JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! Part-2

We read of Him as the First and the Last in Rev.1:11,17,2:8,22:13.This title presents to us the glory of His deity. We have Him as the One who is before all, above all and after all. And the same title we read of Jehovah for three times in Isaiah  41:4,44:6,48:12.When we put these verses together we see Him standing before time, outside the history and before creation. The One who is eternal, the One who walked upon the sapphire stone of the sanctuary, is none other but God Himself.

There in eternity He was dwelling in co-equal eternal existence with God, but when He descended in the likeness of man, He dwelt with men. John could behold His glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Here we have His divine glory. John also could see the glory full of grace and truth. Here we have His moral glory.

In Ch.18 we see Him being rejected and condemned. When the betrayer came with soldiers, chief priests, Pharisees with lanterns and torches and weapons. He asked whom seek ye? They said Jesus of Nazareth. He said I am He. Unlike the first man in the garden, who was hiding, the second man, the Lord Jesus from heaven, did not hide in the garden, but we read that He “went forth” over the brook Kidron.18:1,4.The same expression we read of King David passing over the brook  Kidron twice in 2Sam.15:16,17 where we see King David is rejected. Here we find the One who is greater than King David is rejected. Also, we find here the revelation of Shekinah Glory. When our Lord said  “I am He” this title unveiled the Shekinah glory. They not only fell, but we read that they went backward and fell on the ground. Who can stand before the unveiled glory of our Lord? Seraphim veil their face at His transcend glory. When Isaiah saw the glory, he could acknowledge His sinfulness, Daniel and Ezekial and the group of disciples upon the holy mount in response to the sight of His glory, we see them falling. John in the Isle of Patmos at the unveiled glory of our Lord, fell on the ground. These feeble group of people along with Judas could not stand upright, they went backward and then fell. Here we see the fulfillment of Ps.27:2,40:14, “When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell”. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil”.

Not only this, but we see Him in Luke gospel, falling on the ground  and kneeling down and praying. Here, in John’s Gospel we have Him standing upright in all His unveiled glory. Ps:37:37  Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright.. Again we see a  contrast…three fold  denial of Peter by saying when they questioned that you are one of His disciples, He said that “ I am not”, but our Lord said three times that “ I AM”. He went forth, knowing that all things that should come upon Him.

In continuation of His title, the first and the last, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the Ending, the first and the last Greek alphabet, when we compare for example the English Alphabet, A and Z. Here we have first and the last letter. Take the entire world of English literature and the vocabularies, we could place them within this two boundaries. So to say that every thing commenced in Him, continue in Him and will be consummated by Him. So we read in John, “all things are made by Him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”. He is the creator, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:  For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions,

or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

May the Lord help us to look beyond the dark and gloomy night, to wait for that blest hour when He will come in glory and all brightness and shall hear His blessed voice,” Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away” and to behold His glorious face and worship Him all eternity.

Have a blessed weekend.