An Unusual Easter Text: The Ascended Jesus
(Revelation 1:12-18)
1. Some things are too good to be believable.
2. Here is an actual quotation from a supervisor at 3M who was speaking to an employee who had quickly solved a long-standing problem:
"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule. No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We’ve been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I’ll let you know when it’s time to tell them."
3. In like manner, many people cannot accept the simplicity of salvation; we simply put our destiny into the hands of Jesus who loved us and gave His life for us.
4. But salvation, though simple to explain, is not a matter of mere intellect.
5. A person must be willing to trust Christ, and the kind of faith that saves a person also affects his life. A dead faith saves no one.
6. But, even with the great change produced by genuine conversion, the Christian life can become routine and lackluster. It happens to us all. It is during such times that we need a fresh look at the Savior.
Main Idea: If we can get a glimpse of Who Jesus is in all His majesty, we would be more zealous to follow Him.
I. Jesus is Both Messiah and the ANCIENT of Days (12-16)
1. This vision of Jesus shows His true nature
2. John had not heard Jesus’ voice for over 60 years; now He hears it powerfully -- it is different…
3. Jesus is walking among the lampstands (the churches)
4. David Guzik writes: "The Old Covenant lampstand was one lampstand with seven lamps on it. Here in the New Covenant, we see seven lampstands. "
5. Christ is the head of each true church…
A. The ROBE denotes His priestly function
(prophet while on earth, priest now, returns as King)
1. Why do we need a priest? Because you and I still sin.
2. What happens when I sin? How do we keep Jesus busy?
3. Because we are saved and forgiven does not mean we should take sin lightly; God doesn’t.
4. "One of the duties of the Old Testament priests was to tend the golden lampstand in the tabernacle. Every day they had to fill the oil, clean the soot, and trim the wicks. They had to closely inspect and care for the lamps so they would burn continually before the Lord. Here is Jesus, our High Priest, in the midst of the seven lampstands, carefully inspecting and caring for the lamps, helping them to always burn brightly before the Lord." David Guzik
B. White hair denotes His ETERNALITY and WISDOM
Daniel 7:9, "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."
Daniels 7:13-14, "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
1. Difference between the human and divine nature of Christ
2. God has been around the block a bunch of times, even before the block was built!
3. We should trust that He knows what He is talking about…but do we?
C. Blazing eyes signify His Piercing KNOWLEDGE
1. He corroborates this in the letter to the church in Thyatira (2:18), where Jesus says that he is the one “who searches the minds and the hearts” (2:23).
2. We can run, but we cannot hide
3. Many people have made professions of faith, but have never come to spiritual life -- Jesus sees us clear down to the heart… He knows His own…
4. He sees through our excuses and rationalizations…
5. He also sees our sincere attempts to do His will, even if they backfire
Proverbs 24:12 reads, "If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?"
D. White hot feet probably represent His HOLINESS
1. His holiness signifies His purity and separateness from His creation
2. It is His holiness that seems to generate His burning rage against sin
3. Ezekiel 43:2, where the prophet describes the glory of God and says, “His voice was like the sound of many waters”
E. The SWORD represents His Word
1. Most of us under rate the power of the Word of God….
2. Believing His Word is crucial to the believer, because to not believe it is to insult the One Who gave it…
3. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God…
4. Martin Luther wrote: " Faith . . . honors him whom it trusts with the most reverent and highest regard since it considers him truthful and trustworthy. There is no other honor equal to the estimate of truthfulness and righteousness with which we honor him whom we trust. . . . On the other hand, there is no way in which we can show greater contempt for a man than to regard him as false and wicked and to be suspicious of him, as we do when we do not trust him." (Selections, p. 59).
• When Matthew records the transfiguration, he writes that Jesus’ face shone like the sun (Matt. 17:2)
F. We should fall at His feet in SUBMISSION
• Why don’t we?
• We either do not believe He is able, or that He cares, that He knows, or that He is good.
•
If we can get a glimpse of Who Jesus is in all His majesty, we would be more zealous to follow Him.
II. Jesus Holds the KEYS to Death and Hell (17-18)
A. John falls down as dead before His SHEKINAH
• Similar to Isaiah’s experience in Isaiah 6
B. Jesus’ EXALTED position
1. He is the first and LAST (alpha and omega)
--Revelation 1:8-- (read it)
Isaiah 44:6 reads, "This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
48:12, " "Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last."
2. He is ALIVE forever
I Corinthians 15:14-20, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
3. He died but ONCE
4. He holds the KEYS of death and hell
The Jewish understanding of these keys:
"Three keys are in the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He, which are not entrusted to any messenger, and they are: The key of rain, the key for childbirth, and the key for the resurrection of the dead." (Talmud, Ta’anit 2a).
C. Life is About Glorifying God Through JESUS
If we can get a glimpse of Who Jesus is in all His majesty, we would be more zealous to follow Him.
CONCLUSION
1. Studies show that most professing believers do not live any differently from those who are lost. Perhaps you find yourself in that category; your faith is important, but it doesn’t really alter your lifestyle.
2. You, along with the rest of us, need to put Jesus Christ on the throne of our lives. We need to get a fresh glimpse of Who He is, and we need to say, "Lord, whatever You want is what I want, too."
