When you were a little kid, did you think of Jesus as warm and friendly and walking around in a long white robe? Probably many adult Christians still have that image of “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” So it’s kind of shocking to read these verses and see John, stunned, fall on his face before an overwhelmingly powerful revelation of Jesus as God the Son. John probably never forgot this later revelation. Jesus isn’t weak. He’s the most powerful person in the whole universe. And he’s on your side!
The book of Revelation is hard to understand. It’s full of images and symbols. Many of the things it describes are great and terrible: stars plunge into the seas, mountains tremble, mysterious beasts emerge to lead humans in war against God.
Some people see Revelation as a description of what lies ahead for our world. Others say that Revelation is speaking of an attack on the Roman Empire in the author’s day.
What is the best way to study this special book? Read it without trying to figure out every image. Try to imagine the wonderful and terrible events it describes. Read it with a growing confidence that God is in charge and that he will triumph over evil at history’s end.
Q: What colors are associated with the four horsemen of Revelation?
BONUS: What does each horseman represent?
Sometimes do you think that if God zapped people immediately, every time they did something wrong, they’d reform? Like if every time you told a lie, you got a pain in your left foot. That would work, wouldn’t it? Well, it might keep you from lying, but it wouldn’t change you inside. That’s something you can learn from this picture of God’s terrible future judgment of those who refuse to believe. Despite their terror, the survivors will not repent of their murders, magic, sexual immorality or thefts. The only chance people have to change is to hear and accept the gospel. Everyone has that chance today. When God’s judgment day comes, it will be too late.
Q: How is Jesus different in his return from his earlier time on earth?
BONUS: What’s the significance of what he is riding?
It’s a frightening picture. God’s sitting on a great white throne. Earth and even the stars are gone. The dead stand before the throne, about to be judged. Every sin is revealed, every mean thought and wicked act. No one passes that final test—everyone who hasn’t trusted in Jesus as Savior is thrown into what appears to be a lake of fire.
In one of the earliest books of the Old Testament, God told Moses that, while he’s compassionate and gracious, he “does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34:7). God is the moral judge of the universe, and he will punish sin. So we shouldn’t be surprised that the New Testament says when Jesus returns, he will “pay back trouble to those who trouble you” (2 Thessalonians 1:6). Nor should we be surprised that unbelievers “will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
But Jesus loved us so much that he went to the cross to personally pay the penalty for our sins. He took the judgment our sins and wicked acts deserve. That’s why believers won’t be standing in front of that great white throne, waiting to be judged. The sins of anyone who trusts Jesus as Savior have already been judged and punished, and they’re gone.
What about those who haven’t shown respect for Jesus’ sacrifice by relying on his promise of forgiveness? They’ll stand there on that great and final day. And they will be judged.
It’s hard to imagine. Life sometimes seems to go on and on and on, endlessly. We don’t know a lot about the eternal life that we’re promised in Jesus. What we do know is found here, in Revelation 21 and 22.
God will be there with us in a new heaven and earth he’ll create. There will be no more death or mourning or pain. The new universe God creates will be spectacularly beautiful, and there will be no evil or sin. We’ll serve God there. No one knows just how, but we won’t be inactive or bored. We’ll see God himself. And we will “reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5).
The word “reign” is fascinating. It opens up all sorts of possibilities. Perhaps you’ll be given a part of the new universe to rule on God’s behalf. No one knows for sure. We do know everlasting life will be filled with more beauty, more excitement, more satisfying things to do, more love and fulfillment, than anyone finds in this life. And we know that the life God has planned for us to live will go on and on and on, forever.
Revelation
Hard Words.
Even though Revelation uses difficult images and symbols, the message of the book is clear: This world will come to an end. Jesus will come back, and he will punish evil. Jesus will win.