Before reading the Scripture passage below, I would like to ask you to prime your imaginations. The Apostle John is about to describe for you a picture of the risen and glorified Christ. My purpose today is to give you the opportunity to allow that picture to resonate in your minds eye, so that the affections of your heart may be more greatly turned towards our Lord.
Rev. 1:12-18
Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
The passage you have just read in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ—that is, the book of revealing or making known—is the first picture of the Glorified Christ offered to us in the New Testament. Yes, before John’s vision, others saw the Glorified Christ, and we can read about those people. Stephen, for instance, saw Christ before he was stoned. Paul, or rather Saul, saw the light of Christ’s glory, and was blinded by it. However, this is the first time that we see the glorified Christ. This is the first description, the first picture that we have of him. Now, a picture, in this sense of the word, is a description so vivid or graphic as to suggest a mental image or give an accurate idea of someone or something. It is an image, or representation of something. Now, I do not think that we can infer from this passage that if we were caught up into heaven this very moment, that this picture is exactly what Christ would look like. But this is a word picture available to us non-the-less. So then, what does this word picture accurately depict?
There is a lot that could be said about the description of Christ given here: his robe, his eyes, his feet, his voice, etc. However, I don’t have the space here to say those things, and I don’t want to get lost in all the details. What I primarily wish to do is to highlight the awesome power of Christ’s majesty. Look with me at the end of verse 16: “His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” If we were all outside, I would invite each of you to spend just a brief moment looking into the sun. It would be blinding, wouldn’t it. Dazzling. Now consider the fact that the sun is 93 million miles away, and its light, as we see it, must travel through cosmic debris, through atmosphere, through clouds and dust before it reaches us. The sun’s light is obstructed. For the sun to be shining in its full strength is to be shining completely unobstructed. And here John is, standing in the very midst of a light like that. What do you think that would be like? Well, I’m not sure. But to get an idea, we can look at how John reacts: John says in verse 17 that “when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”
To really appreciate this, consider for a moment who John is. He is the most beloved disciple. He is the one who knew Jesus the best during his earthly ministry. He is the one who was held in Jesus’ bosom as they reclined at the table. Jesus, as he hung dying from the tree, asked John to take care of his mom. You have to know someone pretty well to be able to say, “your mom, now she’s my mom.” And yet what is the first thing John does when he sees the glorified Christ? He falls on his face in terror, as if dead.
When is the last time you have ever done a cartwheel? Probably not since you were a little child. Have you ever stopped to think what you will do when you finally meet your maker face to face? The first thing that will happen, I think, is that you will fall on your face. But I don’t think you are going to stay there. Because the next thing that will happen, I think, is that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who, 1st Timothy tells us, “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see,” will stoop down to you, lay his hand on you, and say “it is I: do not be afraid. I am the one who lives. I am the one who died for you, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” And at that moment you will dance before your king like a little child.
You see, Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus Christ, in all his splendor and majesty, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Isaiah 52 says that at the cross, “his appearance was marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.” Imagine, the king of creation, arrayed in glory and splendor, suffering that for you. Because that is what it took, so that you could stand before God without fear.
That, I think, is the picture of Christ that this passage points us to. This same Jesus, the Ancient of Days, Very God of Very God, who was born a man, lived a sinless life, suffered on the cross for our sins, who was dead, and lived again, and who is alive forevermore, and sits at the right hand of the Father, this same Jesus invites us to come to him and commune with him. This passage points us back to Jesus Crucified, and reminds us of the price that was paid on our behalf. And this passage points us forward to Jesus Glorified. Philippians 2 continues, and says, speaking of Jesus, “therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This passage points us to the day when we will no longer need to imagine Christ, when we will no longer need pictures: for we will see our king face to face and sing his praises for eternity. Amen.