JRMITCH85 Character, Faith, Hope

Changing Our Eyes

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10  and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 5:1–14.

We often walk through life wearing goggles that are tinted by the exhausting belief that the world’s brokenness can be mended through the sheer force of human will. We look for a charismatic guru or a political savior to step forward and claim the scroll of destiny, yet the vision of John as seen in Revelation 5 shatters this optical illusion with a deafening, heavenly silence. This scene illuminates our condition, because as God holds the scroll containing His “Last Will and Testament” for creation, the search for someone worthy to open it turns up empty, exposing the bankruptcy of both secular power and religious hierarchy. John’s excruciating weeping in this moment isn’t just grief; it is the existential realization that our achievements are fundamentally unworthy. To truly see, we must remove the lenses of human effort and accept a perspective where hope does not rise from our own strength, but from the only One capable of resolving the crisis of worthiness.

This shift in perspective leads to the greatest bait-and-switch. Standing in the wreckage of our shattered expectations, John is told to look for a Lion, the ultimate symbol of raw, conquering power, but when he turns, he sees a “Lamb standing as if it had been slain.” The Lion does not become a Lamb, nor does the Lamb later transform into a predator; rather, the Lion is the Lamb. Our cultural fascination with dominance and “strongman” optics clouds our vision, making it difficult to comprehend a holiness that triumphs through vulnerability. Yet, Christ’s power is not a lack of strength, but a perfection of it. Adorned with seven horns representing total authority and seven eyes signifying an omniscience born from being a victim of the very imperial systems we often trust for security, He rules from the center of the throne. He brings worthiness to the unworthy not through competitive force, but through a union forged in the marks of the cross, proving that true sovereignty is found in the One who was sacrificed to heal the world.

A change from the sound of the lion to the vision of the lamb demands a total re-evaluation of how we define power by forcing us to choose between two irreconcilable models of sovereignty. While we are conditioned to recognize beastly power that relies on brute force and the desperate necessity of staying on top by crushing enemies, the lamb-like power of the throne stands in stark contrast. The lamb achieves victory not through the mechanics of destruction but through meek obedience and the transformative word of His mouth, presenting a radical claim that upends our instincts because Christ never rules from the militaristic view of subjugation. The religious community is tempted to pick up the tools of dominance that the world uses to achieve the goals of heaven, falling for a misrepresentation of the Gospel that suggests God will eventually abandon the cross in favor of brute force to accomplish His Will. Unfortunately, in order to believe this would suggest that violence rather than love is the source of salvation. Viewing reality from God’s perspective requires us to reject the urge to swap the crown of thorns for a helmet of iron and recognize instead that the victory of the cross was not temporary but is the final revelation of how true power actually works.

Our capacity for understanding the power God uses does not originate from our own sources of information or intellectual striving but flows instead from a posture of humility that seeks the mind of Christ. The shift toward the knowledge of the Lamb leads us to recognize that being on top of the hierarchy of power and privilege often blinds us to the very truths we claim to possess. Unlike the coercive rationalism of the world that seeks to force agreement through intellectual or social subjugation, the Lamb adopts patience as its primary method by allowing the truth to speak and maintaining a radical willingness to let the news be rejected. By viewing the world from below, we align our vision with God and discover that those with whom we disagree are actually necessary to our own process of finding truth. This perspective teaches us that we do not need to be powerful or positioned on the top rung of the ladder to matter because true knowledge manifests as kindness and grace in the face of questioning. Rooted in the intention to leave others better off than we found them, seeking the mind of Christ means refusing to waste a single moment of a precious life adding to the world’s pain through the pursuit of dominance.

Through our eyes and distorted vision we are guided to idolatry where we define worship by whatever we rely on for security. This is a high-functioning idolatry that occurs when our social connections bind us stronger than our baptism, thus trusting in human systems of subjugation rather than divine grace. In our fear, we grasp for the instruments of war to provide safety and order, choosing the path of conflict over the Word of God. This shift in loyalty exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel, for if we believe Jesus conquers by killing his enemies, we are simply worshipping Caesar; just under a different name. To work our way back to the Lamb is to recognize that His victory is unique because He conquers by shedding His own blood rather than the blood of others. We must abandon the pursuit of power through dominance and return to the One who proves that true sovereignty is found in sacrificial love rather than the tools of the powerful.

To step away from the allure of the lion-like strongman and realign our hearts with the Lamb, we must first admit that our reliance on dominance is a symptom of deep-seated fear. Transforming our worship requires a radical migration of trust, moving from the visible security of the crowd to the invisible, cruciform power of Christ. This is not a passive surrender but an active, daily choice to view our neighbors, our enemies, and our own failures through the lens of the cross. By intentionally divesting from the pursuit of beastly power, we begin to see that holiness does not require the humiliation of others to prove its worth. Instead, we find a steady, unshakeable peace in the Lamb who rules through sacrifice, inviting us to exchange our heavy helmets of iron for the lightness of His grace.

JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Hope

Throne For One

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11  “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 4:1–11.

In a world of eight-second attention spans and fierce brand loyalties, worship has evolved into a daily, counter-formative act that often misdirects our deepest devotion toward sports teams, political parties, and consumer identities. We frequently crown these modern-day royals with a level of passion and allegiance that belongs to the Divine alone, failing to realize that these earthly honors are merely pale, hollow replications of true glory. True worship is not a curated performance for our entertainment, but a conversation initiated by the Triune God. By giving God glory, we intentionally deny it to ourselves and to the ideologies we often treat as idols, thus acknowledging, through a spirit of grace and gratitude, that we are not self-made creatures. This shift in focus requires a radical transition, using the call to worship in Revelation to physically and mentally transport us from the fog of mundane anxiety through the door that is open to us into the vivid scenery of the heavenly realm. As we echo the eternal cry of “Holy, Holy, Holy,” the crowns we once offered to fleeting trends and leaders fall away, replaced by a singular, transformative focus on the only One truly worthy of our praise.

Looking at heaven, John’s vision anchors the universe not in the struggle of human ambition for power but around the central symbol of the Throne. Instead of glancing toward earthly powers scrambling to fill perceived voids of authority, John reveals that the seat of ultimate power is and has always been occupied. This visual scene reveals a God whose character is defined by a combination of Jasper and Carnelian, reflecting an interplay between healing holy light and fiery, judgmental red. Additionally, encircling the seat of sovereign dominion is a Green Rainbow, a vertical, eternal circle that stands in stark contrast to the fleeting arcs of the earth. The halo of emerald serves as a token of God’s Covenant with the world, leading us to understand that God’s mercy is not a secondary thought but a force that informs and encompasses His judgment. While the thunders of divine justice are real, they are forever wrapped in the emerald of grace to ensure that we are forever under His steady and merciful reign.

When we focus on the throne, we ultimately encounter a divine hierarchy that paradoxically levels humanity’s pride by redirecting all glory toward the Creator. At the forefront of the worshipping church are the Elders, who represent the full sweep of the People of God, from the twelve tribes of Israel to the twelve apostles. Though they possess crowns of victory, their defining act is the casting down of those crowns as an acknowledgment that any human authority or achievement is purely derivative and secondary to the Almighty God. The Four Living Creatures, who serve as the ideal of creation by embodying the diverse facets of the created order, echo the actions of the Elders. The Lion represents righteousness through strength used for equity, while the Ox signifies the diligence of tireless service in the cultural mandate. The Man provides the pinnacle of intelligence and sympathy, just as the Eagle offers the contemplation of a high-soaring vision for divine truth. Together, these figures illustrate that worship is not an artificial addition to existence but the natural and intended state of all creation. We are strongly cautioned against rearranging worship to put our own desires at the center. When we recognize that none in humanity possesses inherent worthiness to be worshipped, we finally align ourselves with the cosmic order and find our purpose in the adoration of the One by whom and for whom all things were made.

The Almighty occupies the Throne and exposes the vanity of all earthly contenders. This divine centerpiece serves as a direct rebuttal to the vying powers of idolatry, reminding us that when the Lamb is truly seated at the center of our lives, there is simply no room for any rival authority. This echoes the conviction of theologians, pastors, and followers of Christ that the church must reject any order that claims absolute authority belonging to God alone. Today, we must identify and cast down modern throne usurpers that subtly creep into our sanctuaries and our lives. We often succumb to the consumer idol when we evaluate worship by whether we like the music rather than whether God is glorified, or we mistake a spiritual pep rally driven by marketing and emotional hype for the genuine movement of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps most dangerously, we risk the ideological idol when we allow any political or other dogmatic stance to garner our worship alongside the Lamb on the throne. We are bound to worship God only as he has instituted through his Word and not according to our own preferences or cultural trends. By rejecting the worship of the creation in all its deceptive forms, we clear the way to offer our total devotion to the Creator who alone is worthy of the glory and honor described in the celestial throne room.

Ultimately, worship serves as a mission that does not end with the benediction but begins with a formal commissioning; we do not leave the throne, but are sent by it to act as agents of God’s Throne in a world of pretenders. According to the principles of our faith, each of us is charged to carry the reality of the heavenly realm into the mundane, and to publicly acknowledge and resist any earthly power that demands our loyalty. To fulfill this call, we must embrace the circle of grace even when life feels like crashing thunder, taking the cultural mandate found in the strength of the Lion, the diligence of the Ox, the sympathy of the Man, and the vision of the Eagle into our workplaces and communities. By doing so, we ensure that our lives become a living extension of the throne room, proving that our purpose is found only in the adoration and service of the Creator.

