A Glimpse of the Glorified Christ
Revelation 1:4-20
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/GlimpseGlorifiedChrist.html
Revelation = Unveiling
There are many descriptions of Christ in the OT and the NT, but none like this one today.
It’s the only time we see Him in His glorified, unveiled presence.
We will all stand before Him someday, and we will all see Him in His radiant splendor.
The overall theme of Rev. is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, the literal, bodily return of our Lord to this Earth.
Jn. 14—“I go to prepare a place for you…I will doubtless come again, and receive you unto myself.”
Ascension: Angels said, “Why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, which is gone up into Heaven, shall so come in like manner…”
v. 7 Don’t confuse w/ rapture! Not every eye will see Him then. “Thief in the night.” Many will disappear, but not many remaining will know where we went.
( Aliens? )
At the 2nd coming, every eye will see Him, even the Jews “which pierced Him”, and all will wail. (Wailing wall…that’s nothing!)
I can’t wait to see Him…I don’t have to wait. God in His infinite wisdom has given us here in ch. 1 a glimpse at the glorified Christ! (Preview)
v. 8 I am A to Z! (1st and last letter in Greek alphabet)
v. 11 I am A to Z!
Jesus makes here a remarkable statement: I am the alphabet of God.
What is an alphabet? It’s a way of storing accumulated wisdom.
Jesus is the accumulated wisdom of God. He is the full revelation of who our God is!
From an alphabet you make words…in Jn. 1 Jesus is called the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word”. He was there at creation, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
He’s the beginning of all things, He’s the ending of all things, alpha and omega, A to Z, the accumulated wisdom of God.
It’s just more proof of the deity of Christ. Watch out for any group that denies His deity…they’re just another cult. (PTL for my last convert…rare…a JW who, confronted w/ Jesus’ deity, was born again!)
v. 9 It has been 60+ years since John has seen or heard from Jesus, yet He’s still believing, still preaching, and that’s why he’s incarcerated now!
John is in exile on Patmos, undoubtedly w/ ordinary, common criminals. But what happened next is anything but common or ordinary…
v. 10 John is having his daily devotions when he’s interrupted…by the Lord.
v. 12 he turns to see
v. 17 he falls on his face!
v. 19 write this down for me!!
Not an ordinary day!
We preached all the way thru this book…over 60 sermons all about what John wrote down. Incredible facts about the future! Prophetic truths that are, literally, out of this world!!
And none greater than this revelation we study today in ch. 1, as we get our first glimpse at the glorified Christ!
John paints us a picture now of what Jesus looks like…in the only terms his vocabulary can handle. He not only tells us what He looks like, but what He IS like. Let’s look at it verse by verse:
v. 10 John saw Him and heard from Him every day!
Intimacy / daily walk / communion
Going to church is not serving God!
It’s not enough…just what you get on Sunday!
If all you eat is spoon-fed to you…you meet the most basic qualification of being a baby!
Our Lord wants to speak to us every day, and He sure did speak to John on this day!
v. 11 7 churches: We can see church history for the last 2,000 years painted for us in broad strokes, and even today’s churches in each of these letters. See sub series on “Reading Someone Else’s Mail”. Chapter 2-3 [inc. in Rev. series]
What did John see?
1. Christ the Human
In Bethlehem, Jesus took on human flesh. Amazingly, He retained that form, though glorified, even after He ascended back to Heaven.
v. 13 “son of man” This underscores His humanity.
Jesus came as the God-Man. 100% God / 100% Man…as much God as if He had not been man, vice-versa.
Born as a man / crucified as a man / resurrected as a man / ascended as a man / will return as a man in a literal, glorified body.
Throughout all eternity he exists for us…the God-man.
“The only things in heaven that will be man-made are the scars in His hands and His feet.”
At the Lord’s supper—we remember what Jesus did for us.
His Scars—These will remind us for all eternity what He did for us.
Ill—scar on my forehead / Jacksonville, IL / just a kid / learning to ride bike / viciously hit by a parked car / didn’t say I was a very smart kid / hit and run (ran to my momma!)
I won’t retain that scar in my glorified body / you won’t keep any you have…
…but our Jesus will, as a reminder to all in Heaven of just how they got there!
And we’ll sing, “Jesus Paid it all…” and “I shall know Him…by the prints of the nails in His hands”
We won’t sing “How great I am”…but gazing upon the nail prints, “How great Thou Art”!
The first thing John saw was a resurrected, glorified Christ…in human form.
2. Christ the High Priest
v. 13 these are the garments of the high priest, in Exodus 28.
