Revelation 1:1-9, "Apocalypse Now, or Encountering Jesus in the Everyday”

There is a story about Eugene Peterson and Bono. Bono had read Peterson’s The Message and was so inspired he invited Peterson to come to hang out with the band for two days and attend a live show as Bono’s personal guest. Peterson declined the invitation. When asked about it later, he explained that he was finishing the Old Testament portion of The Message and had a deadline to complete Isaiah. The interviewer said, “you might be the only person in the world to turn down an invitation to spend a day with Bono. I mean, come on, it’s Bono for crying out loud.” To which Peterson replied, “It was Isaiah!” They finally did meet. And it wasn’t Peterson who was effusive over the rock star. It was Bono who praised Peterson’s work.

Have you ever encountered someone truly great? What was that experience like? When we meet someone we truly admire, we want to praise them in some way, and we’ll go tell everyone about it. “I got to meet…”

As we journey through this series, I hope you truly encounter Jesus. This book is a revelation from Jesus, about Jesus.

As we begin, we will see that when we encounter Jesus Christ as the eternal God, it awakens our worship and empowers our witness. John encounters Jesus in a way that opens His mind to the eternal reality of God and His plan for the world, for the church, for all people. And Jesus commands him to share what he sees with the rest of us. And he tells us the reason.

Revelation 1:3 (ESV)

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.

We will be blessed when we read, hear, and keep. Keep = obey, practice, live by these things.

What’s the book of Revelation all about? Is it a prophecy of future events at the end of time? Yes, he says so right in this verse. But what’s it for? That the imminent return of Jesus would motivate us to live lives of worship and witness in the present moment. Jesus wants us to encounter Him in our everyday lives. That is my hope for every one of us: that every one of us would encounter Jesus in our every day lives. aHe is the eternal God, sovereign over the events of our world. We will be awakened to worship and empowered to witness.

The book of Revelation belongs to a genre of literature called apocalyptic. In fact, the word apocalypse means revelation, an uncovering of something previously concealed. Apocalyptic literature is usually written to people experiencing trouble, to reveal some heavenly reality that will encourage or strengthen them.

Apocalyptic literature uses surreal visions, figures, numbers, and other symbols to signify spiritual realities to encourage the faithful, but that would also hide the true meaning from the unbeliever.

So, we will see many of those symbols and signs as we go. And many people have been tempted to relate every one of those symbols to some contemporary event or person. This revelation is also called a prophecy, so it’s also tempting to try to match the prophecies to the events of our time. People have tried to use the book to make a timeline of the end times.

I think both of those will lead us into a lot of useless speculation. The better question is, what is the spiritual reality Jesus is revealing to the church through all of this? What is His message? Our first encounter with Jesus comes through His word.

We Encounter Jesus in His Word

This book is Jesus’ word to His people.

Revelation 1:1 (ESV)

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,

This is a standard apocalyptic preface. In apocalyptic literature, the writer would say God had sent an angel, or messenger, to reveal the heavenly mysteries to the prophet, who writes them down for the people. But as we will see, John had direct visions of Jesus and these events himself. And in some cases, the messenger is Jesus Himself. The main point here is, this is Jesus’ message to us.

What part does John play? John is a servant, or slave. He is among the redeemed people of Christ. He belongs to Jesus and serves Jesus. He has encountered Jesus and is a witness to us.

Revelation 1:2 (ESV)

who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

And Jesus’ purpose is that His word will be a blessing to those who read it, hear it, and live by it.

Revelation 1:3 (ESV)

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 revelation was to be read in the church out loud.

Why? What would be the benefit of reading Jesus’ words aloud in the church?

It gives the church the opportunity to engage Jesus’ word together. We can hold one another accountable to “keeping” what we heard.

We all have an opportunity to encounter Jesus for ourselves as we hear and apply His word. This becomes more clear when we read the things Jesus says about Himself here.

John’s greeting to the churches comes in verses 4-5.

Revelation 1:4–5 (ESV)

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: 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.

The greeting comes from the Triune God. The Eternal God, who is, was, and is to come is out of order chronologically. The emphasis is the God who is. No matter when you are living on earth, God is. He is the ever-present One. This will be an encouragement to the believer.

The greeting also comes from the “seven spirits”, or the “seven-fold spirit”. We have our first symbolic number, 7. It represents completion or perfection. John is using a reference to Isaiah 11 that describes the Holy Spirit with seven attributes. So, he is passing on a greeting from the Holy Spirit.

Then Jesus, God the Son, is described three ways. He is the faithful witness. We saw a few weeks ago that Jesus told Pilate that His suffering were His witness to the truth. He was a witness to the love of God for sinners and the salvation God was accomplishing through His death on the cross.

