The Jesus Christ that God wants us to know …
What does Jesus look like now in heaven? And … what does it matter? And … Do you know that God gives us a very clear picture in Revelation of Jesus Christ?
We don’t have to guess …
- (Revelation 1:12–18 ESV) 12 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. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Unfortunately many dismiss this as merely figurative and symbolic, but can we discuss this for a minute? 1) Isn’t this the description that God chose to put in his holy word? And, 2) Isn’t this the most lengthy and detailed description we have of Christ in the entire Bible? And, 3) Isn’t this description found in the very book of the Bible which proclaims its stated purpose at the very beginning to be “the revelation of Jesus Christ”?
Also, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, was very emphatic with the Apostle John. He was to write down everything he saw. This is what he wrote because this is what he saw because this is how Jesus Christ chose to reveal himself. How could we dismiss this very intentional revealing of Jesus Christ himself as merely symbolic or representative?
But we do. Many prefer the “Head of Christ” picture by Warner Sallman which originated in 1924 and then attained great popularity after it was colorized and promoted from 1940 on. Sallman’s work is Jesus to, I don’t think I would be exaggerating to say, millions. And don’t tell them otherwise.
But here in Revelation we don’t have the “pretty Jesus” that some have called Sallman’s painting which originated less than a century ago from his “mind’s eye.”
- “Suddenly there appeared to my mind’s eye a picture of the Christ just as if it were on my drawing board,” he later recalled. Sallman got up and produced a charcoal sketch that he called “The Son of Man.” [http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/12/arts/the-man-who-rendered-jesus-for-the-age-of-duplication.html]
What we have in Revelation is the mind of God and the portrait that he chose to set before us in the context of this carefully chosen mission that he set out for the Apostle John. “Write down what you see and send it to the churches.”
Message: “The Jesus Christ God Wants You to Know!”
Message Text: Revelation 1:1-20
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