plan for the renewal of all things

In other words, if you just rely on news to figure out what’s going on in the world, you’re missing out. You’ll never understand what’s happening in the world. Revelation is written to tell us the true story of what’s happening in the world and what will happen in the world. It describes earthly events from heaven’s perspective.

That’s what this book does.

Where this book came from

There’s a second question that verses 1 and 2 answers about Revelation. Where did this book come from? Verse 1 says it’s the revelation of Jesus Christ. He’s the ultimate source. It’s a revelation given by Jesus.

But then John goes on to explain how he received it. John gives the chain of communication. God gave Jesus the revelation. Jesus made it known by sending his angel to John. John — most likely the apostle John who wrote the Gospel of John and 1, 2 and 3 John — served as a faithful witness and relayed this message to seven churches in Asia Minor, and ultimately to us.

What we’re about to read is not something that originated in someone’s imagination. What we have in Revelation comes from God himself.

So if you want to understand what is happening in the world from God himself, you’ve come to the right place. That’s why we need the book of Revelation.

That’s what this book is about. It unveils what’s happening in the world according to God himself. What’s what this book is about.

But here’s the next question that the introduction answers.

Why Should We Pay Attention to It? (1:3-8)

Why should we pay attention to it? Two reasons, according to verses 3 to 8.

First, God promises a blessing to those who read it and keep it (1:3).

Verse 3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”

This is the first of seven beatitudes or blessings in the book of Revelation. Here’s what it says. If you read these words aloud, if you hear them, and if you keep what’s written in them, you will be blessed.

Let’s unpack this a little. This is a book to be read aloud and heard. Nancy Guthrie says:

It was written in such a way that when those in the churches of John’s day heard it read to them, they would be able to get its message. That means it was written to convey a message and stir the imagination rather than to trace an argument. It was written to evoke worship, confidence, anticipation, and hope in those who heard it read to them. It was written for listeners to get a sense of the big picture rather than obsess over the details. And the same goes for us.

This is a sensory book. Listen to it. Don’t obsess over every detail. Engage with it using all your faculties. Imagine being in one of the seven churches in Asia Minor hearing it for the first time. Imagine their circumstances: they were churches facing two challenges, one external and one internal: persecution and complacency. Imagine hearing this letter for the first time and thinking, “I’ve never heard anything like this before!” Really listen to it, and allow it to begin to shape your perception of what’s going on in the world.

But don’t just listen to it. Verse 3 promises a blessing to those who not only hear but keep what is written in it. This is a book that’s meant to lead to obedience. It’s mean to change our lives. God promises a blessing to those who take its message to heart and who change their lives in light of its message.

Revelation is the only book of the Bible that begins with a blessing and ends with a warning. If you want God to bless you, then you need to hear and obey the message of this book.

But there’s a second reason why we need this book.

Second, it brings us right into the presence of God Himself (1:4-8).

I think it would be really cool to get a letter from the Apostle John. Imagine going to work the next day. Someone asks, “How was church?” You answer, “Good. Really good. We got a letter from John.” “John who?” “Oh! I thought you’d know. Jesus’ favorite disciple, the last surviving apostle, the guy who wrote 20% of the New Testament. That John.”

That would be pretty cool, and that’s exactly what happened based on verse 4: “John to the seven churches that are in Asia…”

But it gets better than that. John brings greetings from someone even more important:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth…

John brings greetings from the eternal God, from the Holy Spirit — seven represents perfection, and so John is talking about the perfect Spirit — and then from Jesus Christ himself. Jesus, the faithful witness who tells us the truth about the world and what God is doing. Jesus, the firstborn of the dead, the only One who has conquered death, and who is our own hope beyond the grave. Jesus, the ruler of kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers and all other authorities. That Jesus sends his greetings of grace and peace.

Even cooler than getting a letter from John is to have the triune God send greetings.

You wouldn’t think it could get better than that, but it does. John praises God as he recounts what Jesus has done, and will do:

Here’s what he has done:

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

That’s Jesus. Think about this: Jesus loves us. Jesus is the One who has freed us from our sins, and not only that but made us a kingdom of priests. That’s what he as done.

But that’s not all. Here’s what he will do:

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Right away we’re brought into one of the main themes of the book. God is fully in control. He is on his throne. He knows his people. It may not look like it, but everyone will one day see him and bow before him. He will judge them. He is in control of history. Everything is going his way.

And, to close this section, God the Father interrupts and vouches for everything we’re about to read: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

God, who is sovereign over history, who is self-existent and eternal, who has all power, has a message for us. God himself is pulling back the veil and revealing to us what’s really happening in the world. He wants us to see the world from his perspective. This is what God wants to do.

That’s why we need Revelation. We need God himself to reveal what’s happening in the world, so we can live with his blessing no matter what’s going on in the world.

So buckle in. There’s a lot to come. But let me just stop here and ask you what would change in your life if these first 8 verses were true. What if God himself has revealed what is going on in the world? What would happen if we saw history from God’s perspective, and really knew that Jesus loves us, and is not only in control of history but sends us his grace and peace?

The world doesn’t know it, but we do. God is working behind the scenes, and he’s promised to bless us, and he’s letting us see what he’s doing in the world. And that changes everything.

You can download a short introduction and outline to Revelation below.