The Ressurected Lord

Intro

The Son of Man.

This term ‘Son of Man’ so often used of Christ in the Gospels, comes from Daniel 7:13–14, where he is prophetically shown:

Daniel 7:13–14 RSV

13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Elsewhere, Daniel shows him to be the sovereign Master of an indestructible kingdom that is going to crush all others.

We read the details of this by prophecy in Daniel 2:35, where he is the stone that smote the proud image of autonomous, humanistic government, crushing it to powder, and in its place ‘becoming a great mountain that filled the whole earth.’

Hence, John would understand that this taking away of humanistic dominion to be supplanted by that of Christ was already beginning to happen.

That is, the Rome that placed John in exile and that was killing many in the church during the persecution under Nero, would itself be crushed through the power of the invisible Sovereign, who increases his beneficent reign through his seemingly humble, helpless church.

His Priestly Robe.

Then the stunning appearance of the glorified Christ is presented by pictures taken from the Old Testament.

He had an ankle-length robe with a golden sash (Rev. 2:13).

This recalls the garments of the Jewish High Priest.

Christ is the final and ultimate High Priest, whom all the earlier ones imperfectly, but truly, represented.

Christ is that great High Priest who gets us through to the blessed Throne of the Father, as we see when—upon the earthquake that occurred at the death of Jesus on Calvary—the veil of the Temple was ‘rent in twain’, so that access to ‘the holiest of all’ was now open (Matt. 27:51).

His final blood sacrifice fulfilled all of God’s holy requirements for the total forgiveness of all sin, so that no other sacrifice will ever be required for sinners who seek his mercy to be eternally pardoned, and to have immediate fellowship with God himself.

His White Hairs.

‘his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow …’ (Rev. 2:14).

Again this bright, shining whiteness takes us back to Daniel, where we see a throne upon which ‘the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool …’ (Daniel 7:9).

This speaks of antiquity and absolute purity.

The one who is in charge of all of the events of the rise and fall of nations is eternal (not subject to the limitations of space and time as are merely earthly kings), and he is absolutely pure in heart and character, so that he is always to be trusted.

His Flaming Eyes.

‘his eyes were as a flame of fire’ (Rev. 1:14b).

That is, his divine vision penetrates beneath the surface, seeing all things precisely as they are in all their complex connections.

This is expanded in his later message to the church at Thyatira, where he says: ‘I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts …’ (Rev. 2:23).

This quality of penetrating vision is attributed to the word of God:

‘For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart’ (Heb. 4:12).

When the Holy Spirit of Christ comes into a worship service, he does this very thing:

‘But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth’ (1 Cor. 14:24–5).

And one day from his final judgment throne, he will assess with unfailing accuracy and infinite perception everyone who has ever lived (Matt. 25:31–46).

All nations, men, angels and demons will bow before him on that day, and some will cry for the mountains to fall upon them to hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:16).

What a privilege you have to be alive and reading these truths about what you must inevitably face!

How much better now to cast yourself on the mercy of God, seeking his pardon of your sins through Christ, than screaming for the rocks to hide you on that awful day!

Ask God for the grace to bow to Christ voluntarily with all of your heart now. Do not wait until you must bow down out of terror from his flaming, holy presence on the day of judgment against unrepentant sinners, and be sent irrevocably to a place of outer darkness.

The gate of his mercy is still open, but do not presume upon it.

His Feet Like Brass.

‘his feet [were] like burnished brass, as if they burned in a furnace’ (Rev. 1:15).

The idea is that of the brightness of his coming to trample underfoot his church’s enemies.

As the old adage goes, ‘the heels of God have lead in them, and are slow in coming. But when they come, they crush completely.’

It is a bit like the flashing blue lights of a police car behind us, or the ringing siren of a red fire truck: one must get out of the way!

God and his coming judgements seem unreal to us now, but one day that will be the most real thing we ever faced.

Nothing else then will matter.

His Voice Like Many Waters.

‘his voice was like the sound of many waters’ (Rev. 1:15b).

John on the rocky coast of Patmos could hear the slam of the rough waves beating on the rocks: loud, clear and powerful.

So when the Lord of the church comes in judgement, nothing can resist his coming.

This imagery takes us back to Ezekiel 43:2, where the prophet describes the glory of God as many waters: ‘and his voice was like the noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.’

That voice, preceded by the sound of the angelic trumpet, will literally raise the dead (1 Cor. 15:52).

That same voice is still raising the spiritually dead from sin and selfishness into a life in union with God in Christ (John 10:3).

The ‘many waters’ they hear are those of the river of eternal life, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).

His Right Hand.

John then describes three physical features of the risen Lord: right hand, mouth and face (Rev. 1:16).

His right hand holds the seven stars.

The right hand is the place of power and protection.

Christ occupies this honored place on the throne with his Father (cf. Psalm 110:1; Heb. 1:3).

And in Christ’s right hand are the seven stars.

Stars could be the angels or messengers of the churches.

The idea is that Jesus never forsakes his own (for they are in his right hand), even when they pass through ‘the valley of the shadow of death’.

Every Christian who has died passed through physical death into the fullness of eternal life in the sheltering right hand of God Incarnate.

His Mouth.