Question: What has Jesus been doing since He left this earth? Resting? Twiddling His thumbs? No!
He’s busier today than He was while on earth…fulfilling the role of High Priest for you and for me. 3 jobs (ministries):
1. Intercession
Heb. 7:25 (on screen) I’m glad I’m “saved to the uttermost!”
…by the intercessory prayers of Jesus on my behalf!
I’m not only saved, I’m completely saved! Eternal life began for me at the moment of salvation…and the way I got it is how I’m keeping it…by nothing other than the work of Christ!
2. Intervention
Our Great High Priest, constantly in the holy place, applying His blood to our sins, now steps out of the holy place, and approaches the brazen laver, and there He washes the feet of those that belong to Him, on a daily basis.
It was John in his first epistle, 1:9, who said, “If we confess…” That is not talking about salvation…but rather the daily confession, repentance, and forgiveness needed in the life of a believer.
Ill.—remember when Jesus washed the apostles’ feet? When He got to Peter, Peter said No, Lord; You’re not washing my feet. The Lord said, if I don’t, you’ll have no part of me, no part of my ministry. Peter said, if that’s the case, then give me a whole bath. Jesus said, “You don’t need that. You’ve already had a bath…you just need your feet washed.”
When a person is born again they get that once-and-for-all, all over bath called salvation. But, as we walk thru this sin-cursed world, we need a daily foot-washing.
(ministry of intercession, intervention)
3. Inspection
In v. 13 Jesus, the high priest, is in the midst of the 7 golden candlesticks. In 2:1, He’s walking around in between them. What are they? His churches!
What are the high priest’s duties in the OT as it pertains to the candlesticks in the temple? 2 things:
Pour in the oil / Trim the wicks
Nothing of any eternal value will ever be accomplished at GBC apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, represented in the Bible by “oil.” Jesus is the one who pours in the oil.
“Trimming the wicks.” This is Christ, the high priest, doing His job, purging us. He purges us of sin. Sometimes the wicks get burnt and spent, and the priest has to trim them, so they will burn more brightly.
Personally—in the life of every believer
Corporately—Christ purges churches
Eventually—He will purge the world of sin, completely.
Ill.—Refiner of Gold / puts it on the fire / dross comes to the surface, is scraped off
Not only does Christ the High Priest Pour in the oil / Trim the wicks…He also reserves the right to do 1 more thing:
Remove the candlestick completely.
If we get so clogged we can’t be used, if we become so glazed
over we won’t burn, if we become so difficult we cannot be trimmed when needed, He may put us on the shelf…He has other candlesticks, you know!
Ch. 2:5 This is not talking about an individual, but a church. It’s not a person losing their salvation, it’s a church that’s lost its influence. Sobering, isn’t it?!
John saw:
Christ the Human…doing for man what man couldn’t do for Himself!
Christ the High Priest…intereceding / intervening / inspecting
3. Christ, the Holy One
v. 14 symbolism: Is. 1:18 (on screen)
Purity / Holiness / Righteousness
One glimpse at Him caused Isaiah to say, “Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips”!
v. 17 John was Jesus’ disciple…but more than that…His best friend. “The disciple whom Jesus loved.” This is the John that leaned casually on Jesus’ chest in the upper room at the last supper.
But when he got a glimpse of the glorified Christ, he didn’t walk up and shake His hand. He didn’t pat him on the back, or even try to speak…
…he fell on his face as dead!!
For you and me, a glimpse of Jesus and His glory would be nothing less than paralyzing! But look at Jesus’ first 2 words to John:
“Fear not”
Why did Jesus tell John he didn’t have to be afraid? Because John was prepared to meet him. John was a believer, who had been born again.
If you don’t know that you’ve been born again, and you think for a second you’re prepared to meet God, you’re grossly ignorant of 2 things:
How Holy Jesus is
How unholy you are
Every person in this room or listening now has a date w/ deity.
All will see the glorified Christ, face to face. Will you have reason to fear?
Some fear walking down the aisle. Let me say kindly but clearly that you will come down the aisle…either today of your own accord, or rolled down in a casket here or elsewhere!
Ill—young man in courtroom, awaiting trial / evidence stacked against him / he was guilty / judge entered / man smiled in relief / he recognized him / the man who saved him from drowning as a boy / “sir, am I glad to see you!” / “it matters not that years ago I was your savior, today, I AM YOUR JUDGE!”
Face Him today as the Lamb, sacrificed in your place,
Or tomorrow, as the Lion of Judah, pronouncing vengeance!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/GlimpseGlorifiedChrist.html
