Fear Not? Himalayan Heights – May 27 Readings: Revelation 1:17-20 – Alpha and Omega

 Revelation 1-5 - Seeing Jesus

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Revelation 1:17-20

The "Super 7" refers to 7 passages I consider formative in my Bible Study and Christian life. They are taken from both the Old Testament and the New, various sources and various subjects.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. 19 Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Through the Bible Readings: 1 Kings 19-20, John 7:1–24, Psalm 68:8–14, Proverbs14:3-4

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Fear Not?    

John was blessed to have a vision of Jesus, to see him as he really, and Revelation 1:17 says that he did the only sensible thing any person can do. He "fell at his feet like a dead man." When you see Jesus, you don't giggle or joke, you fall on your face in worship - hoping you can maintain consciousness as his glory washes over you!

Throughout the Bible, when people saw angels or had visions of God, this is the reaction they had. In fact, Exodus 33:20 warns us that people cannot see the face of God and live. A full vision of God in all of his glory, unveiled, would kill anyone of us. That is the kind of God we worship - one we must stop taking lightly.

It is odd, then, that the first words of Jesus to John are, "Do not fear," perhaps better rendered, "Stop being afraid of me." Don't sinners like us have every reason to be afraid of a pure and holy Lord who will one day judge sinners? Don't I have every reason to be afraid of Jesus? I am a sinner and that is the kind of person he judges! And yet, he says, fear not.

Why? Because of the next two words. "I am." These words harken back to John's Gospel and all the way back to God's self-revelation in Exodus 3. "I am who I am." God's name, Yahweh, is based on the Hebrew word "I am." Jesus, Yahweh God himself, came among us as the demonstration of God's love. Though God judges sin and we deserve judgment, Jesus demonstrated to us that God loves us and when we turn from sin and trust in him, we have every reason to "Fear not" both in our relationship with God and in our daily lives in this messed up, sin-ridden world.

Jesus gives three specifics to John that tell him why there is no need to fear. First, we need not fear because Jesus is the "first and the last." He is also called "the beginning and the end" in chapter 22 and elsewhere "the Alpha and Omega" (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This speaks of Jesus' power over history. He was there in the beginning, ruling over heaven and he will be there in the end, victorious over every foe, receiving heaven's praise.

Second, Jesus is the "Living One" who was dead, but now is alive forever and ever. The Bible often speaks of our God as the Living God and Jesus is described as the source of the springs of living water. HE is the way, the truth, and the life - so much so that even when they slaughtered him on the cross, he rose up in victory and defeated death. Jesus has power over death and is the Lord of life.

Finally, Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hades (the abode of the dead). The Greeks and Romans had elaborate mythologies about the afterlife and believed in gods who controlled the dead and governed life after death. Jesus died and rose and the Bible tells us the mythology is nonsense Jesus holds the keys to the afterlife. You need not fear anything in this life or the next if you trust in Christ, because he is Lord of life and Lord of the Afterlife! What happens when you close your eyes for the last time is determined by King of kings, not the king of the underworld.

So, even though we are sinners and are born under the sentence of death, Jesus has freed us, and if we believe in him, we have every reason to "fear not."

Perhaps this might be a good time to sing the doxology?

Father, I thank you for your Son who freed me from sin and gave me every reason to be confident before you and bold before your throne. I need fear nothing in life or in death because of him!

Think and Pray:

Do you live in fear?
Do you fear death and what comes after?
Is  your confidence in Christ?