Christ was crucified, but Christ has risen. He is called in verse 5, “the firstborn of the dead”. Jesus is alive! The faithful witness lives.

And finally, he is “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” The risen Jesus has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth. We who repent and believe have this hope, that Jesus will come again and judge all people and establish justice and righteousness when He rules over the nations forever. He has begun His rule in heaven, and will one day bring that reality to the earth.

We can summarize our encounter with Jesus through His word by using one of the earliest creeds of the church, often used at the Lord’s table as a common confession of faith that Jesus’ word is true. “Christ was crucified, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”

How do you describe someone who has had an encounter with Jesus?

Every one of us can encounter Jesus crucified, risen, and reigning through His word. So,

Revelation 1:3 (ESV)

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.

What time? The time for our hope to be realized. The time for the kingdom of God to be consummated on earth as it is in heaven in Christ is near. His return can happen at any moment. In the meantime, you and I can encounter Jesus now as you hear and apply His word to you. Are you experiencing Jesus in your everyday life?

How can you tell someone has encountered the risen and reigning Jesus? They worship and they witness.

Encountering Jesus Awakens our Worship

We were made to worship. You can’t help it, when you encounter something truly special, you praise it. “What a beautiful day!” “That is a hot car!” “That meal was delicious!” But what if you encounter something or someone truly out of this world, incomparable?

John, who is suffering for his witness to Jesus, instead of being downhearted or angry or fearful, worships. His encounter with the risen, living, powerful Jesus Christ awakens His worship in verses 5-6.

Revelation 1:5–6 (ESV)

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.

This is what we call a doxology, based on the Greek word for glorify, and you can see this word in verse 6. We will see this a lot in this book. Jesus is revealed in His power and authority as He works out God’s plans, and suddenly the heavens open and we see the worship service at the throne of God and we are drawn in.

How would you describe a person who is awakened to worship Jesus? humble, joy-filled, at peace, merciful, witnessing

The second result of an encounter with Christ is an empowered witness.

Encountering Jesus Empowers our Witness

Someone who is truly encountering Jesus can’t stop talking about it. John is an example. Revelation is his witness to his encounter with Jesus…

Revelation 1:2 (ESV)

who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

But this encounter happened because John had already been a faithful witness to his first encounter with Christ.

Revelation 1:9 (ESV)

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

As John testifies to Jesus, Jesus reveals more of Himself, which empowers John’s continued witness.

We can see this in verses 7 and 8. John proclaims the power and authority of Jesus, and the fact that His return is imminent.

Revelation 1:7 (ESV)

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.

And then God answers back in verse 8,

Revelation 1:8 (ESV)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

What He has begun, He will finish. He is present in all the events of our world to accomplish His almighty purpose and plan. John’s only job is to bear witness.

The Greek word for witness and testimony is the root of our word martyr. Over time that word came to mean someone who dies for their faith. But that came from the idea that if we are to bear witness to Jesus in this world, we should expect opposition and confrontation. We will be partners in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus. The Christian life, living as a citizen of the kingdom of Christ in this world, is not easy.

And the highest form of our witness to Jesus, who suffered for us, is to suffer for Him. And to die for Jesus is the ultimate testimony that He is worth more than anything this world can offer. That to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

The book of Revelation is written for times like ours. The world is chaotic, confusing, cynical, and seems to be controlled by self-interested people who leverage wealth, violence, and exploitation for personal gain. Do we give in? Do we give up?

One of the closest encounters with greatness I have ever had was the time I met Todd and Carol Bassett on an airplane returning to Maine. If you aren’t familiar with their names, when I met them, Todd had just retired as the U.S. National Commander of the Salvation Army. They had a ministry to millions of people. They had commanded thousands of staff and volunteers. Millions of dollars had passed through their hands. And they were retiring to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, to serve as volunteers in a local chapter. And in an age when CEOs and megachurch pastors fly on private jets, they were flying coach.

Revelation will challenge us to live differently in this world. When you truly encounter Christ crucified, risen, and reigning, while the world seeks greatness through wealth and wickedness, you will know a greater satisfaction to live a life of worship and witness to the King of Heaven whose greatest glory was to lovingly sacrifice His life to free us from sin and make us a kingdom and priests to God.

Communion

Christ was crucified. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. We have a living Redeemer.

“There is a Redeemer”

Questions for Discussion

Who is the greatest person you have ever met? What was that experience like? Did it impact your life in a lasting way?

If you have ever had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ, please tell your group about that.

What does our passage teach us about God?

What has Jesus done to accomplish the eternal plans of God?

We does our passage tell us about ourselves?

What are the choices in front of the reader of this passage? How does the gospel impact those choices?

Where is the gospel in this passage?

What about this passage awakens your worship of Jesus?

What about this passage empowers your witness to Jesus?

How will you respond to this passage this week?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?