Revelation offers blessing, warning and hope for all who read and obey its message of God’s final triumph over evil. In part 1 of Revelation: The End of the Beginning, Pastor Dan Cox reads from Revelation 1:1-3.
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Study Notes
Who wrote it?
- The Apostle John
When was it written?
- About 95 AD
Why was it written?
- To warn the drifting church
- To encourage the persecuted church
- To bless all the church
What are its main themes?
- The need for the church to remain faithful in doctrine and practice
- The Second Coming of Christ
- God’s triumph over all evil
- Final judgment
- The new heaven and new earth
- The Eternal State
Interpretive Approaches to Revelation
- Preterist: Most of the events of Revelation were fulfilled shortly after the time of the book’s writing.
- Historicist: Revelations surveys the whole of church history.
- Idealist: Revelation is a symbolic depiction of the long, ongoing struggle between good and evil in which God will ultimately triumph.
- Futurist: Most of the events of Revelation will be fulfilled in the future.
Premillennialism (Pre, Mid & Post-tribulational)
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- Premillennialism
- Jesus will come before the start of the Millennium. The Millennium is a literal, physical 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth.
- Post-tribulational Premillennialism
- Jesus will come at the end of the Tribulation and before the start of the Millennium. The Millennium will be a literal, physical 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth.
- Pre-tribulational (Dispensational) Premillennialism
- Jesus will catch up (“rapture”) His church before the start of the Tribulation and will come again in power and glory before the beginning of the Millennium. The Millennium will be a literal, physical 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth.
Amillennialism
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- There is no literal, 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth. Rather, the Millennium is a symbolic reign of Christ through His church for an indefinitely long period of time. When Jesus comes again, the final judgment will occur immediately followed by the new heaven and earth.
Postmillennialism
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- The evangelistic work of the church will be so successful that most of the world will become Christians, thus instituting a long period of peace and righteousness (the Millennium), after which Christ will return.
Understanding the Text
- “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”
- The Promise of Blessing
Applying the Text
- Are you ready for Jesus’ Second Coming?