If you've got this far to our site, we pray you will look at this reading. As our "Mustard Seed" ministry continues, we just plant the seed and by your decision and human will, God's scriptures reveal the wrath and victory for overcomers. It reveals for us, born twice, die once... but born once, die twice, death to sin and God's hell. What does this mean as we plow through the meaning of Revelation. To quote C.S. Lewis, "The voice of God indeed daily calls to us; calls to the world to abandon sins and seek the Kingdom of God wholeheartedly..."
We start.....
Source: Gotquestions.org
How I understand Revelation?
The key to Bible interpretation, especially for the book of Revelation, is to have a consistent hermeneutic. Hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation. In other words, it is the way you interpret Scripture. A normal hermeneutic or normal interpretation of Scripture means that unless the verse or passage clearly indicates the author was using figurative language, it should be understood in its normal sense. We are not to look for other meanings if the natural meaning of the sentence makes sense. Also, we are not to spiritualize Scripture by assigning meanings to words or phrases when it is clear the author, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, meant it to be understood as it is written.
One example is Revelation 20. Many will assign various meanings to references to a thousand-year period. Yet, the language does not imply in any way that the references to the thousand years should be taken to mean anything other than a literal period of one thousand years. A simple outline for the book of Revelation is found in Revelation 1:19. In the first chapter, the risen and exalted Christ is speaking to John. Christ tells John to “write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.” The things John had already seen are recorded in chapter 1. The “things which are” (that were present in John’s day) are recorded in chapters 2–3 (the letters to the churches). The “things that will take place” (future things) are recorded in chapters 4–22. Generally speaking, chapters 4–18 of Revelation deal with God’s judgments on the people of the earth. These judgments are not for the church (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 9). Before the judgments begin, the church will have been removed from the earth in an event called the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Chapters 4–18 describe a time of “Jacob’s trouble”—trouble for Israel (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 9:12, 12:1). It is also a time when God will judge unbelievers for their rebellion against Him. Chapter 19 describes Christ’s return with the church, the bride of Christ. He defeats the beast and the false prophet and casts them into the lake of fire. In Chapter 20, Christ has Satan bound and cast in the Abyss. Then Christ sets up His kingdom on earth that will last 1,000 years. At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan is released and he leads a rebellion against God. He is quickly defeated and also cast into the lake of fire. Then the final judgment occurs, the judgment for all unbelievers, when they too are cast into the lake of fire. Chapters 21 and 22 describe what is referred to as the eternal state. In these chapters God tells us what eternity with Him will be like. The book of Revelation is understandable. God would not have given it to us if its meaning were entirely a mystery. The key to understanding the book of Revelation is to interpret it as literally as possible—it says what it means and means what it says.
The futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation is one of four approaches to understanding the prophecies of Revelation. The other three systems are the historicist, the preterist, and the spiritual (or idealist).
The basic premise of the futurist viewpoint is that the majority of the prophecies in Revelation still await a future, literal fulfillment. This view of interpreting Revelation is very popular today, particularly among dispensationalists. It is the method used by the authors of the bestselling Left Behind series. Those who hold this view generally believe that everything after Revelation 3 will be fulfilled in the future.
The futurist viewpoint often divides Revelation into three sections, which are defined in Revelation 1:19. There, the apostle John is instructed to “write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.” Following this three-part outline, Revelation 1 contains John’s vision of the risen Christ and represents the past (“what you have seen”). Chapters 2 and 3, which contain the letters to the seven churches, describe the present (“what is now”). Finally, chapters 4–22 describe events in the future (“what will take place later”). Dispensationalists generally believe that the rapture of the church takes place at the time of Revelation 4:1, after which comes the “what will take place later.” Revelation 4:1 marks the beginning of the tribulation, a seven-year period where God finishes His discipline of Israel and begins His judgment of the unbelieving world as described in Revelation 4–19.
Some futurists place the rapture of the church at Revelation 19, at the time of Jesus’ second coming.
The futurist approach basically sees John’s vision as a series of chronological events, although some futurists see parallel or cyclical patterns in the visions of Revelation 4–19. The futurist interpretation lends itself to a more literal view than do the other interpretive systems, which tend to allegorize the events of Revelation. For example, Revelation 19:20 says, “The beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. . . . The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” The futurist interpretation sees this as a prophecy that two evil individuals will face personal judgment from God. The spiritual interpretation, in contrast, simply sees it as a morality tale expressing an aspect of the age-long struggle between good and evil.
