Death and Resurrection
REVELATION Number 26
Death and Resurrection
Revelation 1:17-18 (NASB 2020)
“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on 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.”
I have separated these two verses for study because they present two fundamental truths about God. Often when we contemplate God, we think mostly of God the Father. He is certainly God, so it is right and good that we should do that. The Lord Jesus is God. He is God personified in a way that is easier for us to understand and a way that we can better identify with.
Hebrews 1:3 tells us that the Lord Jesus is the express, or exact, image of God. In John 14:9 Jesus Himself says that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. Colossians 2:9 points out that in the Lord Jesus the fullness of God exists in bodily form.
The Lord Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Holy Spirit is God. When we speak of God, we are speaking of Him in His totality. To speak of God is to include each of the persons of the Deity.
Therefore, when we are introduced to the two profound and fundamental truths about the Lord Jesus in these verses, we can be confident that they are entirely true of God in His fullness.
The first thing we see in verse 17 is that when the Lord Jesus appears, the effect is one of overwhelming awe to the point of fear. It is this awe-full fear, this reverent overwhelm at the greatness of God, that is spoken of throughout the Bible. We read in Psalm 33:8 “Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” (NASB 2020) Similarly, Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (NASB 2020)
Glimpsing the vast power, majestic glory, and boundless love of God is so impactful that it causes people to tremble in fear at the presence of such potential and power. The realization of these things makes undeniable the truth of the incredible statement the Lord Jesus made in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (NASB 2020)
Consequently, time after time in the Bible we find that those who are shown such glimpses fall to the ground prostrate.
The second truth we see here is that God knows that He is overwhelming, so in those accounts we also find that He reaches out in compassion and love encouraging those affected not to be afraid and lifting them to their feet.
Verse 18 in our text is one such example. John tells us that “He placed His right hand on 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.’”
The prophet Ezekiel, perhaps more than any other person, experienced this. In Ezekiel 1:28–2:2 he gives this account, “Like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.” (NASB 2020)
Ezekiel 3:23–24 gives us another example. It reads, “So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory that I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. But the Spirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.” (NASB 2020)
When we encounter the Lord Jesus in The Revelation, we will glimpse His majesty, glory, and power.
We will see that He will execute judgment and not leave His people without justice. Those who have relied on their own understanding and rejected His offer of Life and love will meet the only possible outcome of that choice. This outcome is awesome in its scope and awful in its effect. Rejecting Life by choosing to remain at enmity with God can provide only death, yet as we will see, despite His many warnings many will continue to refuse and curse Him.
We will also see His grace, love, and care for His people. All who have relied on Him as their hope of Life and righteousness will find themselves jealously protected, avenged, and restored to the Life He has planned for them since before time began. As His bride, they will find themselves arrayed in beauty and celebrated in the manner appropriate for the bride of the King of kings and Lord of lords. They will enjoy perfect loving relationship with Him, feasting on the Tree of Life in peace and harmony with evil completely annihilated from existence.
