Have you made Jesus into some soft, velvety, culturally relevant Jesus?

Hey Church Family:  How do you see Jesus?  How do you understand, realize Jesus?  Have you let the secular world, or even elements of the “Christian world”, with some of its books, songs and teachings create a make-believe picture of Jesus in your heart and mind that does not exist?  Have you slowly tamed the Jesus of the Bible to look nothing like He really is?  Have you made Him into some soft, velvety, culturally relevant Jesus?  Church, it is crucial that we understand Jesus as the Bible perfectly portrays so that we can recognize Him when He is working and so that we can become more like Him in sanctification.  There is no other place in the Bible that gives a more magnificent description of our reigning King Jesus than that picture in the first chapter of Revelation.

Revelation 1:12-16 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

The purpose of this portrait of Jesus that John paints is not for us to become obsessed over as some visual representative of what Jesus really looks like.  This is not a physical picture of Jesus.  Jesus’ eyes are really not on fire, He really does not have a sharp two-edged sword hanging out of His mouth and His feet are not burnished bronze.  This Revelation of Jesus is not to tell us what He literally looks like in a physical sense, but more importantly it does tell us exactly who Jesus is spiritually and morally.

Jesus is revealing to us who He is, His attributes, His power, His divinity, His judgements, His purity, His character, His Holiness.  Jesus wants us to see clearly who He is and to contemplate His glory so that we strive to live holy lives as He is holy.  Jesus wants us to see Him more clearly so that we would treasure Him above all else and then be transformed into His image more completely.  Jesus wants us to see His sovereign power and promise of victory so that we persevere in the face of tribulation and suffering.  He wants us to cling to Him and His promises so that we do not throw in the towel, but instead, we conquer temptation, and live a life of joyful trust in the midst of persecution that is promised for each of us (Matthew 10:16-39).
Jesus is the Lamb led to slaughter in the place of sinners like you and me, but He is also the Lion of Judah who roars with supreme power and judgment.  We have a Savior who is divinely honorable and dignified, sovereign in His strength yet completely compassionate, all powerful yet perfectly humble, firm in judgment but at the same time gracious unto salvation, He is both loving and just.

If you and I ever hope to be changed, to be transformed into the image of Jesus himself, it will only come to the degree that we behold the glory of the Lord and treasure him above all else.  2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”  The most effective way to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is understanding who He is accurately, as the Scripture reveals, and to change our lives accordingly in the strength of His Holy Spirit.

There are countless ways that we seek to facilitate Christlike transformation in our lives, our marriages, our relationships our work.  Yet, the most effective way is knowing accurately the Jesus of the Bible and letting Him transform us as we behold His glory face to face.  Look at Revelation 1, and see how Jesus reveals Himself spiritually and morally.  We will discuss the last half of chapter one in-depth on Sunday.

This Sunday we will be meeting in person at the church building if you would like to join us in person at 10am.  And for those who will be staying at home, we will  be live-streaming on our Grace Community Church Topsail YouTube Channel. Push the blue link.  We can also be found at https://www.gracetopsail.com/

We have been having issues Sunday mornings with our YouTube broadcast due to the overloading of the internet at that time.  We are trying several things that will help remedy the situation.  If you do not get a good broadcast at 10am, please check back later in the day or week for a recorded version.  I am very sorry about this.  

I look forward to worshipping our sovereign God, Jesus Christ with you Sunday. - Steve