I see you don’t like the term “original sin” and the assumption that mankind is bad. On the other hand, as I see the story of the fall, we/man have a tendency to seek power outside the way of God. In general, the systems of man try to build empires of any size, leaving hell as their result.. There are gang empires in slums, there are empires of nations, that seek to hold the oil needed to commerce. There are empires that find cheap global labor to undercut local workers. We participate in these empires many way, buying gas, buy cheaper goods at Target, Walmart etc. These empires all come at the cost of hell on earth for many if not most of the people on earth. Unfortunately, man is perfectly capable of creating all of the catastrophes in Revelations. For me, this is the Wrath of God, the limiting work of God that prevents us from totally desecrating, abusing and destroying everyone and everything that stands in the way of our own empire.

God, the slain Lamb came and allowed himself to be killed to reshape our systems of selfish empire, and to make a better way for us to turn to the empire of the slain Lamb, showing God’s deep purpose and desire to rebuild community with us, and including us in the process of rebuilding the empire of the slain Lamb.

The heroes in Revelations, are the martyrs with clothes washed in the blood of the Lamb. In life they have clothed themselves with the way of the empire of the God, the slain Lamb, they have proclaimed the empire of the slain Lamb, and they have died for their lives and their words. These are the heroes dressed in clothes washed in the very blood, the very essence of the way of the slain Lamb.

As you say, the challenge of the “end of time” is to focus our purpose. We need to open our eyes to see the idols that prevent us from living and speaking the way of the slain Lamb. We need to humble ourselves to work and live with others, together groping toward the way of the slain Lamb. May we open the door of our hearts and minds to the Spirit of the slain Lamb that we can ourselves follow the way of the slain Lamb, perhaps we too can become some of the slain Lamb’s heroes.

May it be so.