Revelation makes significant contributions to a number of areas of New Testament theology. It conveys a sense of the sovereignty of God that no other New Testament book approaches. The vision of God on his throne and of the worship he receives helps us to see beyond our earthly circumstances to the Lord of earth and heaven and reminds us that only God is ultimately worthy of our devotion and praise.
Revelation offers a high Christology, as Jesus is constantly portrayed in terms appropriate only to God. It is significant in this regard, as Beasley-Murray points out, that the opening vision of the book is not of God the Father but of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:12-20) and that both God the Father and Jesus Christ are called “the Alpha and the Omega” (1:8; 22:13). In these ways and in many others, John makes clear that the sovereign God is accomplishing his purposes on earth through the Son, very God himself.
But while the Revelation focuses on Christ’s glory, power, and his role in judgment, the cross is never lost sight of. The powerful rider on the white horse, we are constantly reminded, is none other than the “lamb that was slain.” Without dwelling on the crucifixion of Christ, John makes clear that all that Christ does to wrap up human history is rooted in his sacrificial death. John has restructured the typical Jewish apocalyptic perspective with his Christological focus.
If, as we have argued, Revelation focuses on the end of history, then it is in the area of eschatology that it makes its most important contribution. Nowhere are we given a more detailed description of the events of the end; and while many interpreters have been guilty of finding far more specifics in John’s visions than his symbolism allows and of unwisely insisting that only their own circumstances fit those specifics, we should not go to the other extreme and ignore those details that John does make relatively clear.
But it is shortsighted to think of eschatology simply in the sense of what will happen in the end times. For the End, in biblical thought, shapes and informs the past and the present. Knowing how history ends helps us understand how we are to fit into it now. Particularly is this so because the New Testament makes clear that even now we are in “the last days.” Thus, Revelation reminds us of the reality and severity of evil and of the demonic forces that are active in history. Beasley-Murray’s comment is insightful: “It is ironical that the century which has witnessed the death of the Devil and the Antichrist in theology has experienced the most appalling manifestations of demonic statecraft, the most terrible desolation of war, and the most widespread oppression of the Christian faith in all history.”
John’s visions also place in clear relief the reality of God’s judgment. A day will come when his wrath will be poured out, when sins will have to be accounted for, when the fate of every individual will depend on whether or not his or her name is “written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Equally clear, of course, is the reward that God has in store for those who “keep the word of endurance” and resolutely stand against the Devil and his earthly minions, even at the cost of life itself. John’s visions are a source of comfort for suffering and persecuted believers in all ages.