Unveiling the Heart of Apocalyptic Preaching

In this lecture, Don Carson teaches that Jesus Christ must remain the central focus in interpretations of the Book of Revelation. Carson critiques various scholarly approaches that often marginalize Christ, urging that all aspects of Revelation are inseparable from His death and resurrection. Carson underscores that Revelation presents a grand vision of Christ's mediatorial kingship and priesthood, culminating in the New Heaven and New Earth.

He teaches the following:

• Why Revelation should be read with Jesus at its center, as both the agent and substance of God's revelation
• How Revelation highlights Jesus's fulfillment of Old Testament themes
• How Revelation 1:12–16 draws from Daniel's vision of the "Ancient of Days”
• Descriptions of Jesus's authority in Revelation are rooted in the initial vision of His glory
• Jesus's death and resurrection empower Him to open the seals, unfolding God's purposes
• Jesus’s authority brings both judgment and salvation–signified by trumpet judgments and the final judgment
• In the new creation, God will have eternal presence with His people