God graciously reminds us: Don't be afraid. Don't be frustrated. Don't give up. Jesus is coming.

"Your condition is terminal." Those four words deliver a blunt and jolting message. The disease that has been silently doing its damage is beyond healing. Good health will not be restored. The end of life is approaching soon—sooner than anyone might have expected. Death is poised and ready to claim another victim.

The world we inhabit is also a "terminal" case. The first man and woman were the only humans ever to have experienced a world that was perfectly healthy, untouched by sin and its deadly results. Not satisfied with God's version of perfection, they tried to improve on it by doing things their own way. The result? Instead of improving an already perfect world, they destroyed it. In their hearts, sin took the place of faith. In their world, sorrow replaced joy, and certain death replaced life. A perfect world became perfectly and completely corrupt. And God's creation, intended as a perfect home for God's creatures, instead became a dying world. Every day since that first sin, as this world moves relentlessly closer to its end, God's people experience and endure the toxic effects of sin in this once-perfect world.

There is perhaps no better summary of the difficulties and challenges that God's people will face in this world than the book of Revelation. Even though many who try to read the book of Revelation come away confused and even frightened, the message of John's letter is simple and clear. It is a description of the great struggle that the people of God—his church—will face in this sinful world. It is at times a frightening story of how Satan and his followers will attack God's church through brute force and through subtle lies—all in an attempt to overthrow it and dethrone the church's Head. It calls to mind the fact that Christians will be opposed and persecuted. It clearly signals that false teachers will strive to undermine the truth of the gospel. It paints a picture of a church under constant and relentless attack by the forces of evil and unbelief.

But the main message of the book of Revelation shines clearly: Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. Don't ever give up hope. Jesus is coming; and in the end, Jesus wins. The book culminates with the great victory celebration of the Lamb, as Jesus takes his believers home to a new perfect world, a world described so beautifully in Revelation 21: "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (vv. 3,4).