"The REAL Jesus" December 21 Readings: Revelation 1

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: Revelation 1

Background:  

My NT professor in seminary said that he hoped that he would get far enough behind in class that there would be no time for the study of Revelation. People either become morbidly interested in Revelation and the details of the end times or they disdain it. As we read the book, we will seek to look at the broad brushstrokes of the book, the flow of its grand story, without getting fascinated in the details of how many hairs are on the wart on the Antichrist's nose. 

I will take a futurist approach to the book - it teaches a view of the end times, not simply a stylized view of history presented symbolically (as Amillennialists and Preterists teach). I am a premillennialist and also pretribulational, but we are not going to look at the book so much from that perspective as to see the grand flow. 

Chapter 1 describes Jesus in all his glory, and chapters 2-3 are his letters to the 7 churches of Asia Minor. In chapters 4 and 5 there is a glorious scene of worship in heaven in which Jesus is shown as the one who has the right to judge all the earth and is given the scroll with the judgments of God written on it. He opens the seals on the scroll and the judgments begin. Then come the seven trumpets and seven final bowls of judgment. The key in all of this is not to get bogged down with morbid curiosity, but to see the overarching truth - this world is God's and Jesus is its judge. He is going to wrap it up in glory, defeat Satan, establish his rule, and reign eternally. 

Permit me a personal gripe here. This book is the Revelation, not "Revelations." It reveals ONE thing - singular - the glorious victory of Jesus. It is the revelation of Jesus, not a bunch of interesting facts about the end times to be debated. This is THE Revelation of Jesus Christ. Rant over!

Today, in chapter 1, we get the best verbal painting of the real Jesus any of us will ever see, from the vision of John on Patmos. 

Daily Devotional: The REAL Jesus

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.

Charles Wesley penned these words to this beautiful hymn in 1742. We love this Christmas season because of the cute little baby in the manger, bathed in the star's soft light, surrounded by his mother, the shepherds, and the Magi (a misunderstanding - they didn't leave until Jesus was born and arrived many months later). It is sweet and sentimental. 

And potentially deceptive. 

Yes, Jesus was everything I have mentioned. He was gentle Jesus, meek and mild, come to seek and to save the lost. He emptied himself of heavenly glory and cloaked his divinity in human frailty. He made himself a lowly servant to accomplish the Father's purposes. That is why he was born as a baby - not just as a photo op to keep the Christmas card vendors in business. 

It is a mistake to see Jesus only as he was in his first coming. Philippians 2:6-8 tells us that Jesus emptied himself to come to earth and become a man. He revealed God's character and grace to us. But there is more to Jesus than that. Those who only see Jesus as the meek, the servant, those who fail to understand the real Jesus as he exists now need to open their eyes!

Ever wished there was a picture of Jesus or an accurate painting that showed us exactly what he looked like? Nothing like that exists - we only have the imagination of medieval painters. But there is a description of Jesus, the real Jesus, the Jesus who is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, in Revelation 1:9-20. This is Jesus unveiled, in all his glory. 

There are key differences between the Jesus who walked the earth and the Jesus whose picture is painted verbally in Romans 1. 

• In his first coming, Jesus was born in obscurity. The Jesus of Revelation will come in glory and all the world will see. 
• In his first coming, Jesus cloaked his glory, but the Jesus of Revelation has removed that cloak, and his glory is on full display. 
• Jesus came the first time to seek and to save, but the Jesus of Revelation comes to judge the living and the dead and establish his kingdom on earth. He will not come a second time to serve, but to rule. 
• Jesus endured scorn, ridicule, and abuse in his first coming, but the Jesus of Revelation will strike down rebellious nations with the Sword which proceeds from his mouth. 
• In his first coming, Jesus offered himself to mankind, but the Jesus of Revelation no man can resist. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess - some to their eternal reward and some to eternal punishment. None can escape this glorious Jesus. 

In Revelation 1, the glorious Jesus walks among the churches (golden lampstands), the powerful presence of God to accomplish God's work. Jesus is at work in the church. It may have flaws and impurities, but Jesus is here and the gold will be refined!

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Revelation 1:12-16

Jesus wears a long robe with a golden sash, representing his office as Great High Priest, one who makes atone for our sins (Hebrews 2:17-18), one who understands our temptations (Hebrews 4:14-15), and who always lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). 

His head and hair are of brilliant white. This likely calls to mind Daniel's description of the "Ancient of Days" in Daniel 7:9, asserting Jesus' deity. It also speaks of his holiness and purity. This is the sinless Son of God in whom there is no stain, in whom there is no transgression. He is the Holy God. 

His eyes are like a fiery flame. Hebrews 4:13 tells us that no creature can hide from the sight of God. Jesus has eyes that pierce through the haze of deception and the fog of worldliness to see clearly and truly. He sees everything and judges rightly. Nothing is beyond him. Nothing gets past him. 

His feet are like refined bronze, having been fired in a furnace. This is no novice testing out his glory. No, this person has walked through the fires and now has a refined authority, gained through suffering, which has established his position of honor. Before these feet, all will fall in recognition of his Lordship. 

His voice is like the sound of rushing waters, like the roar of Niagara Falls. It is a powerful voice, a voice of truth and authority, one that speaks words of hope to his people and warning to his enemies. 

It is Christ who is in charge, especially of his church. He holds the leaders of the church (here described as stars) in his hands, speaking to his authority over them and his work through them. Out of his mouth comes the two-edged Sword, the Word of God, which is the rock upon which his church is founded. It is our hope and strength. And his face shines like the noonday sun. He is the glory of God in the church. The church doesn't have to do anything but let Christ shine!

This is the Jesus who sits today at the right hand of God and who one of these days will ride out of heaven. He is the glorious, pure, powerful, Sovereign Lord, our Great High Priest, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Glory of the church who is at work among us today. 

Father, may I see Jesus, not just as he WAS, but as he IS. I bow before him and acknowledge him as the rightful Lord of all. 

Consider God's Word:

Do you tend to see Jesus more as the "meek and mild" Jesus of the gospels or do you understand him as the glorious conqueror that Revelation presents him to be? 

What are the effects of our view of Jesus?