JRMITCH85 Uncategorized

We Are Known By God

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. 8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ 

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 3:7–22.

We find ourselves in a season where the Church often feels paralyzed, locked in a metaphorical prison of our own making. Whether it is the iron bars of cultural pressure, the shackles of internal division, or the stifling walls of spiritual lethargy, we feel restricted and unable to do what we want, and powerless to do what we ought. We are stuck, and in this confinement, we are desperate for hope. It is precisely here, in the shadow of restriction, that we must look to the Apostle John. Exiled on the barren, rocky island of Patmos, John was physically imprisoned, cut off from his community and his work. Yet, it was in this place of isolation that heaven didn’t send a message in a bottle, but rather it broke in with a visitation. God did not merely send John information to study, but he was sent a Person to see, as the veil revealed that Christ is not a distant auditor checking boxes from afar, but is alive and active, walking among the churches. To understand the hope we have in our own prison, we must understand that Christ is the anchor of our hope as the One who walks among us is also the One who sees through us and knows us, and even with all of that Christ still stands for us.

That look at the churches ultimately transforms into a simple phrase that Jesus repeats with precision, “I know.” When He speaks this to the churches, He is not merely indicating he is aware of their calendar of activities, but He opens up a covenant lawsuit. The risen Christ, standing as both King and Judge, issues a verdict on their faith, love, endurance, and obedience. Jesus pushes away the public relations and the reputation to reveal the true spiritual state of His people, because public perception means nothing, and reality is everything. We see this vividly when we look at the disparity between how the world saw these seven churches and how Jesus saw them. In Ephesus, though they had impressive doctrine, Jesus saw their love had cooled into heartless orthodoxy. While in Smyrna, they were afflicted and poor, but Christ viewed them as truly rich. The church in Pergamum displayed courage in the face of hostility; however, Jesus still indicted them for being compromised in holiness. Thyatira’s Christians were growing in service and love, but had a dangerous tolerance for internal corruption. While Sardis had a famous reputation for being full of life, but yet God pronounced them dead.

Nowhere is the contrast between worldly metrics and divine reality sharper than in the letter to Philadelphia. Here was a church situated in a frontier city, a missionary crossroads that had been literally shaken by earthquakes and plagued by civic instability. To the naked eye, they appeared fragile, a community possessing little to no power. However, Jesus introduces Himself to them not merely as an observer, but as “the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David.” He reminds them that He alone controls access, opportunity, and final vindication. They kept His word despite their apparent weakness, He offered them three staggering promises. First, He sets before them an open door, which is a missional opportunity that no human force can shut, granted not to the impressive, but to the faithful. Second, He promises a great reversal, assuring them that their opponents will one day be forced to acknowledge that this overlooked community is the one beloved by the Lord. And finally, to a people living in a city terrified of the ground shaking beneath them, He promises they will be a pillar in the temple of my God, the embodiment of immovable, unshakable security. We see in Philadelphia that a church with little power but great faithfulness can carry enormous kingdom weight.

In stark contrast stands Laodicea, a warning against the danger of comfortable uselessness. This city was wealthy and self-sufficient, but its water supply was its fatal flaw. While nearby Hierapolis boasted hot healing springs and Colossae offered cold, refreshing mountain water, Laodicea had to pipe its water in. By the time it arrived, it was lukewarm and nauseating—good for nothing but to be spit out. When Christ calls them “lukewarm,” it isn’t a rebuke about a lack of emotional heat or spiritual zeal; rather Jesus rebukes their lack of usefulness. They were neither healing like the hot springs nor refreshing like the cold water. They had succumbed to the ultimate self-deception, declaring, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” When Christ strips away their bank accounts to reveal that they are “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked”. To this self-reliant people, He offers three specific remedies: exchange material security for a faith purified by trial, lay aside self-made status and embrace righteousness that covers their shame, and confess their spiritual blindness to receive sight from the Spirit, which is especially poignant in a city famous for treating physical eyes. In Laodicea we see that Christ’s harshest words are not for the persecuted but for the comfortable.

It is a sobering audit that forces us to look in the mirror. Christ’s verdicts expose how often our metrics of success and His are worlds apart. Jesus walks among us today, and His words “I know” are not meant to drive us into despair, but to lead us toward freedom, just as He did with the seven churches. He looks past our public persona to reveal the specific things we need to work through in our hidden compromises, and the prisons of our own making, formed through the habits that stifle our light. He exposes these areas not to shame us, but because we cannot be healed of what we refuse to acknowledge. But here is the vital balance: His gaze is not only searching; it is validating. He also sees the quiet faithfulness that no one else notices. He sees where you have endured like Smyrna, where you have kept His word with “little power” like Philadelphia, and where you have labored in love despite exhaustion. He knows the secret battles you have won and the silent sacrifices you have made. The eyes of fire do not just burn away the chaff; they also illuminate the gold. In this, we find our greatest comfort: we are fully known, yet fully loved, by the only One whose opinion actually matters.

