Little Billy promised faithfully that he would not leave the yard. He was reminded there would be throngs of people on the street that day to watch the parade. But once the bands started playing and the floats began moving by, he suddenly realized what he was missing. Oh, to be free of the tall board fence that surrounded the safety of his yard! All Billy could see of the parade was through a small knot hole in the board fence. And people were constantly getting in his way.
Then he heard the voice of his big brother calling from the upstairs balcony, “Billy, why don’t you come up here?” Billy couldn’t quite reach the bottom rung of the outside ladder to the balcony, so his brother came down, lifted him in one strong arm arid carried him to the top. Of course! Here was the place to see everything! Billy looked down at the wide avenue from one end to the other. He thrilled with excitement. “Oh,” he cried, “now I can even see what went before, and what’s passing now, and way up the street I can see what’s coming. It’s like living in a new world.” For Billy, the past, present and future had come to blend into one big NOW.
So it is when we come by God’s invitation to view the parade of time from the heavenly vantage point. God not only sees in one vast sweep the events of time, He sees all that He had purposed before the Book of Genesis began and all that will be consummated after the Book of Revelation. As viewed from His eternal NOW, eternity becomes one complete whole with the human historical span we call time just a minute but nevertheless important area.
There is an old hymn with the words, “Keep looking up to God…” For an unconverted person to come to Christ as his Savior, the person must “look up to God”. But this all must change after he becomes a new person in Christ and begins to live the Christian life. There must be a gradual transformation in our viewpoint.
The apostle Paul considered this viewpoint imperative. In his prayer for the Colossians, as given in the Phillips translation, he makes this thought clear: “We are asking God THAT YOU MAY SEE THINGS as it were FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW, by being given spiritual insight and understanding…” (Col. 1:9)
Every man is either still centered in himself, “looking up” from his own viewpoint, or he is enjoying the viewpoint Paul prayed about - he is “looking down” from God’s vantage point and looking out from His eyes. But mere wishful thinking will not move fallen man into this new position. It is not man’s doing, but God’s. It was God in Christ who entered into humanity completely enough to raise man to another plane of life, to deliver manhood into a new center where all things become new.
Man was not created to be the center and any attempt to build this “I-centered” false universe will only cause confusion. God has made life that way, and there is no use kicking at it and complaining about it. Paul reveals in many places that it was God’s purpose to take all of Adam’s race to the Cross in order to deal with the “I” principle that stands in opposition to God. So when God looked down upon the Cross, He saw us united in death with His Son. All that is involved in the treachery of S-I-N (Selfish, Independent, Negative) is dealt with there. Thus from God’s VIEWPOINT man was crucified with Christ - but more. He was buried with Christ in Joseph’s new tomb. Yet even more! He was raised with Christ to newness of life. But still more than that - and now we come to God’s basic purpose before the foundation of the world - the believer was positioned in union with Christ in a new heavenly position or viewpoint.
Now all this which God sees to have happened from His viewpoint, we must likewise see to be our experience by faith. So Paul describes it in four words: crucified, buried, risen and ascended. This is not something we do. No, we see by revelation that it happened to us “in Christ” - and we by faith live in that understanding.
There are multitudes of believers who have been well-taught about their POSITION IN CHRIST. They speak with conviction of the finished work by which they have forgiveness, deliverance, victory and authority. And well they might rejoice in all that has been done FOR THEM. Yet here is just the trouble - they are not undergoing a transformation of centers. All that has been made available to them in Christ they continue to relate to themselves: the old center. They have missed the deepest severing power of the Cross which would deliver them to a life centered in God where all things are related to Him, are seen looking down from His viewpoint.
As long as one is still more alive to what God does FOR man, to what the Cross realizes FOR man, to what our position in union with Christ means FOR man - that individual has never grasped the Father’s full purpose for placing us in union with His Son: that we might come to the same vision, purpose, dedication and philosophy of life - THE SAME HIGH VIEWPOINT - as the Son shares in the Father.
In 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5, Paul seems to share the very heart of the issue. He explains what caused him to live a completely God-centered life. With Paul, being a new creature in union with Christ was more than a doctrinal position. It was an actual experience which became real by revelation. To be in union with Christ having the nature of God meant to look out through God’s eyes, to see and interpret and relate all things to Him. One who has entered into this experience needs no one to explain it to him. He knows what it means to be released from the captivity of the old world-viewpoint where all was self-relating and to be translated into a new world where all is God-related.
