Revelation 1 Devotional
 by Pastor Lawrence

Although the book of Revelation is normally considered to be prophecy, and rightly so, it is technically also one of the epistles of John, the apostle, which he writes to seven particular churches in the ancient Roman province of Asia, which was located in what is now western Turkey.  One unique aspect of this epistle is that John was commanded by Christ to write it down after he had received a direct revelation from Him while John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.  This was during the time the apostle was exiled on the island of Patmos just off the coast Turkey.

Following the normal pattern of New Testament epistles, John opens his letter with a greeting to the seven churches, wishing them grace and peace in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit and immediately transitioning into a doxology of praise to the resurrected Christ.

In the body of his letter, beginning in v.9, John recounts for his readers, and hearers, what he had seen in this divine revelation.  He saw seven golden lampstands, representing the seven churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, and in the midst of those lampstands, or churches, he saw the resurrected Christ walking and holding in his right hand seven stars, representing the angels, or literally messengers, of those seven churches.  Later on, in the second and third chapters of this book, we’ll see that particular messages from God are meant to be given to each of these seven angels, which most commentators believe refer to the pastors of the churches who speak forth the Word of God to those churches.

But how do we know that it was Jesus that John saw on that particular day, since he doesn’t clearly state that as a fact?  In v.13, John says that he saw “one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.”  The “son of man,” was a favorite title that Jesus liked to use in reference to himself.  Taken originally from Daniel 7:13-14, the “son of man” was a mysterious figure that stood before God, known as the Ancient of Days, and received from him everlasting “dominion, and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages might serve him.”  Now that Christ had entered into his exalted state, he has been honored as the head of the Church who regularly desires fellowship with his people as he walks amongst His churches in love.  And He desires that His people might know and love Him, so he holds the pastors in his hands, holding tightly to them in love.

But the image we see of Christ in this revelation is a far cry from that in his humble estate where men despised him who were unable to see his glory.  Here, we learn something of his great age and wisdom through his snow white hair.  We see his great purity in the resplendence of his face and his hatred for sin through his eyes flaming with fire.  We grasp something of his great truth and justice from the two-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and we comprehend something of the glory of his strength and authority through his bronze feet and loud voice.

In this revelation, the veil is briefly removed that John might see Christ in a way that he had never seen him before.  Indeed, the apostle was privileged to see Christ in ways most of us would never see.  First, he saw Jesus in the weakness of his flesh, with his glory greatly hidden.  Later, he saw more of his glory revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Then, he saw the Lord Jesus raised from the dead in glory.  And now he sees the ascended Christ in his heavenly glory, and notice that when he sees Christ in this way, he immediately falls to his feet in fear, for who could stand before such a holy and glorious God?

It is rather unfortunate that any artist ever dared to render a depiction of the Lord Jesus Christ, for none of them ever knew what he looked like, and none of them ever came close to portraying the wonder of his likeness.  His glory far surpasses anything that we could ever imagine with our mind’s eye or capture with a brush stroke.  But what revelation we have of Him now is far more glorious than what we had even in the gospels, when he walked here on earth. It is a glory so glorious that our human eyes could not bear to behold it, not because it is a grotesque image but one so holy that our unholy eyes could not comprehend it.  This is the God we worship.  This is the God who writes letters to us, correcting us in love.  This is the God who walks amongst the churches and holds its pastors in His hands.  May we all heed these messages that He has given to us in His Word.