A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

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A B i b l i ca l Vi s i on, Par t I I : Mas ter i ng the New Tes tament Wi tnes s to Chr i s t

f. The final Great White throne judgment (20.11-15)

g. Description of the new heavens and the new earth under the reign of God and the Lamb (21.1-22.5)

8. Epilogue (22.6-21)

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Each of the sevenfold units is composed of two basic ingredients – fallen human history, closely associated with evil and judgment, and the consummation of history, often linked particularly with the glorification of believers in heaven. Generally, each of the units shows a general progress from fallen human history, associated with evil and misery, to either the glorification of the saints or the events surrounding the end of history. An awareness of this structural principle make the work as a whole easy to remember and allows the reader to pick up the flow of the action at any point and have a general grasp of what is happening.

~ Leland Ryken. The Literature of the Bible . p. 337.

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II. The Presentation of Christ in the Book of Revelation: Christ the Consummation of All Things

The first three words of the book’s Greek text are apokalupsis Iesou Christou, that is, an apocalypse or revelation of Jesus Christ. True, many commentators think that this is a subjective genitive, so that it is Jesus Christ who reveals the contents of the book. But it seems to me much more likely that the genitive is objective, so that the book is above all else an unveiling of the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ. For this is what a beleaguered and persecuted church needs more than anything else, not a series of prophecies about the past or the future, nor even a coded panorama of church history, but a disclosure of the incomparable Christ, once crucified, now resurrected and reigning, and one day returning in power and great glory.

~ John Stott. The Incomparable Christ . pp. 172-73.

The following outline is my adaptation of Stott’s conception of Revelation as the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ in triumphant glory and celebration.