“Therefore if any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, BEHOLD ALL THINGS AEE BECOME NEW” (2 Cor. 5:17) We, as Christians, have so often related Jesus Christ to our redemption that we have tended to see God’s primary purpose in eternity as the redemption of man from sin. The overshadowing theme of religious writing is man’s fall, his various needs and God’s provision for meeting them. In this way God is always related to man’s benefit, blessing and future. Man becomes central in man’s thinking about God. This is the result of a warped concept developed by blinded man who has, ever since the Fall, made all to center around and for himself.
Perhaps we can move the eternal Christ into a proper frame of reference by asking: if man had never sinned, would all things have been summed up in Christ? (Eph. 1:10) If man had never sinned, was it God’s PURPOSE for all to be “in Christ”? If man had never sinned, would Christ have been incarnated into the human family?
IT SEEMS EVIDENT FROM PAUL’S WRITING IN EPHESIANS AS HE MOVES ON THE ETERNAL LEVEL THAT THE FATHER INTENDED FOR HIS SON TO BE A MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT, NOT BECAUSE SIN ENTERED, BUT EVEN IF SIN HAD NEVER ENTERED!
Consider these statements: vs 3 “blessed us.. .IN CHRIST” vs 4 “chosen us IN HIM before the foundation” vs 5 “predestined unto adoption…by JESUS CHRIST” vs 6 “accepted in THE BELOVED” vs 10 “gathered together all things… IN CHRIST”
We must cease interpreting God’s basic purpose and plan in the light of the Fall. This which we see in Ephesians is what the Father intended to realize in His Son and it has never been affected by sin, the fall, or time. We can quickly see how this basic purpose for the Son and His Body springs out of God’s paternal nature and desire. We can also understand how the Father “marked out for Himself” a vast family who would share His LIFE, NATURE, SPIRIT, VISION, PURPOSE AND DEDICATION. This family purpose was to be accomplished both through and for His eternal first-born Son, Jesus Christ.
Because man was allowed opportunity to choose cooperation in God’s purpose, we see how man also could choose to go his own way. As a result God’s purpose in eternity necessitated the incorporation of the redemptive plan. But He never intended that this redemptive phase was to overshadow the ORIGINAL ETERNAL BASIC PURPOSE.
As you begin to understand the BASIC PATERNAL PURPOSE of God, you realize how easily God’s children can partake of His “grace” and receive His good gifts only to become wholly distracted from His original purpose. Paul made a significant statement to Timothy, his young evangelist in the faith, “God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE AND GRACE, which was given us in Christ before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:8-9).
We notice that God’s calling is now twofold: “according to PURPOSE and GRACE”. The apostle knows that Timothy must be identified with God in His eternal family purpose if he is to stand in the midst of worldly pressures. He exhorts Timothy to recognize that he is not merely called redemptively “according to the grace of God”, but he also is called paternally “according to God’s own basic purpose”.
Some read the Bible as though it were only a book of salvation. Thank God it is that - but it is more. Others read it as though it were merely the “book of the kingdom” - of the government of God. It includes that, but much more. It reveals the basic paternalistic purpose of God in Christ. And it helpfully points out some of the ways by which Satan has hoped to thwart God in the attaining of His family purpose.
The salvation of men is not an end in itself. Neither Israel nor the Church represent the ultimate in God’s purpose. These are rather parts of a great Family Plan. To fail to recognize this is indicative of serious defect in spiritual vision.
What does all this mean? Simply that we must move to a God-centered viewpoint from which we can properly understand the whole and relate all the parts. Simply that we cannot long fellowship with Jesus Christ living in us and share in His dedication to LIFE before we shall come to a revelation of the Father such as we have never known. This is the Son’s greatest delight - revealing the Father. Then we shall find our basis of fellowship with the Father as a member of His eternal Family becomes an expanding, growing participation as we learn all that He has from the beginning intended for Himself, for His firstborn Son, and for His many sons.
