Jesus Revealed (3) Series

Jesus Revealed: Part 3

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/24/2013

H.G. Wells, who is famous for his fiction novels like The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, once said, “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

His assessment couldn’t be more accurate. In fact, Jesus looms so large over human history that we actually measure time by him; we date our letters, our birth certificates, our checks, and everything else from the year of his birth. Jesus never traveled more than a few hundred miles from his hometown. He never wrote a book, never held a political office, never married, never had sex, never went to college, never visited a big city, and never even had a Twitter account. And yet, Jesus remains—as H.G. Wells keenly discerned—the most dominant figure in all history.

But the question is—who is Jesus really?

That reminds me of a joke. One day Jesus visited a nursing home that had several residents with Alzheimer's in it. He went around and greeted the people who were very glad to see him. He walked up to one lady who had been smiling at him and asked, “Do you know who I am?” She said, “No, but if you go to the Front Desk, they can tell you.”

It’s no wonder really that Jesus is the most famous person who ever lived. We applaud men for doing good things. We enshrine God for doing great things. But what do we do with a man who does God things? One thing is certain. We can’t ignore him.

That’s why we’ve spent this month pulling back the curtain of Revelation to see Jesus more clearly. In Revelation 1, Jesus is revealed to be ageless, alive, and authoritative. In Revelation 5, Jesus is revealed to be the Lion, the Lamb, and the Lord. This morning, we’re going to peer into the final chapter of Revelation and see the last word on Christ—the last description of Jesus, given by none other than Jesus himself.

Here’s what he says: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16 NLT).

In this simple but elegant statement, Jesus gives us three distinct pictures that reveal who he is. First, Jesus is the source!

• JESUS IS THE SOURCE

Specifically, Jesus identifies himself as the source of David. Not only was Jesus a descendant of King David, who slew goliath and ushered in a semi-golden age in Israel, but Jesus is the source of David. The Old Testament prophesied (Isaiah 11, etc.) that the Messiah would be not only the offspring of David, but also the root of David—meaning Jesus had to exist prior to his birth and prior to David’s birth. And not only has Jesus been around all that time, but he created David—Jesus is the source from which David came into existence. And, according to Scripture, David isn’t the only one who owes his existence to Jesus. John puts it this way: “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3 NIV).

Genesis confirms the claim that all things were made through Jesus when God says, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us” (Genesis 1:26 NLT). Apparently God wasn’t alone in the creation of the heavens and earth; rather, Jesus was with God in the beginning and was himself God.

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but if Jesus is the source of David and the creator of all things, that means he made you and me too. Paul didn’t mind stating obvious: “There is only one Lord—Jesus Christ. All things were made through him, and we also were made through him” (1 Corinthians 8:6 NCV).

I think it’s fitting that Jesus grew up in a carpenter’s home. Carpenters have primarily two jobs—making things and fixing things. And that’s what Jesus is all about. Jesus is the God who spoke and the galaxies leapt into existence. Psalm 33 says that he made all the stars by the breath of his mouth. He’s powerful enough to generate black holes and supernovas, yet intricate enough to fashion together the trillions of cells that make up every facet of who you are. The God that breathed the universe into existence made you, too. He carefully mixed the DNA cocktail that makes you unique. You’re not the by-product of natural selection acting on random mutations. You are custom-designed by the creator of the heavens and earth.