The call to obedience and the promise of blessing - This is very different from the view that sees the Book of Revelation as an essentially closed book - "Don't read it. It will only confuse you." God's way is the way of comfort. It is not the way of confusion. Through "the revelation of Jesus Christ", we are led out of confusion. We must begin by being honest with ourselves. We must stop imagining that we have great understanding of the mysteries of God. When we acknowledge that we do not have a full understanding of the deep things of God, we will learn to live with unanswered questions. We will learn to say, with Paul, "Now, we see through a glass darkly. Now I know in part." This confession of our failure to understand the mysteries of God will not hinder us from confessing our faith in the ultimate triumph of God's love: "then shall I know even as also I am known. And now there abides faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:12-13).