Ultimately, we must ask why God bothers to disrupt us when we feel perfectly comfortable in our prisons. Why does He expose our blindness or our coldness? His rebuke is not a denial of His affection, but the ultimate proof of it; He loves us too much to leave us in the dark. This divine discipline demands a response, not guilt, but a return to righteousness and faith. It is a call to trade cold duty and religious performance for loving obedience. And while this letter is addressed to the whole church, the invitation is personal for it states: “He who has an ear, let him hear.” You cannot force the whole church to change, but you can be a force for change within it. It is better to be crushed and faithful than comfortable and useless. God gives us a job to do and a people to be because He sees not just who we are, but who we can be in Him. Francis Schaeffer asked the question: “If the Holy Spirit left our church this week, how long would it take us to notice?” We will only notice if we find ourselves living in the constant presence of Christ, who walks among us.

We hear the words of Christ while huddled in a prison of our own making, paralyzed and unable to do what we ought. But the vision of Revelation reveals that the door to this prison is locked from the inside. The Lord, the One with eyes of fire who sees everything, stands at that door and knocks. He does not batter it down with overwhelming power, instead He invites fellowship. He promises, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him”. The Church and followers of Christ must cast off the works of darkness, the quarreling and jealousy that keep us shackled in the dark, and exchange it for light. We are called to put on the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His looking upon us with knowing eyes refines us, burning away impurities, not to destroy us, but so that we may stand with joy and confidence in God’s Holy Presence. We do not have to hide in our cells any longer, we are invited to open the door, and walk in the light of the love of a God that knows us.

JRMITCH85 Uncategorized

Revealing Jesus Is The Point

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Vision of the Son of Man 

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 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. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 1:1–20.

The Book of Revelation often comes with a heavy reputation. For many of us, it conjures up images of confusing charts, terrifying beasts, and debates about timelines that leave us more anxious than anchored. We tend to approach it like a riddle to be solved or a code to be cracked, obsessing over the “when” and the “how” of the end times. But if we start there, we miss the entire heartbeat of the book. As we begin this journey together, I want to suggest that the key to unlocking this final book of the Bible isn’t found in a timeline, but in a person. The title itself gives it away: it is not “The Revelation of the End of the World” or “The Revelation of Future Events.” It is, very simply, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

The word “Revelation” comes from the Greek word apokalypsis, which means an “unveiling” or a “revealing.” It’s the image of a curtain being pulled back to show what is actually there. We often use the word “apocalypse” to mean disaster or catastrophe, but its biblical meaning is far more hopeful. It is about pulling back the curtain of our current reality, with all its chaos, sorrow, and confusion, to reveal who is really on the throne. The point of this book is not to obscure the truth with symbols, but to reveal the Truth Himself. It is designed to show us Jesus in a way we perhaps haven’t seen Him before: not just as the suffering servant or the teacher in Galilee, but as the risen, ruling, and reigning King of the cosmos.

At the core of the introduction, we see the Apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos, hearing a voice like a trumpet. When he turns to see the voice, he doesn’t see a calendar of events; he sees a Person. He sees the Son of Man, clothed in a long robe, with a golden sash, eyes like a flame of fire, and a voice like the roar of many waters. This is Jesus, unveiled in His glory. It’s a vision so overwhelming that John, who once leaned against Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper, falls at His feet as though dead. This response is crucial. When we truly see Jesus in His holiness and power, our first response is often a reverent fear. We realize that He is not a tame God that fits neatly into our boxes.

This is exemplified by the glorified Jesus reaching out and laying His right hand on John, and speaking words that should echo in our hearts: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.” The point of revealing Jesus is not to terrify us, but to comfort us. Because He is the First, He was there before our problems began, He is the Last, He will be there after they are long gone, and because He is the Living One who died and is alive forevermore, He holds the keys to everything we are afraid of, even death itself.

Let’s keep the main thing the main thing. We aren’t here to speculate about the future; rather, we are here to meet the One who holds the future. If you find yourself lost in the symbols or fearful of the signs, come back to the center. Look for Jesus. Revealing Him is the point. When we see Him clearly, standing with the lampstands and holding the stars in His hands, we see Jesus ruling over history, and it changes how we live in the present. We can stop living in fear of what is to come, because we know Who is already here.