Introduction: There is no doubt that this Christmas will be one of the most significant opportunities a Christian and a church could have to clearly define who we believe Jesus Christ is. The reason for the significance is because of the emphasis our culture is placing on the end of the millennium and the beginning of the next. Last week the PBS program "Frontline" gave two hours to the examination of the Book of Revelation. Newsweek in its November 1 issue had as its’ cover story "Prophecy: What the Bible says about how the world will end!" Coupled with that are other media publications from movies, TV, books, radio and internet. There is a more heightened frenzy about what is coming in the next year, the next 100 years and the next 1000 years.

This Christmas we are able to say to our world that we nor anyone else but God knows exactly what is coming. We do know who has come and is coming– our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! During these Sunday’s before Christmas Day we are focusing on the Coming of Jesus Christ. We celebrate that He came as a baby in a manger to be "God with Us." We also are reminded that there is a connection between that baby and the promise of His return. Just as the Angel told the shepherds of His birth in Bethlehem (Luke 2:10-12) so the angel told those disciples 33 years later that this Jesus they saw caught up into the clouds would come again in the very same way (Acts 1:10-11).

The power of Christmas does not live in the sentimentality of a helpless poor baby in a manger. The power of Christmas is the connection it gives us with what is to come! As we come to the last Christmas of the century and the millennium the rest of the world wrings its hands in fear or shuts it eyes and ears to the promises. As Christians we kneel at a rugged stone manger in Bethlehem but hear His promise of His coming again.

This morning I want us to make our connection with Christmas by connecting us with the reality that when Jesus comes again he will come to redeem us fully. Joseph was told by the Angel of the Lord that this baby in Mary’s womb would be named Jesus and would "save His people from their sins." When something is redeemed it means to buy back or win back or to set free from what distresses or harms. The one who came as a baby would die on a cross as a man for all our sins. Yet while our salvation is secure it is not final. There something else to come – really someone: A Coming Redeemer. Christmas connects us with the One who is coming to set us totally free.

One of Jesus Friends wrote about that Jesus is like now and will be like when He returns. That description is found in what we call The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Rev. 1:12-18 says, "And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. 14And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; 15and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. 17And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."

John wrote those words while he was abandoned on an island. What John saw was Jesus in a way that He had never seen Him before. He did not see Jesus as a baby, nor did he see Him as the one who walked, taught, healed and loved people in the dusty hills of Palestine. No, he sees Jesus as someone who is absolutely powerful, unhindered by any restrictions, totally in authority. What John hears is a voice that is so clear and strong it sounds like a trumpet. It is a real voice with real words. He is told to write what he sees on scroll and send it to seven churches.

Where is Jesus Today? (Rev.1:12-13a)

Today you may feel very alone. Christmas can be a time when we feel the most alone even when there are so many others around us. We can begin to really wonder where is God in the middle of all that I feel. I am sure John wondered if his faithfulness was not a waste of time now that he had been abandoned on the island. What John discovered was that he was not only not alone, he was surrounded by the most powerful presence imaginable: Jesus Christ!

Having turned to see the voice, a figure for the one who was speaking to John, he was then given and recorded the vision of the seven golden lampstands and the glorified Christ seen in the very center of the vision. The location of the Lord in the middle of the seven golden lampstands (1:12-13a), is of course, the most striking feature of this vision. It draws our attention not only to His glorious appearance, but to the central place He has and deserves in the life of each Christian and the church.

The vision is for the seven churches of Asia Minor (vs. 20) who represent the church at large throughout the ages. Its truth is for our comfort, encouragement, challenge, and instruction.

In the Old Testament, the lampstands of the tabernacle and the temple consisted of a seven-branched lampstand, a single stand with one center lamp and three on each side. Here, however, we have seven separate lampstands arranged in a circle with Christ standing in the center. But the key note is the circle of lamps with Christ in the center pointing emphatically to the centrality and priority of Christ. He is the center, the hub, and the heart of the church at large and of each individual local church and each believer. He is in our midst to minister to us, to search us, and to enable us and we are in the world to give off light to point men to Christ.

As Jesus lay in that manger he was helpless. Shepherds and wise men were directed to find him.

Now he is positioned in the middle of his people and his church. The Jesus of the manger had the world come to him. The One who is with us now and who comes again is released out to the world-he goes to the world anywhere! He is not bound by swaddling clothes. The shroud in which he was buried does not limit him. He is here now! In your life and in mine. He is present out there in the world with nearly 65 million Chinese Christians in Mainland China. Yet he is absent in the lives of over 1.1 billion Han people of China who have never heard of Christmas or of the Christ of Christmas.

Where is Jesus today and where will he be when He comes again? With his people!

At this point we need to know that John doesn’t know this is Jesus until the figure speaks in verse 17. His point is that the figure appears to be like a human in form. The imagery is powerful. The last time John saw Jesus was in Acts 1:9-11.Here He is dressed as a priest in the temple. A priest is someone who presents people to God and God to people. When Jesus came as a baby to Bethlehem He brought God to people. He is Emmanuel "God with us". Now though He brings us before God as our priest the only one who can truly represent us.

He is defined: as "one like a son of man." This title points to his true humanity and saving ability. Though portrayed in all the glory of His deity in the similes that follow, He is still the Son of Man, one made like His brethren that He might present us to God and God to us. Also, as the Son of Man, He is seen "clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle." This portrays Him in His role as the Son of Man who is also a priest and judge. His role as priest and judge is a powerful and significant note as He stands in the midst of the seven churches because it calls our attention to just exactly who He is.