‘Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword …’ (Rev. 1:16).

This is not to be taken literally, as though a steel blade protruded from the mouth of the Lord.

Rather, it means that Jesus fights his enemies (and those of his church), not with material weapons, but with his word.

Ephesians 6:17 speaks of ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ This word is constantly going forth with supernatural power to execute judgment and to destroy the works of the evil one.

That alone may explain the fierce antagonism to the preaching of the gospel in unbelieving, modernist churches.

They feel its sharp power cutting through their falsehood and pretence.

One old country preacher in North Carolina once said that the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, is the only sword that you can stick into a dead man, and he becomes a living man.

His Bright Face.

Revelation 1:16 also mentions the brightness of his face: ‘his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.’

It seems that it was the brightness of the face of the risen Lord who met Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road that blinded him (cf. Acts 9:1–9).

Some have understood Paul’s allusions to his eye problems in Galatians to mean that he had continuing ocular problems ever after he saw the brightness of the Lord (cf. Gal. 4:15).

One day our eyes shall behold him: either in speechless joy and glory, or in absolute terror.

Christ’s Message

In the intense, transcendent light of the presence of the risen God-man, the Apostle literally fell flat on his face at the Lord’s feet like a dead man (1:17).

This is like the experience of the Prophet Daniel before the holy angel:

‘Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright’ (Dan. 8:18).

Like the holy angel did to the prostrate Daniel, the Lord tenderly touches John and raises him up.

By this touch, Jesus gives him strength to face the future, and utters this command for all Christians, no matter what they have to face: by ‘Fear not!’ he means, do not concentrate on the scary circumstances: Look at me; I hold the future and every possible circumstance in it!

The Significance of ‘I AM’

Then the risen One gives John (and us) a reason why we are never to live our lives in fear:

‘I am the First and the Last …’ The name Jesus takes—‘I am’—recalls the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush, when he commissioned him to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves go free.

‘In whose name shall I tell powerful Pharaoh to do this tremendous thing that will wreck his economy?’ asked Moses. God replied: ‘I am that I am’ (Exod. 3:14).

This means: ‘I depend on nothing; everything else depends on me.’

Thus, Pharaoh, his army, Egypt, the Nile River and the Red Sea all depended directly on the God who was sending Moses.

Christ is the First and the Last

Christ is ‘the First’, for he was the agent of creation (cf. John 1:3) and now it all ‘holds together’ in him (Col. 1:15–17).

He, therefore, allowed the Roman Empire to rise; it depends on him, and cannot go beyond his specific plans.

Roman persecution of the church can go no further than will advance the purposes of the God, ‘who loved us and gave himself for us’ (Gal. 2:20).

This is because our Lord is ‘the First’ and ‘the Last’, and so is in charge of everything in between.

We are to focus our hearts on him when bad times come, not on the painful circumstances (as though they were the ultimate factor).

No matter what we ever have to face: loss of job, hatred of enemies, betrayal by family members, loss of health, war or even religious persecution, and finally, physical death, the risen Jesus says to every believer exactly what he commanded John, ‘Fear not!’

Because the One who died for us and rose for us is who he is, we are forbidden to live our lives in fear.

Christ Has the Keys

Revelation 1:18 gives us the key to victory over all our fears:

‘I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.’

Christ in his office as the agent of creation, by definition has the keys to all reality, including the realm of departed spirits.

But more particularly, in his office as Redeemer, he has the keys to hell and to death, for in paying the price of our sins he went into both realms, and conquered them both, ‘breaking the gates of brass, and cutting the bars of iron in sunder’ (Ps. 107:16).

In so doing, he spoiled principalities and powers … triumphing over them [in the cross]’ (Col. 2:15), and thereafter, ‘When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men’ (Eph. 4:8).

The ‘Key keeper’ went through death himself, and came back alive forevermore:

‘I was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore.’

Death awaits us all, but it holds no ultimate terror for believers, because the once crucified, now risen one, knows how to handle it well on our behalf, having the very keys to it and through it.

That is why Hebrews 2:14–15 says, ‘that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.’

But once we are anchored in the ‘love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us’ (Rom. 5:2), that ‘perfect love’ of the one who showed himself to John, and still comes to those who seek his face by faith, ‘casts out fear with its torment’ (1 John 4:18).

Rightly Ordered Priorities

When the huge issues of death and eternity are settled, so that the heart is resting in union with the Lord, then terrible issues such as poverty and persecution, are second place, not first place, for he alone ‘the first and the last’ has the highest priority in our thoughts and affections.

That ordering of priorities enabled a suffering, persecuted church to triumph over the mighty empire that sought to stamp it out.

The risen Lord has brought down many another evil empire since the fall of Rome. He will continue doing so until at last he gets his church where he wants her to be.

The destiny of the church is always controlled by the Lord, not primarily by political and economic orders, however powerful they be.

Hence, John teaches us to keep our eyes on this risen Christ, who has the keys, especially when the world around us is hostile to those who own his lordship.

John is instructed ‘to write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter’ (v. 19). Since the risen Lord, whom John saw, is in control of all things as the ultimate key keeper, he therefore is in control of all things that will follow, so he reveals enough of the future for John and the church to face every evil of their time with confident assurance of a joyful outcome.