Our "Wrestling With The Word" Bible study group is reading the Book of Revelation. I have always avoided reading it because of the symbolism and the mysteries associated with it, and the fact that I can't embrace it all and proclaim that "I Get It!" I avoided it until I read :
Revelation 1: 3...Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophesy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it; for the time is near.
If God tells me that I will be blessed by this study, then I will not avoid it. We have read through Chapter 17, so we have not completed the book yet, but a couple of reoccurring things stand out...God's Glory and His Faithfulness and His Desire that we receive Salvation.
Throughout the Book, John gives us glimpses of Heaven...being in the presence of God. Worship is a major theme in the Book of Revelation and Heaven is a place of worship. Salvation is the gift God offers and it's magnitude is revealed in the words of Revelation 7: 15-17
15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,
nor scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
"he will lead them to springs of living waters"
"and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Another recurring theme is God's faithfulness and His desire for the lost to turn to Him in repentance. God sends prophets to share His Word and to reveal the truth in the midst of suffering and chaos, yet we see over and over that people "do not repent". God would not belabor this point, if He did not want us to know that he desires that we be saved by believing the Gospel Message of His Word...Jesus came and died as a sacrifice for our sins so that we may be saved. He was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead so that we would not suffer the eternal cost of our sins. If God places a priority on this message, then we who believe in Jesus, should as well. We should share in His desire that the lost turn to Christ and we demonstrate that by sharing the Gospel Message.
In this study of Revelation, God challenges unbelief in Him. It exposes the futility of putting our faith in governments, our own wisdom, our wealth, our possessions, or people. Hopelessness is the result of living with misplaced beliefs or unbelief. Living a life with hope, assurance, and promise comes to those who believe in the salvation offered through belief in Jesus Christ.
Discover and Proclaim the Truth of The Bible which is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." (John 3:16 NRSV). Jesus came to humanity to proclaim and give evidence to that love and He has commanded us to do the same. We, who believe, must not merely be followers, but we must be proclaimers of the Gospel Message and we can only do that by being filled with the love of God.