The preterist view holds that this event has already occurred, sometime in the first century. Critics of the futurist view sometimes accuse futurists of holding to a too literal interpretation and of not recognizing any symbolic meanings. However, futurists do recognize that some aspects of Revelation are symbolic. The description of Jesus returning with a “sharp sword” coming “out of his mouth” is obviously symbolic, yet it is a symbol with a literal interpretation—Jesus will return, and He will win the battle by the power of His word.
An error to avoid in the futurist interpretation of Revelation is that of becoming “newspaper theologians” who try to superimpose current events on the timeline of Revelation. This approach can lead to date-setting, if one is not careful. Sadly, many people have been influenced by such “prophecy experts” whose predictions fail to come true.
There are differing viewpoints concerning the end times among faithful, Bible-believing Christians. We believe that the futurist viewpoint of Revelation is the one that is most consistent with a literal interpretation of the Bible overall and the one that best acknowledges the book’s own claim to be prophecy (Revelation 22:7, 10). Whichever view one takes, all Christians should be preparing themselves to meet Jesus Christ and be waiting for His return (John 14:3).
The second coming of Jesus Christ is the hope of believers that God is in control of all things, and is faithful to the promises and prophecies in His Word. In His first coming, Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem, just as prophesied. Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies of the Messiah during His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection. However, there are some prophecies regarding the Messiah that Jesus has not yet fulfilled.
The second coming of Christ will be the return of Christ to fulfill these remaining prophecies. In His first coming, Jesus was the suffering Servant. In His second coming, Jesus will be the conquering King. In His first coming, Jesus arrived in the most humble of circumstances. In His second coming, Jesus will arrive with the armies of heaven at His side.
The Old Testament prophets did not make clearly this distinction between the two comings. This can be seen in Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7 and Zechariah 14:4. As a result of the prophecies seeming to speak of two individuals, many Jewish scholars believed there would be both a suffering Messiah and a conquering Messiah. What they failed to understand is that there is only one Messiah and He would fulfill both roles. Jesus fulfilled the role of the suffering servant (Isaiah chapter 53) in His first coming. Jesus will fulfill the role of Israel’s deliverer and King in His second coming. Zechariah 12:10 and Revelation 1:7, describing the second coming, look back to Jesus being pierced.
Israel, and the whole world, will mourn for not having accepted the Messiah the first time He came. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the angels declared to the apostles, “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:11). Zechariah 14:4 identifies the location of the second coming as the Mount of Olives. Matthew 24:30 declares, “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.”
Titus 2:13 describes the second coming as a “glorious appearing.” The second coming is spoken of in greatest detail in Revelation 19:11-16, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Why is our reward in heaven great if we are persecuted and reviled (Matthew 5:12)?
The primary audience for Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1—7:29) was the twelve disciples. Others came and listened, but the Lord’s principal intent was to teach His closest followers—the twelve men who were set apart for leadership in God’s kingdom (see Matthew 19:28; Revelation 21:14). These apostles would be the ones to experience the fiercest persecution.
To address this concern, Jesus concluded His opening Beatitudes with this wonderful assurance: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12, ESV).
The disciples were about to undergo unprecedented persecution under the cruel Roman Empire. Indeed, throughout history, faithful followers of Christ have faced intense oppression and persecution (2 Timothy 3:12; Philippians 1:29). The Lord knew that His kingdom leaders and faithful servants would need to maintain an eternal perspective. The Beatitudes provide this hope—they assure us that, no matter how much suffering and hardship we endure for Christ’s sake, we can be confident that our reward in heaven will be great.
Honor, blessing, and recompense in heaven are not promised simply as payment for injustices suffered in this life but specifically for “those who are persecuted because of righteousness” (Matthew 5:10). God has a special prize set aside for believers who are insulted, mocked, punished, and treated unfairly because of their stand and testimony for Jesus Christ. These are Christians who eagerly practice kingdom righteousness and suffer for it.
Such kingdom servants are like the prophets of the Old Testament who “were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:32–38, NLT; cf. Hebrews 11:26; see also Acts 7:51–53; James 5:10).
For all who suffer abuses similar to those of the prophets of old, Jesus promises indescribable rewards in heaven. Jesus isn’t just encouraging His most loyal “movers and shakers” to endure persecution but to “rejoice and be glad” in it. Despite their temporal hardships, these servants possess the most distinguishing qualities of kingdom servants. They have the radical courage to let their “light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). They are brave enough to endure suffering at the hands of their King’s enemies and still rejoice (see Acts 5:41; Romans 5:3, 2 Corinthians 12:10; Hebrews 10:34; James 1:2; 1 Peter 4:13). In fact, they are willing to lose everything, even their very lives, to gain the kingdom of heaven (Revelation 12:11).
