It’s Time to Talk About Tomorrow

An abbreviated version of this post was first published in Birmingham Christian Family Magazine.

Did you know that the Revelation, the last book of the Bible, is the only yet-to-be-fulfilled book of prophecy in scripture? Did you know that Jesus’s beloved disciple John is believed to have written the book after receiving a vision when he was 91 years old and exiled to a cave on a Greek island? And did you know that this vision he received from God and His Son Jesus through an angel has everything to do with you and me today?

Well it is, and it does! How exciting!

If you asked 100 people to sum up the book of Revelation in one word, you would get almost as many different words in response. And these words would all ring true, all of them would provide excellent descriptions of a particular aspect of the Revelation. But the real question most people would like answered is this: What does the Revelation have to do with me today, in real time, right here and right now? And the answer is…everything! How can that be, you might ask. How can I relate to a prophecy or prediction about the future and end of our world? How are the seals and trumpets and bowls mentioned in Revelation relevant to me? And what about the elders and thrones and crowns and angels and creatures? What about the infamous four horsemen and the Battle of Armageddon and the tribulation and the millennium?

These questions have been hounding me for most of my life, and I recently decided to try and find some answers, to try and get a grasp on the Revelation and why it’s in our Bible. When I started my journey, I had two primary questions of my own: can I find Jesus in this book of prophecy, and if so, what does Jesus want this prophecy to mean to me today? In other words, what am I supposed to do today with the information provided in the final book of our Bible?

As I set out to study the Revelation one chapter at a time, I had no idea if I would find Jesus on its pages. I had no idea what all the bizarre characters might mean and if they were literal or symbolic. I knew there were many differing opinions and teachings about the Revelation from theologians and Bible scholars over time as well as today. But how could so many learned people disagree on so many particulars? For example, are we in the middle of the tribulation or is it yet to come? Will God’s church be raptured before, during, or after the tribulation, or will there be a rapture at all? Is the tribulation a literal or figurative seven years, and is the millennium a literal or figurative 1000 years? Are the evil creatures on earth in the last days physical or spiritual? And on and on. During my studies, I discovered many fascinating and differing interpretations from many brilliant minds. But of course, they could not all be correct.

So, I decided to write about Revelation. Are you crazy? I heard that a few times, and it’s possible. But I became convinced that if the Revelation was included in my Bible, it was time for me to crack it open and figure out what it might mean to me today. So, I read and listened and watched and saturated myself with information, and I was pleasantly surprised to find two important pieces of information: Jesus is indeed on every page of the Revelation, and the prophecy absolutely applies to our lives today.

The book of Revelation is many things. It’s both complicated and simple, both frightening and comforting, both challenging and rewarding. But most of all, it’s powerful. And what has impressed me the most after my intense journey through its 22 chapters is this: the Revelation is about God’s patience and forgiveness and how He gives the people He created chance after chance to turn to Him. I believe it can be summed up in one word – love. It’s about God’s love for all people and His desire for them to turn to and love Him in return.

What a beautiful and powerful message to everyone everywhere. I cannot wait to dig in to the pages of the Revelation with you. I would be truly honored if you’d join me on my journey this July and let’s find out together what’s going to happen, why our forevers matter, and how the return of Jesus will finally and forever complete us.

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Forever Matters – How the Return of Jesus Completes You releases July 23, 2024 and is available for preorder now from your favorite online bookseller.