Q. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? A. First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, so that He could make us share in the righteousness which He had obtained for us by His death. Second, by His power we too are raised up to a new life. Third, Christ's resurrection is to us a sure pledge of our glorious resurrection.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 1 Corinthians 15:20
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
Woohoo. Great scripture learning going on. As soon as I’m on my computer (I’m on my iPad) I’ll send an invitation to the multimillionaire club. Sorry it’s been missed.
I agree, it seems to me that Revelation is kind of a mixed bag. Some of it is simply spiritual, other parts are speaking of the past, while others are prophesying future events that haven't yet happened.
I've been on the futurist side ever since I've known about Revelation, but nowadays it has left a bitter taste in my mouth. There are so many "newspaper futurists" these days, those who try to correlate events in Revelation with things that are happening around us. It seems like these kinds of people always have their noses in the news, rather than the Word of God. Many preachers seem to talk more about current events in their sermons rather than Christ! I cannot blame this problem on the Word of God, but I feel that our interpretation of Revelation has been part of it.
To your question. Both! I believe the correct interpretation is that these letters were made for ancient churches, but we can make a wide variety of applications from that fact. I've been studying the seven churches recently, and it's amazing how many political, spiritual, and cultural facts are in the text. We have spent centuries trying to pick apart the seven letters because we did not live in those ancient times. I'm sure the churches would have understood the small nuances right away! If it was only meant for us, why would Christ mention the Nicolaitans or Antipas the martyr, both of which we know so little about? Are Paul's letters relevant for us today, or were they directed to ancient churches that no longer exist? Well, both! As in the case of the young lady, God uses writings that weren't even directed at us to teach, correct, and exhort us to become more like His Son. It truly is incredible!
I wonder, what is your understanding of the correct view of the book of Revelation? Preterist? Historicist? Idealist? Futurist? None of these? Somewhere in between?
I'm trying to figure it out myself and I'm curious what you all think!
TheMoviegoer Yes, it is very interesting. We covered this in Sunday school a few weeks ago. Bartimaeus was blind and asked Jesus to give him sight, so He did. James and John, on the other hand, were spiritually blind to the reality of suffering before glorification. In the same way He did to Bartimaeus, Christ opened the eyes of His disciples to His suffering and, therefore, their own future experience. Wonderful connections, I wish I knew more!