Study Notes for Revelation - All Things New, Sermon ThreeChrist and his Church - Revelation 1:8-20
Study Notes for Revelation - All Things New, Sermon Three
Christ and his Church - Revelation 1:8-20
Revelation was not written to stoke our speculation but to inspire our dedication.
Intro
John on Patmos - Rev 1:9-11
Hard Labor on Patmos (historical background; my Prof who lived on Patmos)
I turned to see the Voice - “The Voice” (Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, Queen Latifah, and Riley Green spin around to see the person with the voice - they may be stunned or delighted, but one thing they never do is fall down in worship.
Christ Through His Church - Rev 1:12
Before people see Jesus, they see the Church.
Seven Menorahs -Fueled by the Spirit (Zechariah 4): Not by might, nor by power… but by my Spirit…
Forest of Light in the Darkness of the world.
Christ In His Church - Rev 1:13-20
Prophet, Priest, and King/Judge - the Robe, the Splendor, the Power, and the Purity; The Eyes, the Hand, the Voice
$ all things, Head of the Church: we are held in his hand!
Christ For His Church - Rev 1:8, 17
Our Alpha and Omega (Rabbinic treatment of this as God’s Name)
What is our “beginning”, our “Alpha”? Is it mere chance?
What is our “ending”, our “goal”, our “Omega”? Is it just death?
If our beginning is chance and our ending is pointless, then why does the middle matter? Many demand of us that we care - about the economy, the planet, wars and injustice… why? If we exist by mere chance and we move to oblivion, and our lives are not valuable or meaningful in any absolute sense, then “who cares”???!!!
But Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, and that means the middle does matter.
In fact, YOU matter. Very much. As RC Sproul famously observed, “Right now counts forever.”
What then is the answer to the problem of our eternity when we know that God is our Creator and our Judge?
Knowing ourselves, is there any hope for ruined sinners?
There is hope. The One who stands in the middle of the Churches is hung on a cross between heaven and earth to reconcile you to God through his death and transform you forever by his resurrection power.
It is that in the middle of history itself, Christ - God made man- lived, died, and lived again.
He lived the life we are called to live but can’t, died the death we deserved to die but were spared, and now offers the gift of eternal life to all who will put their trust in him.
The wages of sin are death - and our Alpha took that curse on himself - but the free gift of God is eternal life, which our Omega, who transcends time itself, offers to the repentant.
The One who reached down to raise John from the ground and spoke shalom into his soul can do the same for you right now.