April 19th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

I believe that most of us have a very small view of Christ.

We think of pictures of Him as a baby in the manger.  Most of us who grew up in Christian culture have flannelgraph images burned into our minds that show Him as a smiling white man with blue eyes, brown hair, and a neatly trimmed beard.

Our view of Christ is small.  We are familiar, comfortable, with Jesus the man.  We are unfamiliar and often uncomfortable with Jesus as Lord. We talk about His mercy and shy from His judgment.  We talk about His compassion and ignore His wrath.

The Jesus of Revelation is not small.  He is not meek and mild.  He is the ruling, conquering, righteously judging King of kings and Lord of the church.

We are often uncomfortable with this Jesus.

This is the Jesus who cleansed the temple, who stunned his disciples with His glory on the mount of transfiguration.  The Jesus who walked out of His grave.

This is Jesus in His unveiled glory.  This is Jesus in His rightful place as ruler and judge.

And yet, He is the same… He is merciful.  He is loving.  He has compassion on His people.

This week we’re going to look at the vision of Jesus in Revelation chapter one – for today, I urge you to simply read this passage, meditate on it, pray through it.  May our eyes be opened, may our vision be expanded, may our view of Jesus grow to one more fitting to Who He really is.

Revelation 1:10-18 (NIV)

On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

What part of this description of Jesus strikes you most?  Why?  Head on over to the fan page discussion and share your thoughts.

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Art used (with permission) by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. To order prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site,  http://revelationillustrated.com.