How to Not Miss the Point

For many Christians, the book of Revelation immediately brings to mind the Antichrist, 666, the mark of the beast, Armageddon, or complicated end-times charts. But what if those things have become so dominant in our imagination that we have missed the point of the book?

Revelation begins by telling us what it is: an unveiling of Jesus Christ.

In Revelation 1:1–8, we learn how to approach this strange and beautiful book. Revelation teaches us that there is more going on around us than what we can see. It teaches us to understand its symbols through the rest of Scripture. It puts Jesus Christ at the center of everything, and it calls the church to live faithfully in the world right now.

Jesus is the faithful witness. He is the firstborn from the dead. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves his church, has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us his kingdom.

Revelation is not primarily a frightening book about strange things that might happen someday. Jesus gave this book to his church so that we would see the world clearly, see him more clearly, and remain faithful because of what we have seen