Yes, for a Christian, “looking up” to God is looking from the wrong perspective. Since we are in union with Christ, we are ascended with Him also to the throne of God. We have the mind of Christ and the spiritual eyes to “look down” on the passing parade from God’s viewpoint. Little Billy was enthralled to have his big brother lift him up to see the perspective of the WHOLE parade.
CHRISTIANS NOT ONLY CAN, BUT THEY MUST CLIMB TO THE HEIGHTS OF GOD’S VIEWPOINT. AND THERE, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE BLEND INTO THE ETERNAL NOW OF A GOD-FAMILY MEMBER!
What Did They Miss On That First New Testament Pentecost?
We are approaching the anniversary of Pentecost on June 4, 2006. Pentecost is fifty days following Easter each year.
What do you think happened on that fiftieth day after Christ’s death? I guess it all depends on what you have been taught, or haven’t been. Most fall in the last category, “haven’t been”. After fifty years of being a Christian, I had never heard anyone or any church explain to me what really happened on that day of Pentecost. It had always been explained to mean the start of the Church, power, wind, tongues of fire, and speaking in tongues.
What did they miss? IT WAS THE UNDERSTANDING OF A CHRISTIAN’S NEW BIRTH INTO A NEW NATURE - THE NATURE OF GOD! They missed the knowledge that Jesus was to take up His abode in them and become their very life.
The Passover had taken place fifty days earlier and Jesus had commanded them to wait for the promise which was the fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost. The Church started off at Pentecost with the twelve apostles, about most of whom little is said. These apostles went about doing signs and wonders, which is what you might expect from them. Since they knew Jesus after the flesh, and He was their teacher, they were out trying to duplicate what they had seen Jesus do. This was not bad, but in so doing they missed the purpose of the Holy Spirit as a teacher. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to teach us about the resurrected Christ. He is no longer Jesus of Nazareth, but the risen Christ. Many who knew Him in the flesh did not know Who He was after His resurrection.
Some years later Paul, the apostle, came upon the scene. Now the Church takes a turn for the better. Paul never met Jesus in the flesh; this is what makes his experience so different from the others. His meeting was with Christ in resurrection power. This must be the reason Jesus called Paul on the road to Damascus. Since Paul never knew Him in the flesh, he was not carried away with miracles. Therefore, his ministry took him in a different direction. He was completely engrossed with Who Jesus IS! Paul had great credentials; he was highly educated, was very proficient with the law of Moses, and was tuned for knowledge. He was the perfect choice, a mind thirsty for the knowledge of God. The Lord gave him the revelation. And together with his accumulated knowledge, the message of Christ living in you exploded in his mind. The truth of the mystery, hidden from the foundation of the world, burst forth on him and out from him (Galatians 2:20) (Colossians 1:27).
But this start of the Church on Pentecost must have been a very complex time for the apostles and believers, since they did not at once understand the mystery. This Jesus they had known in the flesh now lives within. His own brother, James, had to learn that Christ was within him. Can you imagine the mother of Jesus? She had a miracle birth as a virgin, now she has another birthing miracle, the resurrected Christ alive in her as her only life.
JESUS OF NAZARETH NO LONGER EXISTS
Although the day of Pentecost was powerful and resulted in many conversions to faith in Jesus, the day did not really produce the desired results. They were all caught up in miracles, trying to be like Jesus of Nazareth, but this day changed the status of Jesus of Nazareth forever. He will no longer be Jesus of Nazareth, but Jesus Christ IN US, our hope of glory. The ministry is not the same, the message is not the same, and His relationship to us is different. Things are not as they were, THANK GOD! The cross worked and IT IS ALL DIFFERENT NOW! It is so hard to accept such a radical change so we just tend to perpetuate things as they are a little longer.
The scripture says it all: we are not to know Jesus in the flesh!! (2 Cor. 5:16) It is a more powerful truth when you learn that Paul never referred to any of the works of Jesus of Nazareth. Paul did not go about making a special point of healing as Jesus did. Paul refers to Him only as the resurrected Christ. How very different from the Jesus of Nazareth that we try to preach today. Radical, isn’t it? Most of today’s preaching is about what Jesus did. Paul preached about Who He is now, not the historical Jesus of Nazareth. Paul spoke of Christ living in us today, actually enabling us to allow Him to live out through us to those around us.
