Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Understanding Revelation

The apocalyptic form of Revelation has often made it an off-putting choice for personal Bible reading and study. Yet it would be a mistake to assume that Revelation is only for theologians or the most academic of believers. Though its contents are sometimes obscure and confusing, the basic message of Revelation is the gospel, as Graeme Goldsworthy has argued. The whole book is about Christ being the conqueror: over Satan, death and all the forces of evil. Christ's victory is not something for the future; it is a present reality. John, the author, shows how the cosmic battle between Christ and Satan relates to the struggles of God's people on earth as they face persecution, and gives his readers the hope and assurance of final victory.

The God of Revelation is the God of the whole of Scripture: righteous and true to judge the wicked and deliver His elect people. Revelation is a book of blood: the blood of the saints is shed by the wicked ('They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"' 6:10), the saints are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ ('by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation' 5:9), and the earth is punished through the transformation of water into blood (8:8, 11:6, 16:4). In the final victory of the Lord over all His enemies, the winepress image is used from Isa 63: 'and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.' (14:20) The wicked are not allowed to triumph; they may appear at times on earth to have won, but in the end they are all utterly destroyed. This is what the whole of creation has waited for since the Fall of man in Genesis 3.

As Goldsworthy explains, the first advent of Christ brought all time and history into crisis. The incarnation inaugurated the end time, and Jesus' death and resurrection defeated Satan and his time is now short (12:12). The cross guarantees God's final triumph and proclaims the presence of the future in the present age. Although it may seem paradoxical, Revelation announces the victory that is 'now' and yet also 'not now'. In chapter 1, John sees a vision of Jesus Christ which is unmistakably emphasising His lordship: 'the ruler of the kings of the earth' (1:5); 'the Alpha and the Omega' (1:8). He is the Son of man from Daniel 7, given authority over the nations. He proclaims: 'I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.' (1:17-18) There is no hint of doubt in Christ's ability to save those who come to Him. He has defeated death itself.

However, as the constant presence of martyrs in the book of Revelation reminds us, God's people must still face death whilst they are on earth. In fact, they must face brutal suffering, just as Jesus Himself did. Although we can say with confidence that our redemption is a finished work, there is undeniably a sense in which Revelation shows us a future completion of that redemption, in the new creation (see chapter 21). The vision of heaven in chapter 4-5 is an elaborate drama where John is reduced to weeping because there is no one worthy to open the sealed scroll. But then he is told that there IS one: 'the lion of the tribe of Judah... has conquered' (5:5). When he looks up, he sees 'a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain' (5:6). Here then is what Barnett describes as 'the crowning paradox of the gospel': Jesus is the Lion of Judah precisely because He is the Lamb who was slain. The fact that only He can open the scroll symbolises the fact that He is the key to the truth about the kingdom of God (Goldsworthy). Christ is the meaning of creation, and what God achieved in Christ is the goal of all His purposes as expressed in the Old Testament and the New. Therefore Goldworthy argues:
'The structure and message of Revelation is not based on a few spectacular events immediately preceding the second coming of Christ, but rather upon the historic facts of the gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ.'


What, then, does Revelation teach us about the future? The answer is mainly that Christ's victory is secure, and therefore so is the future of the saints. In Jesus' messages to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, He makes seven different promises to 'the one who conquers' or 'overcomes'. Because He has already overcome, He will establish His faithful ones in Paradise. But in the present time, Jesus urges them to persevere (note that four of the churches are specifically commended for endurance or not denying the faith). As Goldsworthy argues, Jesus wills to extend His conquest into the lives of men and women through the preaching of the gospel, and this puts the church in the midst of the apocalyptic war. The struggles of the local churches to live out the gospel, to resist the impact of non-Christian values and ideas, and to stay true to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, are all part of the conquest of the world through the gospel. Christians are not onlookers while a cosmic conflict rages in spiritual realms, but rather they are participants. Christ's 'mopping-up' campaign against Satan is actually being worked out in the front-line trenches of local church evangelism, pastoral care, teaching and preaching.

'Here is a call for the endurance of the saints' (14:12) John writes, and the vivid imagery of Satan as the dragon in chapter 12, and the terrifying beasts from the sea and from the earth in chapter 13, shows how God's people will be beset by the powers of evil in this present age. But the visions of the seven seals and seven trumpets and seven plagues, and finally the ruin of Babylon, show that God's judgement will be final and severe. All rebellion will be eliminated as the beast and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire (ch19-20), and the new creation will be a return to the state of Eden with access given to the tree of life. 'They will see His face,and His Name will be on their foreheads' (22:4). Jesus declares, 'I am coming soon' (22:7), and though we do not know the day or the hour, we need to be ready for Him.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

What does John teach about combatting heresy in 1 John?

It seems clear that John wrote his first epistle specifically to counter various forms of Gnostic heresy which had infiltrated the church. Gnostics believed that the spirit was good, but matter was evil, and denied the Incarnation of Christ as God made flesh. More extreme forms of Gnosticism such as Docetism suggested that Jesus was a phantom and only appeared to have a body. John emphasises in his letter the historical coming of Christ: 'which we looked upon and touched with our hands' (1 Jn 1:2); 'Jesus Christ has come in the flesh' (1 Jn 4:2).

Similarly to his gospel, John writes about polar divisions of light and darkness, truth and error, children of God and children of the devil in his letter. The false teachers seemed to have claimed a higher revelation and spirituality through their 'superior' understanding, and John is keen to stress that all men are spiritually blind and dependent on God's revelation of Himself to them in Christ. Either a person rejects Christ, and thus is in spiritual darkness, or believes in His Name. Anyone who believes in Him is in the light and there is no sense of a hierarchy of spiritual experience. Instead, John emphasises the benefits that all people receive when they believe in Jesus: they have eternal life and become children of God, with His Spirit's anointing: 'He has given us of His Spirit' (1 Jn 4:13).

As Stott points out, 1 John is marked with certainty. Believers can be certain of having eternal life, by testing themselves on whether they believe in the truth of Christ and whether they love one another. Ultimately the assurance of our salvation rests in the fact that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, which John mentions twice in his letter. God took the initiative to offer His Son as a sacrifice for our sins, and the Son willingly offered Himself: 'we have an advocate... He is the propitiation for our sins' (1 Jn 2:1-2).

David Jackman suggests that the false prophets had separated themselves from the main body of believers on their claim to a special 'anointing' of the Holy Spirit, by which they had been given true knowledge of God. John therefore emphasises and defines what a true knowledge of God really is, and the point he makes repeatedly is that true knowledge of God is shown in loving your brothers. The false teachers did not regard their unwillingness to value and love other Christians as sin; John shows them how they have completely missed the point of God's commandment: 'that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us' (1 Jn 3:23). The singular form of 'commandment' is used, and yet two things are included: believing in Christ and loving one another. This shows just how inseparable these aspects are from true faith. 'Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.' (1 Jn 4:8)

John finishes his letter with a brief summary of all the assurances of the believer. Repeating the phrase 'we know', he emphasises that 'you may know that you have eternal life' (1 Jn 5:13), 'we know that he hears us in whatever we ask' (1 Jn 5:15), 'We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning' (1 Jn 5:18) and 'We know that we are from God' (1 Jn 5:19). This culminates in his great statement: 'we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.' (1 Jn 5:20) For John, combatting heresy is about rejoicing in the truth: Christians have a unique privileged status before God in Christ, and a unique privileged certainty that they have salvation through His blood ('your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake', 1 Jn 2:12). As long as we consciously seek to obey His commands, we have no reason to doubt His love towards us and the reality of our salvation: 'if we walk in the light... we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.' (1 Jn 1:7)