Beginning with the End: Revelation in Pictures

Revelation is a fascinating book filled with vision, symbols, and numbers that are challenging to understand completely. Here’s the gist of the letter of Revelation—God ultimately wins!

Imagine how life could be if we focused on the victory of Christ Jesus rather than what’s wrong in the world. God will ultimately redeem and make everything right. He is working on his time, and it is the perfect time.

To help us better understand this concept, let’s look at Revelation 1:1-8. Take some time to read that passage, then look at these concepts about it.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

He has risen indeed.

Alleluia!

Amen.

Remember, as Christians, this is our victory cry. We always point to the victorious Christ who

defeated death and lives forever, and gives us this chance, too.

So when we talk about “beginning with the end,” we are referring to this. We are referring to Jesus’s ultimate victory over all evil and reigning eternally. So, the truth is we can always live with hope because of the victory of Jesus.

Worry, shame, anxiety, and even fear have zero place in the Christian life. We do not even find a source of hope in being greedy, putting others down, and always trying to be right. Why? Because as we read Revelation, we should have the picture that Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the

first and the last. “God wants the readers to be encouraged by knowing that God, who knows all things from the beginning to the end, is the absolute source of all creation and history.

Nothing lies outside him, just as no other letter of the Greek alphabet lay outside the Alpha and the Omega–God is in total control.”

To help illustrate this, draw a circle on your paper.

Now, write the name Jesus in the center of the circle. This seems right, doesn’t it? Jesus really is the center of everything.

But I want us to think about the circle a little differently:

This time, write the name JESUS.

Now, from the S to the J, draw a line representing a circle.

And now, write your name in the center of the new circle.

This is what we think about when we read the Book of Revelation. We are held together in the safe grip of Jesus, who holds everything together.

With this picture in mind, let’s go through this passage.

One of the challenges with a book like Revelation is that we can miss its point because we immediately impose our thinking and interpretation based on our understanding.

For example, this is a letter written around AD90 that was distributed to seven actual churches.

Now, there were more churches than this, but it is very likely John, the author, sees these churches as representatives of the other Christian churches around at this time. What’s interesting is each one of the churches (located in what is now Turkey) was about a 2-3 day walking distance from each other and in a horseshoe pattern.

Even the name Revelation can be misunderstood. Our word revelation comes from the Greek word apocalypse, which means “unveiling” or “lifting off a veil.” The purpose is to reveal something not previously known. Jewish and Christian prophesy, at this time, was not just about “predicting the future.” It was also primarily a declaration of what God is doing in the present–it was a declaration of God’s perspective on the present life of God’s people.

God’s people were undergoing persecution and needed hope everything would be okay. They needed to be reminded God is still on the throne and is in control. They needed to know God was and is with them and were not alone. They needed to be reminded there is still hope

because of the risen Christ. John, the author, being exiled to the island of Patmos is evidence the governing authorities viewed John as a dangerous leader of the Christian sect.

The reality the Roman Christians lived with was the power of Rome, which seemed to show Christians were powerless; the Christians feared denunciation before Roman authorities. The Christians know about John’s banishment and vividly remember Jerusalem’s destruction.

This is why the letter of Revelation begins and ends with the words and presence of Christ. To show his people he is the one who will have ultimate victory. No one else is worthy to be worshipped, especially not the Roman emperor who demanded worship. 

So, the main point of the letter of Revelation is not so much what will happen in the “end times.” The point of Revelation is to show “who is worthy of honor and worship.”

The greeting (Revelation 1:1-4), with the background we just discussed, is very powerful. This greeting was written in a typical New Testament way with the phrase “Grace and Peace.”

Let’s look at the word “grace.” The Greek word is charis, which means love functioning under adverse conditions. This is a gift we do not deserve. God is giving us his grace and presence so we can know and live in a relationship with him. So John begins his letter by saying, “Cheer up! God is in control despite the situation that’s going on that is caused by human rebellion.”

It doesn’t take much to see human rebellion is still going on. Some leaders are on a constant quest for power, attention, and living in incredible greed. But no matter what leaders try to impose on us, we must remember God is in control. Jesus is the victor, and we

get to live a life of victory no matter what happens around us.

Even when hope seems lost, Christ is still on the throne, and his presence is with us always because of the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us.

Because of this truth, we can live into the reality of who Jesus says we are:

We are loved

We are free from our sins because of his blood

We are a kingdom of priests to represent God in all of the world

We are servants of the One True God who desires our holiness (wholeness/completeness)

All of this matters because of who Jesus is.

He is the One who has always been and is and will always be

He is the faithful witness, meaning we can always trust him

He defeated death

He is the rightful ruler of all the world’s rulers

As we constantly say, knowing who Jesus is helps us better understand who we are and what our purpose is. And what is our purpose? To bring honor, glory, and power to him constantly.

How do we live this out?

In everything we do, we can find ways to give God credit and put attention on the greatness and grandness of God instead of keeping the focus on us and us alone.

As an example of this, think about the movie Chariots of Fire. It’s the story of a heroic, committed Christian from Scotland named Eric Liddell, who competed in the 1924 Olympics. Refusing to compromise his principles, Liddell would not run on Sunday, forfeiting his event of choice, the 100-meter race. During one scene, Eric’s sister, a dedicated believer, was upset that her brother was running competitively. She thought he was wasting a lot of time and should get into the ministry immediately. She reminded Eric that God made him for Himself. But Eric replied, “Aye, Jenny, I know. But He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” (Source: Greg Laurie, oneplace.com)

Now, is this easy to do? It is if we remember that Jesus is Lord of all, holds everything together, is the source of all, and is coming back to demonstrate his rule over all.

Yes, Jesus is coming back. Why? Because he will be completing the task of redemption. He will be fixing everything and making all things right again. His judgment and justice will reign, and all people will witness this.

When we look up to the sky (the picture for something to look forward to), Jesus is coming back one day. When this happens, everyone will see and witness this happen. One day, ALL will know Jesus is King over ALL. This will cause mourning for ALL people.

Why? William Barclay, in his commentary on Revelation, points out:

1. People will realize they missed out on the chance to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior

2. People will be in grief because they did not completely submit their lives to him, so they

missed out on so much from him

3. People will be in grief over loved ones who missed out on knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior

So now the question we all have to ask is, how does our life reflect this truth of who Jesus is?

We go through difficult, challenging, unbearable circumstances, yet Jesus is still Lord.

We all do things people will praise us for, yet Jesus is still Lord.

Jesus is Lord. This is the end, the beginning, and the reality now.

As we live, we keep the end in mind because we trust in the victory of Jesus. We trust everything will end up as perfection and peace because Jesus is on the throne.

If we can keep this picture of Jesus as the beginning and the end in our minds and keep in our hearts, we will better be able to handle everything here and now because Jesus is on the throne, and we already know what will happen when he comes back.

So, no matter what comes to your life, always keep the “end of the book” in mind and live as people of hope.