Pentecost was like getting out of jail. The heavy yoke of law was suddenly lifted (Galatians 2:16). Pentecost was a mind-boggling event. Freedom from law is difficult to accept, so they did what many others have done in our age. Responding to what they saw with their eyes and felt with their emotions, they continued mixing law with grace. Never once did they recall the words of Jesus spoken to them and recorded in John 14:20: “At that day (Pentecost] you shall know that I am IN my Father, and you IN me, and I IN you.”
Peter was the spokesman on the day of Pentecost, and what does he say? He responds with a prophecy from the Book of Joel that was given several hundred years prior, and this was to be the only Biblical explanation given. It was a true one, but it was weak and an incomplete explanation of what was really happening. Peter, in days to come, would have many things to learn and unlearn.
Many of those who were at Pentecost and, in fact, reborn with God’s nature through Christ in them, were still dragging around the old chains of the law. Freedom is a very hard thing to accept. We must rid ourselves of the shackles in our mind and recognize thousands of years of man’s inability to keep the law. No one but Jesus was ever able to keep the law, AND THE SAME IS TRUE NOW! Only we Christians who have a living union with Christ can draw on Christ’s power to fulfill the ways of God. If man could have kept the law himself, he would have pleased the Father fully, and Jesus could have stayed in heaven. It is just not possible to keep a holy law with a devil nature.
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The work of the Holy Spirit underwent a radical change on the day of Pentecost. He no longer moves on our exterior as He did throughout the Old Testament. But He is within, working in the soul area, our mind. Unlike Jesus Who was born with a sinless body, we need all the help we can get to clean our minds of pollution, or as someone has put it, “stinking thinking”. The day of Pentecost has much to do with our mind. This is the main battleground, because there is no transformation in our minds when we are reborn at conversion. Only our nature is changed, and this is within our human spirit. Our soul (mind) is transformed by the Holy Spirit throughout the rest of our human life. He is our Teacher, working within our mind to bring us into all truth and understanding of who we are in Christ and His righteousness. See Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23, Philippians 2:5.
One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to convince us that we cannot save ourselves by anything that we do or don’t do. We are saved by Christ in us - salvation IS Christ! The Holy Spirit guides us into this belief and understanding, and we need guidance because we are so polluted that our minds cannot grasp the things of God. That is why you hear so many concepts about who God is, about His attitude toward humans and what He expects from them. We simply have too much left over garbage in our minds and are just too polluted to be able to understand God on our own. And the job of the Holy Spirit is indeed a big one. But He never leaves us, He never gives up. We slip and fall, but He picks us up and sets our mind again on our union with Christ and our eternal God-nature.
THE SOUL NEEDS THE RIGHT MASTER
Suppose you never smoked, drank, or took drugs, you were never around anyone who did, and no one ever told you there were such things. Your body would not have a desire for them. Then you were introduced to and experimented with one or all of them and continued to do so. One day you realized that you were hooked and couldn’t do without them. You gave your mind over to your body and are now controlled by it. It tells you when it is time for a cigarette, a drink, or drugs. This is what Paul means by the “works of the flesh”. It is when mind and body are operating independently of the spirit.
The Holy Spirit operates to make and keep the connection with our spirit part where Christ dwells. This is where the mind of Christ is. We must give Him our mind in much the same manner as we gave it to the body. A spiritual appetite in our mind created by the Holy Spirit Teacher, will pull on the mind of Christ in us and Christ’s guidance and wisdom will start to flow in our mind, then be expressed by our body.
Jesus of Nazareth set us a great example of how to live. But Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross, and as Christians, WE DIED WITH HIM! What Peter and the gang had to start learning from the first Pentecost forward was: THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST IN YOU!
Quality and Quantity - The Thoughts of a 74 Year Old
I am a 74 year old Christian child of God. What is a Christian? I believe the best definition of a "Christian" is the apostle Paul's description of himself given in my favorite verse of the Bible – Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ – nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Ever since I rediscovered the concept of this verse and its application to my life, I have tried to live by trusting in Christ within me. It has been a day to day, week to week, year to year process. On many, many occasions, I have slipped up and neglected the recognition of my internal union with Christ and have sinned – that is, I have attempted to do something in my own way and strength.
