A Theology of the Book of Revelation Session #3


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A Theology of the Book of Revelation Session #3 – Christology in the Book of Revelation Introduction to Christology Christology is the study of the person of Jesus Christ. Before we consider the work of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation, we have to know something about the person of Jesus Christ. Last session, we saw the person of Christ in the context of the Divine Trinity. As the Son of God, Jesus shared in the dignity and glory of His Father. He was worshiped by angels and regarded as Lord over all. Tonight, we will give special consideration to how the book of Revelation refers to the person of Jesus, then dig into the works of Jesus. The First and the Last In our last session, we saw God declared to be the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 1:8, 21:6). In similar terms, Jesus is referred to as “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 1:17, 22:13). When the titles were used about God, they designated Him “as eternal in relation to the world, as the Creator and Originator of all things.” As they are applied to Christ, they can mean nothing else but the same thing. Here, Jesus is clearly being identified with God. The significance of these title should be clear to us. If the book of Revelation deals with the end of life on this earth as we know it, then it is important for John to help us know something about that end. As we saw last session, God is identified as the beginning and the end, and now, we see that the same titles are used of Jesus. This means that the thrust of John’s book about the end of time has Jesus at the center. For, as Jesus, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, when He returns, we will know that the end has come, for the End, who is Christ, has arrived once and for all to establish the New Heavens and the New Earth. Thus, this title, “the first and the last,” is not a rhetorical flourish, it is a theological declaration about the end. In other words, it is not over until Christ returns! For He alone is the One who is the “beginning and the end, the first and the last,” and as the One who is the “First and the Last,” He is worthy to receive our worship, which is the next point in our session. The Worship of Jesus It is here at the point of worship that the person of Christ and the Work of Christ intersect. For, as Christians gather to worship Christ, they worship Him in light of who He is, which has been revealed in what He has done, is doing, and will do! John’s depictions of Jesus being worshipped as the Lamb on the throne carry significant polemical value for the first-century. I have mentioned several times – John is writing this apocalyptic, prophetic letter to a church in the midst of suffering and oppression from the Roman empire. The people are being tempted to quit following Christ and just capitulate to the expectations of their day, yet John wrote to bolster their faith and perseverance. One of the ways that God used John to bolster the faith of the people was by giving him a sneak preview of the worship of Jesus.



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Everything in heaven and on earth was headed for the day when every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ was Lord. During the time of the writing of the book of Revelation, it appeared that Caesar was the lord on earth to whom every knee was to bow. And that is what I mean by the polemical value of the worship of Jesus. For something to have polemical value or significance, it must attack and undermine something else. When John beholds a vision of Jesus being worship by all the nations, the vision strikes at the apparent lordship of Caesar. So, if you are faced with the choice between bowing the knee to Jesus and bowing the knee to Caesar, Christians would have to possess a compelling vision of a reign Christ, because to refuse to bow the knee to Caesar meant you were most likely going to lose your head. Hence, the visions of Revelation. Why would the Christian bow the knew to Caesar if one day every knee would bow to Christ? This vision of the worship of Jesus in heaven draws a line in the sand and cries out, “Chose this day whom you will serve.” Will you bow to Caesar or bow to Jesus? To compel their faith, John reveals a vision of angelic beings and nations (which are much greater in total than Rome) to be around the Lamb on the Throne! And what is particularly interesting is the context of the vision – it is essentially a heavenly worship service. The weapon of choice to defeat unbelief and encourage the people to remain steadfast to the Lord is a vision of Jesus being worshipped! Thus, in a small but significant manner, the church recapitulates this vision every Sunday that it gathers to sing songs to the Lamb who is on the throne! We, as the church, the embassy of heaven on earth, gather to affirm our citizenship in kingdom of Christ. When we gather to worship, the goal is not to make us feel comfort on earth, but to make us ready for heaven! I fear that some churches and leaders are often too concerned with making the world feel comfortable in their worship services. People worry that guests might feel weird if the church sings about the blood of Jesus or if a church partakes of the Lord’s Supper or if someone is baptized or if a church values the study the Bible for an extended amount of time. Some think that churches need to become more like the world in order to win the world, when in reality, the very thing that the church desperately needs is to become more like Christ in the context of the world! And part of becoming more like Christ is learning to live in submission to Christ, no matter what is cost us in the world. Hence, John’s vision of the worship of Jesus! So why are angels and nations worshiping Jesus? It is here that the study moves from a study of the person of Christ to a study of the work of Christ in the book of Revelation… The Work of Christ The role of Christ in Revelation is to establish God’s kingdom on earth: in the words of 11:15, to turn ‘the kingdom of the world’ (currently ruled by evil) into the ‘kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah.’ This is a work of both salvation and judgment.” So how does this happen? The work of Christ consists not only of the work that He accomplished in the past through His life, death, and resurrection, but also what He continues to do through the Holy Spirit and will do at His return. Three major themes encapsulate the continued and future work of Christ in the book of Revelation – the Messianic War, the Eschatological Exodus, and the Witness. Tonight, we only have time to cover the theme of the Messianic War.