The apostle Paul’s lifestyle exemplified that of a kingdom servant. He considered everything of value in this temporal life as worthless compared to the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7–11).
As Christians, we should expect the world to hate us (Mark 13:13; 1 John 3:12). But if we live as devoted kingdom servants, partaking in Christ’s suffering because of our identification with Jesus, our reward in heaven is great: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
The apostle Peter affirmed, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12–13). Our present suffering is not even worth comparing with the glories of heaven (Romans 8:18). The Bible is abundantly clear that God rewards our faithfulness to Him (Genesis 15:1; Ruth 2:12; Proverbs 13:13; Psalm 18:20; Luke 6:35; Colossians 3:24).
Jesus Himself promises the “victor’s crown” for those who suffer persecution (Revelation 2:10). Our reward in heaven is great when our desire to live righteously is intense and determined—when our testimony for Christ shines so brightly that the enemies of God’s kingdom are driven to extinguish its brilliance.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we all want to live a triumphant Christian life. The Bible assures us that God and His Son Jesus are Victors and that believers can share in their victories: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). In a practical sense, how can we experience the victorious life that has been made possible in Christ? How can we achieve victory in Jesus? Victory ultimately belongs to the Lord our God (1 Samuel 17:47). Since the days of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, whenever God’s people depended on Him alone, He gave them victory over their enemies (Exodus 15). Old Testament prophets consistently pointed to a future Savior who would bring the fullest expression of God’s triumph: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
We know these prophecies refer to Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, who has overcome the world (John 16:33). Jesus won the supreme victory at the cross. Sin was atoned for, and the power of sin and death was broken (see John 12:31 and 1 Peter 2:24). After Christ’s crucifixion and burial, He rose from the dead three days later, and now we share that victory. Satan thought he had won the ultimate contest with the death of Christ. Instead, that death released our chains, set us free from the prison of sin, and disarmed the supernatural powers of evil: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13–15).
The key to achieve victory in Jesus is faith in Christ: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4–5; see also Romans 8:37). The first step to victory in Jesus is accepting Christ as Savior. We receive the Lord by grace through faith, and we live in His victory by grace through faith as well. Our salvation is a gift of God’s grace, and our victory in Jesus is a gift of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:4–8; Galatians 3:3).
Our Lord’s triumph over temptation and sin (Hebrews 4:15; see also Matthew 4:1–11) has become our victory as well: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24; see also Romans 5:20–21). The apostle John elaborates: “But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:5–8).
Jesus has overcome Satan and the powers of evil (John 14:30; 16:11; Mark 1:23–27; Luke 4:33–36), and He shares that victory with us. Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:18–19; see also Ephesians 1:21–22).
The writer of Hebrews explains that Jesus took on flesh and blood and shared in our humanity “so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14–15). We need not fear death or the devil because we share in Jesus Christ’s victory over them (Acts 2:24; Romans 6:9; 8:38–39; 2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 1:18).
As long as we remain in this fallen world, we’ll still have struggles to overcome and battles to fight. At times we will fall and fail. But we continue to get back up, asking God to equip us with His grace and power to overcome (2 Corinthians 12:9). As believers, we fight our battles in the spiritual realm, on our knees: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3–4). God has given us spiritual armor to protect us from the powers of darkness that wage war against us (Ephesians 6:10–20). Victory in Jesus is real and attainable now because our Lord Jesus has defeated Satan and every evil power of the world.
We achieve victory in Jesus by resting in Christ (Matthew 11:28) and trusting Him to triumph for us (Romans 5:17). While we remain on earth, the Lord reigns victorious through those who have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and translated into His glorious kingdom of light (1 Peter 2:9). However, a day will come when the victories of Jesus will be fully realized and celebrated in the new heavens and earth: “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 25:8).
Blessed is the one
who reads aloud
the words of
this prophecy,
and blessed
are those who
hear it and take
to heart what
is written in
it, because
the time
is near.
The Bible has a great deal to say about death and, more importantly, what happens after death. Physical death and spiritual death are both a separation of one thing from another. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body, and spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. When understood in that way, the two concepts are very closely related, and both physical death and spiritual death are reflected in the very first references to death.
In the creation account (Genesis 1–2), we read how God created a variety of living beings. These animals had life, an inward element that gave movement and energy to their physical bodies. Scientists are still at a loss to explain what truly causes life, but the Bible is clear that God gives life to all things (Genesis 1:11-28; 1 Timothy 6:13).
