Shincheonji Perspective
A Shincheonji member would normally push back against the idea that the “One who overcomes” is in reference to the Christian church; after all, they also believe that Christianity was plunged into spiritual darkness.
They would make the argument that since the book of Revelation is a book of prophecy, then it must mean that the “One who overcomes” is a future person or group of people.
To address this, let’s go ahead and examine the historical context.
Historical Context
Let’s go ahead and look at the historical context of what was going on during the time that the Apostle John received the vision of Revelation.
In Revelation 1:9, we can see that the Apostle is imprisoned on the island of Patmos. In Hebrews 11:38 some Christians were hiding in caves. This shows that the early Christian church was under great distress, and were martyred for their faith.
The book of Revelation was given to the Apostle John 95 AD, and the Christian church was under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96) and Nero (AD 54-68).
During the reign of Nero, we can see that the emperor blamed the Christians for a great fire that destroyed much of Rome. This resulted in the Christians being “torn apart by beasts”, “being nailed to crosses”, or were burned to death.
During the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96), according to the Christian historian Eusebias, the Christians were still under the threat of persecution, although not as extreme as it was under the reign of Nero.
With the historical context in mind, would it not make sense that Jesus would send His church some encouragement?
Salvation and the Early Church
We can also show that clearly the Christians of the first century also received salvation, and had direct access to the Father through their faith in Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.”
Ephesians 2:18 – for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
This is why before the throne of God, we can see the spirits of the Martyrs calling out to God for vengeance for their blood in Revelation 6:9-11.
Or why Jesus said to Thomas that John 20:29, where Jesus says blessed are those who cannot see me and yet still believe on his account.
James 1:12 – Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
We can see both the Martyrs and the Disciples receiving eternal life for their belief in who Jesus is, which is also one of the 12 promised blessings (the crown of eternal life, and not receiving the second death).
In a future document, I will go over each of the 12 promised blessings, and show how they were addressed to the early Christians, and not a random sect 2000 years in the future.