John describes him as having a head and hair (14a) that "were white like wool, like snow." What John is describing here is how pure Jesus is. His hair being white represents the purity of His eternal wisdom and His complete purity or holiness is symbolized in the white wool and snow. His eyes (14b)"were like a flame of fire." This speaks of His penetrating vision, searching righteousness, and judgment into the affairs of the church and mankind as a whole.

Purity has a power in and of itself. Oxygen that is 100% pure is highly explosive. Other chemicals and elements that are pure have more power or potency to them. Jesus has always been without sin. Yet the baby in the manger was stained by the blood from the womb of his mother as well as the dirt and dust of the stable. Now his presence with us one of total purity! He has a wisdom and insight that isn’t hindered by faulty evaluation or a selfish agenda. The one who comes for me has a purity that is unblemished!

The One who comes for me has strength that is unbending. "and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters."(v.15a)

John notices that the appearance of Jesus feet (15a)"were like burnished bronze." Literally, the Greek says, "his feet like fine brass (or refined bronze) as when it has been burned (refined—the perfect tense of completed action) in the furnace or oven." The idea may be ‘glowing’ and it would indicate that the metal is not only the finest and brightest, but it is aglow as if still in the crucible.One writer has said that "Bronze is a combination of iron and copper. Iron is strong but it rusts. Copper won’t rust but it’s pliable. Combine the two in bronze and the best quality of each is preserved, the strength of iron and the endurance of copper. The rule of Christ is set on this base: the foundation of his power is tested by fire."(Eugene Peterson)

Why is this important to me? Because we are continually confronted by helpless and hopeless situations where our strength, wisdom and ability wears down or gives out. His strength for us doesn’t waver, isn’t lost, and never weak. When he was a baby he had to be carried. Today he carries us. His strength does not weaken in the face of the opposition of the lostness of the world, death, disease, oppression, injustice or hate. There is no loss of intensity or power with him!

The One who comes for me has an unending presence. (Rev.1:15b) "and His voice was like the sound of many waters."

John describes Jesus voice (15b) as "like the sound of many waters." His voice as John heard it was like a mighty waterfall. As the water of Niagara Falls is so loud that it silences all voices around, so this portrays Jesus Christ as the absolute voice of authority to which all human authority must bow.

His voice as a baby was only a cry in the night – one voice among the noise of animals and people. His voice would speak to thousands yet silenced by Calvary. His voice would return with more authority and power than ever before. Think of all the voices today that would try to drown out that voice: the voice of addiction, violence, poverty, greed, and abuse. Yet his voice rises above all the others to say I am here and nothing can change that reality. Today we are his voice in the world (Rom.10:8-13). Whenever His people allow themselves to be his voice to say to the world , "I am here and will be here!" His voice silences all the rest!

The One who comes for me has unbridled protection.(Rev.1:16) "and in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength."

John writes that "in His right hand He held seven stars." Verse 20 will explain the mystery of the seven stars in the right hand of the Savior. For now, it is enough to recognize that the right hand is a symbol of strength, power, and honor. The stars, the angels or messengers, are in a place of honor, but they are also under His authority, strength and protection. His hand protects them.

Then he says, "and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword." Sword is mentioned a total of nine times in Revelation. The sword was the long and heavy broad sword that symbolizes the irresistible authority and devastating force of our Lord’s judgment (cf. 19:15). Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the Word of God as "quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword." John is saying that not only does his voice soothe our soul but his truth pierces the soul.

He says that His, " face was like the sun shining in its strength." This is undoubtedly a reference or symbol of the brilliance of the divine glory of Christ portraying His holiness and deity. It was this that blinded Paul on the Damascus road and which here caused John to fall at Christ’s feet as a dead man (vs. 17). Here is the Sun shining in the midst of the church. He and He alone is our source of light and righteousness. He is to us what our sun is to the moon. He is our light, our holiness, and our means of becoming light to the world. No more charades. No more games. No more half truths. Heaven is an honest land. " It is a land where shadows are banished by the face of Christ.

When the soldiers of Herod came to kill the boy children Jesus was sent to Egypt for protection. When he was on the Cross he gave the protection of his mother to John himself. Now he is our protector- we are held in his hand securely and protected by the power of his word. I am no longer a victim, vulnerable to all that comes to harm me!

The one who comes for me has unblemished purity, unbending strength, an unending presence and offers to me unbridled protection!

What are we to do with such a picture? John fell down in shock and amazement! "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." John hears Jesus say, "I rule! My resurrection has revealed who I am. Time cannot measure me: I am the first and the last! Life cannot empower me for I am the Living One! Death cannot claim me for I am alive forevermore! There’s no door that can out or hide it’s secrets for I have the keys to everything!

What will it be like when you see Jesus? The one who is coming for you and for me is perfect, pure, powerful, present and brilliant! The great truth is that all that he is you will be, for you will be like Jesus. Just think since you’ll be pure as snow, you’ll never sin again. Since you’ll be as strong as bronze, you’ll never feel lonely again. Since you are with the Lord no one needs to stand in your place again. When Christ comes, you will dwell in the light of God. And you will see him as he really is. That’s a connection worth waiting for!

Sunday, November 28, 1999

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org