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What do I mean by the Messianic War? Well, this war is rooted in Jesus’ relationship to David, which is explicitly referenced in Revelation 22:16, where Jesus says, “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Jewish people had an expectation based upon the prophetic literature of the Old Testament that a descendent of David would come and set them free from bondage and oppression through war and establish the kingdom of God on earth. This expectation is rooted in the promise of the Davidic covenant that we find in 2 Samuel 7:8-16, which states that God would “establish the throne of David’s Son’s kingdom forever.” Many assumed that this promise would be fulfilled by Solomon, but it was not, and eventually, the people of Israel divided into two distinct people – the Northern Tribe of Israel and the Southern Tribe of Judah. The Northern Tribe of Israel went into Assyrian Captivity in the 8th century (722 B.C.) and the Southern Tribe of Judah went into Babylonian Captivity in the 6th century (586 B.C). So, the question was this? Did God’s promise to David fail? The answer is, “No.” God’s promise did not fail, but it would be fulfilled in a manner that defied the expectations of the Jews. Instead of a king like David or Solomon, this King and His kingdom would be different. It would be the Messianic Kingdom, that is, the kingdom of the Messiah, which is the kingdom that Jesus declared at the start of His earthly ministry, when He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!” So, for John, Jesus is the One who fulfills these Messianic expectations to David. Jesus is the One who will reign forever as the offspring of David, the root of Jesse, the bright morning star! And Jesus will establish this kingdom by means of the Messianic War. While there are hundreds of allusions to prophecies in the Old Testament in the book of Revelation, the two passages of particularly significant for understanding the Messianic War are Isaiah 11 and Psalm 2. Consider these parallels between Isaiah 11 and Jesus in the book of Revelation: Regarding the Relationship of Jesus to David as the Messiah… Old Testament Passage Isaiah 11:1 – “There shall come for a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

New Testament Allusion Revelation 5:5 – “And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Regarding the Sword of the Messiah… Old Testament Passage Isaiah 11:4b – “And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked (Cf. – Isa. 49:2)



New Testament Allusion Revelation 1:16 – “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.” (Cf. - Rev. 2:12, 16; 19:21)

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Regarding Righteous Judgment of the Messiah… Old Testament Passage Isaiah 11:3-4a – “And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;”

New Testament Allusion Revelation 19:11 – “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

Now, consider these parallels between Psalm 2 and Jesus in the book of Revelation: Regarding the Messiah’s Victory over Nations… Old Testament Passage Psalm 2:8 – “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Cf. – Psa. 2:1-6)

New Testament Allusion Revelation 2:26-27 – “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. (Cf. – Rev. 11:15, 18; 12:5, 10; 14:1; 16:14, 16: 19:15)

Regarding the Messiah’s Enemies… Old Testament Passage Psalm 2:10 – “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.”

New Testament Allusion Revelation 6:15-17 – “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountain, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? (Cf. – Rev. 1:5; 17:2, 18; 18:3, 9; 19:19; 21:24)

The key point in noting these allusions is that the book of Revelation reveals Jesus as the One who fulfills these Old Testament Messianic expectations. There was no need for the Jews to look elsewhere. The King had come and the Messianic War had begun in Christ. Victory was certain for those who trusted in Christ. The question that remained was simple: Who will you trust?



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