Every time I have sinned, my heavenly Father has allowed the consequences of my sin to spank me or correct me back to the understanding of who I am IN CHRIST. After all, I am IN His Family and that is what any good father would do to help a child grow.
And I HAVE grown. I have seen the ideal life-style of God's Family and have, to a gradual extent, made that MY life-style. I have been able to grow to whatever extent that I have because I understand that my Father will not reject me – EVER. He will correct me as I need it, but He will not punish me with rejection! (See Romans 8:35-39: Who or what can separate us from the love of Christ? Nobody or nothing can!)
Now let's get into the physical aspects of this body of mine which contains the Spirit of Christ indwelling. I have had a basically good physical life. I have raised four children and seen them grow into considerate, caring adults. I have helped to raise three grandchildren and taken pleasure in seeing them flash through those early years.
Medically, I have always attempted to prolong both the quality and the quantity of my physical life. I have exercised regularly. I have tried to avoid doing things to my body which would be harmful. I smoked in my early years but quit cold-turkey in the 60's when the Surgeon-General first put out warnings. Alcohol consumption has never been a problem. In other words, I wanted both quality and quantity of life in order to live the "good" life with my family and friends.
I became a dentist as a profession. I believe that I helped others to maintain their quality of life by keeping their teeth in good shape or replacing their teeth when necessary. I even, to a lesser extent, affected their quantity of life by treating life-threatening infections of the mouth.
Now I have made it to 74 years old. I still very much want the QUALITY of life. I am on medications to preserve that quality of life: ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers for high blood pressure and vascular health; and cholesterol lowering medication to prevent artery blocking.
Just as Paul's Galatians 2:20 has been my battle cry up until now, I now must question the quantity of life aspect as Paul did in his last writings in 2 Timothy 4:6-8: For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all those also who love His appearing.
These thoughts all recently came to a head with me when my doctor suggested I have a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy to check for cancer of the large intestine. I have had no symptoms and nothing to indicate a problem but this was to be a "routine" checkup procedure. I told the doctor I would consider it.
After some prayer and meditation, here is what I have come up with: I CAN DO WITHOUT THIS PROCEDURE! I reasoned: What would I do if cancer WAS found by this procedure? I have decided I would do nothing! So why have it done? I reason that I have lived a full three-score and ten. I am in the twilight of my life. I am beginning, as Paul did, to long for my Spirit Life in heaven with my Father.
Something has to cause my death. I am ready and prepared for my death. So why search within my body for the agent of my death? I want to continue my quality of life for as long as possible. BUT I NO LONGER WANT TO PROLONG MY QUANTITY OF LIFE AS I DID IN MY EARLIER YEARS.
Is this such a crazy idea? Paul didn't think so. Paul would never have taken his own life and neither would I. But Paul knew and understood what had been accomplished, although imperfectly, through his life in union with Christ. Paul had to die sometime by some unknown means. He knew this and even began to long for its accomplishment. Paul is MY mentor and I understand his thoughts.
I'm sure Paul would have put it in my terms as a 74 year old: He worked in his later years for quality of life but not quantity of life.
My father lived a physical quality of life. He died at 70 years old on a golf course. He had just hit his drive off the tee and one of the group said, "Great shot, Doc!" He turned around, looked at that person, and collapsed and died of a heart attack. What a way to go!
You may say, "Well what if you get cancer and have a painful end to your life? That's not quality!"
I believe in medications for quality of life. And I believe in pain-killing medications, heavy if necessary, to prolong the quality of life in deadly situations. But at 74 years old, I, as Paul was, am resigned to death. I know that something has to get me.
I will continue whatever medications are necessary for quality of life but I renounce surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as treatment for any life-threatening condition.
After all, I have been growing daily in TRUST for the indwelling Christ to carry me through any situation – His strength in my weakness. WHY CHANGE NOW? I know that He will strengthen me in quality of life as He deems necessary. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says: God is faithful. He will not allow you to have a trial harder than you are able to endure. But with the trial will also make a way of escape so that you may be able to bear it.
