In the apocalypse of our lives, we have the opportunity to experience the revelation of Jesus Chirst.
The theme of the revelation of Jesus Christ runs throughout the pages of Scriptures. There are over three-hundred references to it in the New Testament alone. The entire twenty-seven books of the New Testament actually reveal the story of the man that has come to be known as Jesus, the Christ. In addition, the Bible closes its cannon with the manuscript Revelation (apocalypse) from its opening statement: ” The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants . . .” (Rev. 1:1).
The apocalypse always occurs in mystery.
There is mystery in the revelation, the apocalypse, of Jesus Christ that is shown to the world. For example, the final script in the story is a complex writing filled with strange beasts, symbolism, and threatening signs of doom. This largely metaphorically book has at least four primarily different views of the apocalypse. The final book of the Bible has been interpreted from a Preterist, a Historicist, a Futurist, and Spiritual or Symbolic understanding.[1] In actual practice, many in attempting to understand Revelation will use variations and combinations of all four interpretations.
The Preterist view of Revelation generally holds that most of the prophecies in the book were fulfilled during the time of the first centuries after Christ. The conservatives of this view point to Revelation 1:1 (“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass” [emphasis added]) to illustrate that the prophecies of the book would be fulfilled in the near future from its writing. They would also point to Matthew 24 with its end-time prophecies as being fulfilled in A.D. 70, with the invading armies of Rome.[2]
The Historicist view of the book interprets that its prophecies have been fulfilled throughout history and are still being fulfilled today. This view became popular during the Reformation and was held by most of the protestant leaders throughout the 16th-19th centuries. Its adherents believe that Revelation is a survey of historical events concealed in rich symbolism. Most of its followers, also, due probably to the nature of its beginning during the start of the Reformation, interpret the great adversary to the true Christian church, the Antichrist of Revelation, to be Roman Catholicism with its Papacy.[3]
The Futurist believe that all the prophecies beginning in Chapters 4 to the end of the book are yet to be fulfilled. Although this is the interpretation that is held by many in the protestant church today, this view actually began in 1585 by a Catholic priest for “the purpose of refuting the historicist views of the Protestant reformers.”[4] It was made popular for most modern conservatives by the dispensationalist teaching of J.N. Darby in 1830. His idea of a secret Rapture of the church, a tribulation period that followed the Rapture, and a one-thousand year rule of Christ on earth is the bases for most modern Futurist interpretation of Revelation.[5]
Finally, the Spiritual or Symbolic understanding of John’s writings is that the prophecies of the book actually portray the continual spiritual conflicts that occur in the struggle to experience the kingdom of God in every age. It interprets the many symbolical presentations as events that occur in every age of history. Its basic understanding, in true apocalyptic style, is that good will triumph over evil. The chronological events recorded in Revelation (seals of the book, trumpets sounding, and the coming of the beast) are allegorically understood as how God works in his sovereign plan for the salvation of man.[6]
The word apocalypse is derived from the original language of the New Testament.
All four of the interpretations accept the writings of John in Revelation as being predominately apocalyptic in style. In fact, in the original language the word that is translated revelation is apokalupsis (in English, apocalypse) from the root word meaning “to take off the cover, that is, disclose.” The revelation of Jesus Christ then is the disclosure of Jesus Christ. Since it is apocalyptic literature, the disclosure of Jesus Christ will always occur, by definition of the term apocalypse, through persecution and oppression. Also, all Christian apocalyptic writing will always contain the hope, the anticipation, that evil in the persecution and oppression will be overcome by good in the appearing or revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated this apocalyptic idea in his statement, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:20).
Although the revelation of Jesus as recorded by John contains twenty-two chapters in four-hundred and four verses, the same truth is covered by Peter in one English sentence of three verses. In writing to believers that were scattered throughout Asia Minor and were being persecuted, he wrote:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:3-5).
The apocalypse of Peter’s writing.
Notice, the ingredients of an apocalypse in the events that these believers were facing. Peter began by stating “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.” He would soon admonish them again concerning hope: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). Why were they to be thankful for a “lively hope” and then be encouraged to “hope to the end?”
The answer to those questions lie in another question, “To the end of what?” Those early believers needed hope because they were currently “for a season, if need be . . . in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6). Even in this “trial of [their] faith” (1 Pet. 1:7) they could “greatly rejoice” (1 Pet. 1:6) because they were being “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed [from the original word apokalupsis, English, apocalypse] in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3). Regardless of how dark the night or severe the persecution, there will come a moment of time when the night will be over, the pressure is lightened, and the morning rays begin to shine.
This trial of faith is “much more precious than of gold that perisheth” (1 Pet. 1:7). Although gold is a strong metal, there is the reality that sufficient heat can make it perish. However, regardless of the heat of persecution and oppression, where there is hope, the believer will not melt-down but be kept by the power of God until salvation (1 Pet. 1:3). This trial of faith enabled by hope through the power of God “might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing [again from the original word apokalupsis, English, apocalypse] of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:7).
Being kept by the power of God during the persecution, the believer still loves Jesus even though deliverance from the adverse affect of the oppression has yet to come (1 Pet. 1:8). Being in Jesus, however, “though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1:8). The mystery of the revelation, the apocalypse, of Jesus Christ can bring to the internal soul (the real essence of the individual) joy unspeakable and full of glory in the midst of external persecution and oppression (1 Pet. 1:6). Or, as one of the other writers of the New Testament wrote,
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:16-17).
