Resilient – A Revelation Daily Devotional – Day 4
Day 4 – July 31st
Read or listen to the audio version of the Bible Reading and Daily Devotional.
Read: Revelation 1:12-16 ESV
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 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. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 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.
Finally, we made it. We are going to get a glimpse into the first of John’s visions. I imagine that despite this being the moment you thought you were waiting for, you are now four verses into confusion, drawing some wild, cartoon-like creations in your imagination. This will likely continue to be the framework of our minds in the days ahead. We should approach such with excitement and caution.
Have you ever wondered why much of humanity is drawn to fable-like, larger-than-life stories? What value do mythical beasts and grand tales of conquest hold within the human psyche? These types of elements are certainly characteristic of the book of Revelation. In the weeks ahead, we will encounter many seemingly mythical figures that are more likely to be drawn in our imagination than seen at the zoo. These scenes and characters are commonplace in apocalyptic literature. There is, undoubtedly, a myriad of reasons for this genre’s pull on our hearts, minds, and imagination, but I want to present one as a core reason for this study.
Revelation invites us into visions of a reality that is unfolding in all of God’s creation yet is largely invisible to our human eyes. The Bible presents us with the reality of an ongoing battle in which we are involved. This battle is not against lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!), but against principalities and powers we may not see with our limited vision. They are also powers we cannot conquer on our own. We are doomed…
Enter the Son of Man in John’s first vision. This title, used for Christ throughout much of the New Testament, now reveals his eternal, sovereign power in full. While still holding to aspects of His humanity in his attire and the anatomical body parts listed, we begin to see him as the ruler in all His glory.
In the description, we see wisdom, omniscience, strength, stability, and power. He appears in the battle we are all warring, with everything needed to ensure victory. He is the juggernaut character we all created in sports video games, and even that description falls woefully short of His glory and power.
One may or may not have felt and recognized the battle that is warring all around. Yet, all humanity is marked by the pain, anxiety, desperation, and brokenness that characterizes those in war. What’s more, the confusion, limited nature of knowledge and understanding, frailty, and weakness that mark life can render one hopeless and filled with despair.
It is to that side of humanity that God, through John, in the person of Jesus, reveals the ultimate reality beneath this battle. All that humanity lacks, Christ is. All humanity needs, Christ supplies. All that humanity longs for, Christ offers. In your most hopeless seasons, may this picture of Christ be the one that plays on loop in your mind.
Pray: God, thank you for who you are. Create in me a desire to know and understand more fully all that you are and are doing in our world.