As with Paul, the twilight years bring less reliance on QUANTITY of life understanding that there is no better QUALITY of life than to be a child in the Family of God with all the blessings of a divine nature as says 2 Peter 1:3-4: God's divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue – whereby are given to us exceedingly great and precious promises: that you may be partakers of THE DIVINE NATURE having escaped the corruption that is in the world.
May we never take our Mothers for granted. For those who are lucky to still be blessed with your Mom, the following words are beautiful. For those who aren't, they are even more beautiful.
The young Mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said, "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."
But the young Mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them, and taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike and reminded them to feed the dog, and do their homework and brush their teeth. The sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."
Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the Mother drew them close and covered them with her arms, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."
And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the Mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, a little patience and we are there."
So the children climbed, and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world.
Year after year, she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, but most of all.... unconditional love. And when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."
The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the Mother grew old and she became little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.
And the Mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much and are now passing these traits on to their children."
And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, and gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers.
One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And Mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity and pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them."
And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."
Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning.
Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in everytear drop. A mother shows every emotion.......... happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow...and all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life. She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love; your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you. Not time, not space............... not even death!
May we never take our Mothers for granted. Be not so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
It is critically important to realize that the Book of Revelation is not written in a straight-forward style easily understood by the twenty-first century western mind. Revelation is written in a literary style called apocalyptic. This writing style uses poetic language, metaphorical messages, and figurative images and symbols to convey its message. Some images that are used are known – common animals for example. Other images described in the visions given to John that form the text of Revelation are nightmarish beasts, unknown to any biologist or zoologist. It is a book filled with cosmic symbols.
Characters and events are portrayed in images because no literal description could convey the profound meaning that the Lamb of God reveals. They are physical symbols of spiritual realities, and in the Book of Revelation the greatest reality is spiritual, with the physical and earthly reality being but a shadow of the greater and deeper heavenly reality.
The symbols, figures, numbers, and colors in apocalyptic writing were not intended to be taken literally. Because of their culture and familiarity with apocalyptic literature, the original readers of Revelation would have had a better sense of how to interpret these symbols than we do. Christ, the Messenger of Revelation, inspired the human author, John, to use the literary style of apocalyptic exactly because it was familiar to the original audience. And in addition it was a time of great persecution both by Rome and by the Jewish Zealots, and some veiling of opponents and events was necessary. Thus Revelation cannot be read and understood the way we read and understand popular twenty-first century literature (but that doesn’t stop literalists from giving it the old college try!). The practice of placing a premium on literal meanings can actually block the intended message.
The emphasis of the four methods I have briefly considered is when. I believe there is a fifth way, A CHRIST-CENTERED PERSPECTIVE of Revelation based solely on GOD’S GRACE. This perspective primarily concerns the who of Revelation.
God’s grace enables us to see Jesus standing at the center of Revelation, and Jesus’ Cross as the hinge center of the book.
While blame for Christian preoccupation with detailed predictions, speculations, and the when of Revelation must be laid at the door of all four popular methodologies that have been used to interpret this book, futurism is the primary culprit. This is not to say that there is not a when element in the book, whether that time is past, present or future. It is first and foremost the “revelation of Jesus Christ”.
Whether the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth and the establishment of His kingdom on this earth occurred in 70AD as preterism asserts, or a future event yet to happen as futurists predict, the fact is that the risen Christ, for us Christians, is with us and IN US NOW, even while we often find ourselves engulfed by speculative predictions that obsess about specific events and times. Such an emphasis can lead us away from Him who is in us.
The emphasis of our daily walk with the indwelling Jesus Christ must be that He is reigning as King in our life right now – today. He has things He wants to lead us to today in His kingdom. He has character to build in us today. He has a ministry to others He wants to extend through us today.
Whatever the spiritual meaning of the wild beasts and strange images of the Book of Revelation, TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION. We must allow Jesus to do His work through us today. He is our reigning King and we are in the Kingdom of God as His children today. “For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (Hebrews 3:14).
Most of what we believe about Bible prophecy has come from trusted sources: parents, teachers, pastors, congregations, and denominations. Most of us have been given one perspective and one perspective alone, and we often find ourselves woefully unaware of the teaching in other Christian faith traditions. No book of the Bible offers a better illustration of how these preconceived religious presuppositions work than the Book of Revelation.