Peter then informed the grieving-for-now believers that the salvation they would experience was prophesied to occur by Israel’s prophets of old. He stated “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you” (1 Pet. 1:10). Peter added that the prophets “Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Pet. 1:11). The last phrase, “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow,” is a reference back to the original encouragement from Peter:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you . . .” (1 Pet. 1:3-4).
Evidently, Peter wanted them to know, which is essential for a lively hope, that the risen Christ (now incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away) is on reserve for them in the heavenly realm. The unmarred (reserved) risen Christ in the heavenly realm stands ready to come to them in the earthly realm to bring salvation in every time of their need. He then added, concerning the prophets, “unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you . . .” (1 Pet. 1:12). Peter is implying that the prophecies of the prophets of old were not for old Israel but was, in fact, for new Israel, which consists of all the followers of Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:16). The gospel that was preached unto the early followers of Jesus seems to be declaring that the revelation of Jesus Christ with its establishment of the spiritual kingdom of God was and is the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies.
The apocalypse of Matthew’s gospel.
For example, in the gospel according to Matthew, where the most systematic teaching of Jesus is found, the theme of the book is the kingdom of God which is mentioned fifty-one times. It is also significant that the phrase, or its equivalent, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet” occurs sixteen times. It indicates that in the gospel of Matthew the promises of God contained in the prophets are recalled and their fulfillment in Jesus Christ is announced. Matthew even ended his gospel, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20) with a similar statement that Ezekiel made at the end of his prophecy, “and the name of the city [new Jerusalem] from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (Ezek. 48:35).
The gospel according to Matthew seems to imply that the nation of old Israel set the stage or points to the coming spiritual nation of the kingdom of God. The writer of Hebrews, referring to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of the Old Testament, stated that “these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off . . . and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). Then, he added, “that they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country,” (Heb. 11:14) “a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God . . . (Heb. 11:16). Finally, the first recorded words of Jesus were “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
The physical nation of Israel was not only to be fulfilled by the spiritual nation of the kingdom of God, the earthly city of Jerusalem would ultimately be fulfilled by the heavenly city of the church, an assembly of particants of the knigdom of God. The writer of Hebrews, after stating how “terrible was the sight” of the visitation of God in the mountain where the Ten Commandment were given and that Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and quake” (Heb. 12:21), told the early believers in Jesus Christ “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . .” (Heb. 11:22-23). Again, the writer of Hebrews stated, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (Heb. 11:13). It is the church of the living God:
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22).
With the physical nation of Israel and the earthly city of Jerusalem being fulfilled by the spiritual nation and the heavenly city, it would remain for only the Temple of God in the Old Testament which was made with hands to be fulfilled with “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2). Jesus, after cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem and the people inquiring of him a sign, said,
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body (John 2:19-21).
As the new sanctuary of the Lord (Heb. 8:1), Jesus, the Christ, would say,
Behold, the days come . . . when I will make a new covenant . . . Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people (Heb. 8:8-10).
When Jesus first came preaching in Galilee, he said, “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand . . . ” (Mark 1:15). The time had come for the new nation, the new city, and the new temple. They would come to be in the apocalypse, the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The apocalypse always contains percecution-hope-salvation.
In the writings of Peter, he closed his thoughts on “a lively hope” with the admonition, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). All the ingredients of an apocalyptic event are recorded in this statement.
Peter encourages them not to become intoxicated, a “me” that I create, with gloom and despair by the pressures of persecution and oppression they were experiencing (“gird up the loins of your mind, be sober). They were “to hope to the end” for the morning would definitely come and the affects of the suffering would mysteriously end. The moment of the “last time” would occur: the Spring will come, the flower will bloom, and the “glory that should follow” will materialize. You will be experiencing the risen Christ in your life, the “me” that God creates.
The eradication of this internal anguish from the external pressures would come about by the enabling power of the grace of God (1 Pet. 1:13). This grace, in turn, would be brought to the believer by the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:13). The disclosure, the appearing, the coming (the nearness) of Jesus would be by “the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven” (1 Pet. 1:12). The risen Jesus on reserve in the heavenly realm (1 Pet. 1:4) can be experienced on the earthly realm by the impregnation of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 1:12). The risen Christ “reserved in heaven for you” will come again, and again, and again for every need of the believer in the “Holy Ghost sent down from heaven” by the Heavenly Father (Acts 1:2-11).
It is this salvation, rescue from the ” the same afflictions [that] are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Pet. 5:9), that the Old Testament prophets, the messengers[7] of the gospel to come, inquired to know and diligently sought to understand (1 Pet. 1:10). Although they sought and enquired, however, it was revealed
that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven . . . (1 Pet. 1:12).
This salvation, prophesized to come by the prophets in the Old Testament, was and is revealed by the gospel preached in the New Testament: “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear [to render apparent], ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Pet. 5:4). Peter’s final admonition of the gospel in his first letter proclaimed this apocalypse, this ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time [the apocalyptic event]: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you (1 Pet. 5:6-10).
In the midst of the trials of life, you can have a lively hope because the risen Christ (incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away) is on reserve in the heavenly realm. He will be sent by the heavenly Father to rescue you in every struggle of the earthly domain. The revelation of Jesus Christ, the disclosure, the appearing, the coming (the nearness) of Christ will always bring salvation. As with Peter, you can proclaimed “To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 5:11). In this life, we never walk alone.
[1] Steve Gregg, Ed., Revelation: Four Views — A Parallel Commentary (Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1997), Introduction.
[2] Gregg.
[3] Gregg.
[4] Gregg.
[5] Gregg.
[6] Gregg.
[7] Translation of the original word, aggelos, which is transliterated into the English as angels in 1 Pet. 1:12.