Rooted But Not Trapped
REVELATION Number 30
Rooted But Not Trapped
The words of Jim Fowler powerfully illuminate an important point about The Revelation. He writes, “By noting the historical setting of the writing of the Revelation in the latter part of the first century, and directed toward particular historical churches in Asia Minor, we do not want to imply that the entirety of its intent and application was only, or even primarily, for these first-century Christians. The Revelation is ‘rooted’ in that setting, but not ‘trapped’ there. The message of the Revelation is for all Christians in all churches in all ages.”
The Revelation is the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ in all His power, glory, and majesty—insofar as our finite minds are able to comprehend Him. It comes as no surprise then, that the Apostle John reaches for language not only rooted in the Hebrew scriptures but of a symbolic nature. He is attempting to describe the indescribable. We will all benefit greatly by allowing ourselves to be carried away by the unveiled, all-powerful, overwhelmingly brilliant, King of kings and Lord of lords who we first encountered (and will see again in this book) as a slain Lamb executed on a Roman cross.
The Revelation is a unified work with a consistent message applicable to all Christians in every place and time. It explains and illuminates the idolatry of religion, the adultery of love for the world’s systems, and the death and destruction made inevitable by humanity’s attempts at self-governance.
We will be reminded that the Lord Jesus is the victor in the ongoing conflict we observe going on around us. All Christians from the first advent of Christ to His second coming are familiar with this conflict and take an active part in it and we all look forward to that day when the consummation of the victory we share with the Lord Christ will be made clear to everyone. In stark language The Revelation declares that only in God can Life be found and apart from Him there is only death.
As we are about to see in the letters to the churches, the enemy had already infiltrated the churches. Inserting a counterfeit form of worship based on religious rules, rites, and rituals and intoxicating the desires of the flesh, he had taken the focus off the Lord Jesus and the truth of the pure Gospel. Jim fowler puts it this way, “He diabolically masquerades as an ‘angel of light’ (II Corinthians 11:13-15), aligning with what is relatively ‘good’ and encouraging Christians to fight against the ‘bad’ and the ‘evil.’”
This is anti-Christ, which as John points out in 1 John 2:18, 22 and 4:3, is already in the world.
Like the churches of old, we will be reminded to remember who and whose we are. To remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is the victor who overcomes all evil and that in Him, we too are overcomers.
Like every church, we will be admonished to resist the temptation to turn from resting in dependent faith in the empowering Life of Christ to the treadmill of fleshly self-empowered religious performance.
Like the churches throughout the ages, we will be exhorted to change our minds whenever we fail to live from the Lord Jesus and lapse into religiosity, delf-governance, and life in the manner of the world around us.
Along with the countless multitude of saints in every time, we will be encouraged to remember the hope within us. The hope that cannot disappoint because it is grounded and guaranteed by God Himself. The hope that is made sure by His Spirit being placed within our very being. The hope paid for in fullness by the Lord Jesus Christ, our redeemer.