The life that God gave to mankind was different from that which He gave to animals. In Genesis 2:7, we are told that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Whereas animals have a purely physical life, humans have both a physical and a spiritual element of life, and the death we experience likewise has both a physical and a spiritual element.
According to Genesis 2:17, God told Adam that, if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would “surely die.” Some skeptics have tried to use this verse to show an inconsistency in the Bible, because Adam and Eve did not die the very day they ate of that fruit. However, there are different types of life, and there are different types of death.
A person can be physically alive and spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, 5) and vice versa (Matthew 22:32). When they sinned (Genesis 3:7),
Adam and Eve immediately lost their spiritual life, they become “dead” to godliness, they forfeited Eden, and they came under God’s judgment (eternal death). Their shame triggered a correlating action, as they hid from God (Genesis 3:8)—their internal separation from God manifests itself in an external separation from Him.
In addition to the immediate spiritual death they experienced, they also began the process of physical death, even though it took many years for death to have its full effect. This can be better understood with the example of a flower. When you see a flower growing in a garden, you know it is alive, because it is connected to the stem and the roots, and is receiving nourishment from the ground.
When you separate the flower from its life source, it still has the appearance of life, and can maintain that appearance for several days, depending on the conditions. Regardless of the care it is given, though, it is already dying, and that process cannot be reversed. The same is true for mankind.
The physical death that entered into the world with Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12) affected all living things. It is difficult for us to conceive of a world without death, but that is what Scripture teaches was the condition before the Fall.
All living things began the process of dying when sin entered the world. When physical death occurs, there is a definite separation of the life force from the body. When that separation occurs, there is nothing man can do to reverse it (even the medical community acknowledges the difference between a “clinical death” and a “biological death”).
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and death comes upon all men because all have sinned. Everyone is subject to physical death because of the presence of sin in this world, as well as their own personal sins. From a human perspective, physical death seems to be the ultimate punishment, but the Bible teaches there are deeper meanings of death to be considered.
The life that God breathed into Adam (Genesis 2:7) was more than just animal life; it was the breath of God, resulting in a being with a soul. Adam was created spiritually alive, connected to God in a special way. He enjoyed a relationship with God, but when he sinned, that relationship was broken. Spiritual death has implications both before and after physical death. Though Adam was still physically alive (but beginning the dying process), he became spiritually dead, separated from relationship with God.
In this present life on earth, the effect of spiritual death is the loss of God’s favor as well as the knowledge of and desire for God.
Scripture is clear that everyone begins life “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1-5), resulting in a life focused on our sinful desires. Jesus taught that the remedy for spiritual death is a spiritual rebirth (John 3:3-5) through faith in Him. This rebirth is a re-connection to the source of life, which Jesus pictured in John 15:1-6. He is the vine, and we are the branches.
Without being connected to Him, we have no life in us, but when we have Jesus, we have real life (1 John 5:11-12).
For those who refuse to accept God’s salvation, physical death and spiritual death culminate in the “second death” (Revelation 20:14). This eternal death is not annihilation, as some have taught, but is a conscious, eternal punishment for sins in the lake of fire, described as being separated from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Jesus also spoke of this eternal separation from God in Matthew 25:41 and identified the conscious torment of individuals in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), so they do not have to remain spiritually dead. To repent means to turn away from sin, and includes confessing sin to God with sorrow for violating His holiness.
Those who have received God’s salvation have turned from death to life (1 John 3:14), and the second death has no power over them (Revelation 20:6).
Source: gotquestions.org. Since we do not ask for donation on this site, you are welcome
to go on their ministry site with your donation of sharing the Gospel. Thank you, Kathy and Kimberlee
As you end this reading, do we know the answer? Do you know for certain that you have eternal life and that you will go to heaven when you die? God wants you to be sure!
The Bible says: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Suppose you were standing before God right now and He asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” What would you say? You may not know what to reply. What you need to know is that God loves us and has provided a way that we can know for sure where we will spend eternity.
The Bible states it this way: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Kimberlee and I trust you have been able to spend time here. We are artists and faithful Christians and want to share the Gospel with you. Please seek others who you trust to understand the Book of Revelation as its content contains metaphorical and allegorical language which infuses imagery that may not be understandable, to some, at first reading because it's God's Truth starting with His Creation...who is the Alpha and Omega.
Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” ― C.S. Lewis,
Mere Christianity “It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.” ― C.S. Lewis
With love, Kathy and Kimberlee
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created heaven and earth"