Christmas means baby Jesus. Everybody loves the baby. The swaddling clothes (so cute!) the manger (awww, really?), the Wise Man (distinguished solemnity). It is a tremendous story. It is THE story of all of history. God Himself came in flesh, incarnated solely to grow, live a perfect life, and die.
The baby grew up. He ascended to the Father, sat down, and reigns from heaven. He is coming again, as I wrote yesterday. When He comes again it will not be as a baby all swaddled and cooing. His incarnation continues, as it will forever, but today we look at Jesus as He is now. He is kingly, powerful. He is GOD.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and 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. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. (Revelation 1:12-15).
The verse continues into v. 16, today's focus. It's the last verse in the series. We have gone from prophecies announcing the fact of His coming, to the Babe, to His life, work and ministry, His death and resurrection, and now as He is in heaven and His soon return. He will come again to deal with sin- and sinners.
True believers will be gathered with Him prior to the bloodbath that the Second Coming will be. During that horrific time, it will be a blessed time also, because many will come to faith. It will be a time of blood, evangelism, faith, sin, horror, and martyrdom.
Praise God, Jesus will come again. He is great and mighty.
On to today's verse:
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Background and Introduction, Thirty Days of Jesus Series
Prophecy and birth
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive
Day 2: A shoot from Jesse
Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time
Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Day 5: The Babe has arrived!
Day 6: The Glory of Jesus
Jesus' Boyhood
Day 7: Magi seek the Child
Day 8: The Magi offer gifts & worship
Day 9: And the Child Grew
Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple
Day 11: He was Obedient
Jesus as the SON
Day 12: The Son!
Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
Day 14: Propitiation
Day 15: The gift of eternal life
Day 16: Two Kingdoms
Preeminence of the Son, His works & ministry
Day 17: Jesus' Preeminence
Day 18: The Highest King
Day 19: Jesus emptied Himself
Day 20: Jesus as Teacher
Day 21: The Shepherd
Day 22: Intercessor
Day 23: Jesus is Compassionate Healer
Day 24: Jesus is Omniscient
Day 25: The authority of Jesus
Day 26: Jesus' sinlessness
Day 27: He rose again!
Day 28: Resurrection is of central importance
Day 29: Ascension
Day 30: He sat down
Postlude 1: He is coming again
I hope you have enjoyed these verses and pictorial representations of the thirty-plus verses I'd selected to illustrate the Life of Christ. Feel free to use the photos as you will. All of them except two are my own creation, and the two that aren't mine are issued freely under creative commons license at Unsplash.com. Be sure to visit the Further Readings links I'd posted under most of the Scripture pictures, too. I always want to connect readers with good, credible sources.
Happy New Year! May 2019 be the year Christ returns.
And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, (2 Timothy 1:10)