Over the centuries Christian scholars, authors, priests, and pastors have attempted to blaze new interpretive trails to discover the treasures contained in the Book of Revelation. Most of these ideas and methods can be summarized within four foundational methods. What you have been taught about Revelation is almost certainly some permutation or modification of one or more of these views. Each of these perspectives claims to be based in Scripture. Each one has strengths and weaknesses, is now believed, and has been believed by millions of Christians throughout history.
The primary flaw in all of these methodologies is that each one (with the possible exception of idealism) places a premium on attempting to answer the when of Revelation. While the when is definitely an issue, it is not THE issue.
The primary characters in Revelation are Jesus and religion (religion being defined as a system of belief that human relationship with God and His salvation for us is directly tied to human performance and accomplishment). Jesus is the Message, the Subject, the Object, and the Goal of Revelation.
The first method of interpreting Revelation is PRETERISM. Preterists believe that most and possibly all of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation were fulfilled during the time of the Roman Empire. They believe that this fulfillment took place in the years prior to and with the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. They point to passages such as Revelation 1:1 which say that the message must “soon take place.” They point to Jesus’ Olivet Prophecy in Matthew 24 as being fulfilled in 70AD.
Their view is that most and possibly all of the apocalyptic language of events described in Revelation were fulfilled in the horrific events leading up to and surrounding the fall of Jerusalem.
The second method of interpreting Revelation is HISTORICISM. Historicists believe that the prophecies of Revelation have been fulfilled throughout history and are still being fulfilled today and refer to the entire history of Christianity.
Historicism isn’t as popular today as it once was, but most of the great Bible commentators from a century or more ago were historicists. Many of the leaders of the Reformation were historicists: Wycliffe, Knox, Tyndale, Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli for example.
They say that Revelation is a kind of survey of church history with historical events symbolically portrayed. For example, most Protestant historicists of the past believed that the Antichrist of Revelation referred to the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, the two witnesses were Luther and Calvin, with the triumph of Protestantism over Catholicism being the ultimate victory promised by Revelation.
Critics point out that historicism has not kept up with history much past the fourteenth century and that it is Eurocentric, not recognizing more recent and significant developments in the church in other parts of the world. Historicists can miss the big picture of God’s grace while they attempt to retrofit history into the text.
The third method of interpreting Revelation is FUTURISM. This is the view held by many contemporary North American evangelical pastors and teachers. Ironically, many of its current advocates would be shocked to find that modern futurism originated in 1585 with Francisco Ribeira, a Spanish Jesuit priest, for the purpose of refuting the anti-Catholic views of the Protestant reformers.
The most popular version of futurism today has only been around since the 1830s when J.N. Darby began teaching his ideas of a secret rapture of the church followed by the “great tribulation” and the millennium – the thousand year rule of Christ and the saints. They believe in a literal view of Revelation, and from the 1830s until the present, each new generation has projected chapters four through twenty-two of Revelation into a future time, often future dates on the calendar that occur within, or just after, their lifetime.
When futurists insist upon a literal interpretation of Revelation, they not only ignore the apocalyptic style of writing Jesus inspired John to use, but they can also unwittingly twist and distort the meaning given and inspired by the divine Author.
The fourth method of interpreting Revelation is IDEALISM. Idealists believe that most prophecies in Revelation portray an ongoing cosmic conflict of spiritual realities. They look for lessons or principles that are symbolically depicted in Revelation. They take into account the apocalyptic style of Revelation, and see the central theme as the triumph of good over evil, Christ over Satan. While other approaches may take certain passages as chronological, idealists take these as recurring realities in history, as part of God’s sovereign plan for humankind.
So we have four ways that Christians have interpreted the Book of Revelation over the centuries. But incredibly, many Christians today are not aware of these four views. They are only aware of the futurist interpretation that their pastor or favorite televangelist or favorite prophecy writer teaches.
Although scholars and teachers may identify themselves with one of these distinct methods for interpreting Revelation, in practice they may use various combinations of the four.
There is some value in each of these views, but attempting to fit Revelation into one humanly devised time-bound interpretive mold is missing the boat.
And what is the “boat” being missed? [To be continued in Part Three.]
