Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Even in today’s world, I like to play the old classic game of Tetris.

Remember when Tetris was one of the coolest video games in existence about three decades ago?

The game was simple to learn, yet hard to master.

A series of differently shaped blocks descended from the top of the screen; The goal was to line up the blocks like a puzzle, clearing each row of blocks and buying yourself more time before the blocks built up too high and it was “game over.”

No matter how skilled I’ve become over the decades, I eventually experienced the “game changing moment,” when the blocks started coming more quickly than I could handle and the margin for error shrank until it was too late.

I fear that most of us treat our lives—especially our spiritual lives— in a similar fashion, navigate the puzzle of living with our best efforts until it is too late.

The message of Revelation is possibly just that.

We are all living in the game-changing moment of human history.

Each day is a significant progression, taking us closer moment by moment to the imminent end.

We have a limited time, building tension, and fleeting opportunities to live a life of faithfulness.

Here is the point of the Revelation reality: We must live each day as though it were our last.

Transition:

The opening paragraph of the book of Revelation is similar to some prophetic introductions in the Old Testament (e.g., Jer.

1:1–2; Ezek.

1:1–3; Hos.

1:1; Amos 1:1).

And Like Old Testament prophecies, there is emphasis on the proclamation of God’s plan for the present and not just on predicting what God will do in the future.

Just as Jesus announced the arrival of the kingdom of God with his coming, so John announces the beginning of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in his visions.

This “already/not fully” understanding of Christian eschatology serves as the foundation to the understanding of prophecy.

In Revelation, however, the final fulfillment receives additional attention for at least the reason that the churches first receiving this transforming vision were in crisis and desperately needed the sustaining hope that a picture of God’s final future could provide.

As a result, the language of imminent fulfillment runs through the book of Revelation beginning with the opening words:

Scripture Reading:

The introduction to the book of Revelation begins with a statement of the book’s title: “the revelation from Jesus Christ.”

Next, we are told how this was communicated to John and how this resulted in John’s testimony (1:2).

The first paragraph closes with the first of the seven beatitudes, or blessings, that appear throughout the book (we saw this a couple weeks ago).

The opening lines of Revelation also introduce many of the main themes of the book: the centrality of God and Christ, the imminent fulfillment of God’s plans, John’s role as witness, the nature of the prophecy as proclamation of God’s truth and the appropriate response of obedience, and the blessing on those who respond faithfully.

Transition:

Let’s now see these introductory themes a bit closer:

I.

The Person of Revelation (v.1)

This revelation was given by Jesus, the Christ, Himself.

It is about Jesus, the Christ.

Jesus is actually the author of the Book of Revelation but we must remember that the revelation was given to John.

“The revelation”

It is common that ancient authors provided the title of the book and a summary of its contents in the opening line.

The Greek term ἀποκάλυψις (καλυπτω“cover/hide” ἀπο = out of/from) means something unveiled, revealed, or made known.

Other parts in the New Testament, the same word is used for other references: the revelation of a general truth, for making known the gospel (Rom.

16:25; Eph.

3:3), for more specific revelation as in a prophetic vision (1 Cor.

14:6, 26; 2 Cor.

12:1, 7; Gal.

1:12; 2:2), , and for end-time revealings of God’s judgment, God’s people, and God’s Son (Rom.

2:5; 8:19; 1 Cor.

1:7; 2 Thess.

1:7; 1 Pet.

1:7, 13; 4:13).

All that to say that this book starts with a declaration that we are expected to understand and know about what it communicates.

“...of Jesus Christ”

Thanks to the ambiguity of the Greek genitive noun case and the English preposition “of”, the expression “of Jesus Christ” could be understood in three ways:

(1) the revelation about Jesus, the central figure in the book;

(2) the revelation coming from Jesus; or

(3) Both! both from and about Jesus.

The immediate context where God gives the revelation to Jesus, who then sends his angel to proclaim the message to John and others fits option 2. Yet the 3rd option takes into consideration both the immediate context and the larger context of the entire book, of which this term then serves aptly as the title, where Jesus is indeed the primary figure.

This book is about Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ because it depicts our Savior as:

• The risen glorified Son of God ministering to the churches.

• The faithful witness.

• The firstborn from the dead.

• The ruler over the kings of the world.

• The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.

• The One who is and was and is to come, the Almighty.

• The One who is holy and true.

• The beginning of all creation.

• The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

• The Lamb on the throne.

• The Messiah who will reign forever.

• The King of kings and Lord of lords.

• The bright and morning star.

Jesus lies at the center of this one book, the center of the Bible, and the center of God’s plan for human history

If we don’t recognize the main character, a story cannot & will not make sense.

Take your favorite movie or book and consider what would happen if you believed a secondary character was the hero.

For example, if someone believed the main character of Star Wars was R2D2, he/she would constantly wonder, “Why don’t they give more details about R2D2?” “Why does the movie’s storyline keep wondering so far off from this cute little robot?”

“to show his servants”

Notice the plural “servants” Who are His servants?

The book of Revelation is for all Believers from all times and all places They are us believers who truly follow and serve Christ.

Now, there are those who profess to believe and follow Christ but don’t have saving faith.

This revelation is not written for them or to them.

It is a closed book to the world.

Jesus gave it to His servants and His servants alone.

Since the world can’t understand the revelation, the world makes fun of it.

Our media portrays devote Christ’s followers as insane people who cling to ancient beliefs and reject modern thought.

This ought to be no surprise because Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14:

The “take-home” here is don’t be discussing and arguing the contents of the book of Revelation with unbelievers—they don’t have the Holy Spirit’s illumination

“what must soon take place.”

This book deals with what must “soon” take place.

This beginning is likely referring back to Daniel 2:28–29, where Daniel sees events happening “in the last days,”

John substitutes “soon” for “the last days” to emphasize that he is living in the last days when Old Testament prophecy is beginning to be fulfilled.

By “soon” John does not mean “quickly once it begins.”

Rather, his choice of words essentially proves that the fulfillment of prophecy has already begun and that “the end” of this age is always imminent/near.

As Commentator Grant Osborne points out, the “language of imminence intends to draw the reader into a sense of expectation and responsibility, a sense meant to characterize every age of the church.”

God is revealing his plan to overthrow evil once and for all and deliver his people into the new heaven and new earth where they can enjoy life in His presence forever.

We need to note some things about the “soon” end time revelation

First, the revelation concerns future events; events that are yet to happen in the end time.

Second, the early believers had looked for these events to take place very soon.

They expected it to happen in their lifetime.

Did it?

No! But because they expected it to happened in their lifetime, they did just what Jesus told them to do—look and watch for His return.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:42,

The third thing that we need to note about the end time revelation is that YHWH timing is a bit different to man’s time.

We know this because it’s been almost 2000 years since Jesus gave this revelation and it hasn’t happened yet.

Does this mean that John was wrong in saying that the events were to happen soon?