JESUS CHRIST - THE REVELATION GIVEN TO JOHN Chapter #3 Revelation 1:7
Here is an announcement worthy of attention, admiration, and investigation.
"Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him. Even so. Amen." John is not describing the pompous parade of some
earthly despot. He is talking about the glorious appearance of the great
God who is our Savior. He is proclaiming the second advent of the King
of kings in his glory. That same Jesus whom the disciples saw ascending
into heaven shall come again. The God-man who now rules all things from
his lofty throne in heaven is coming to this world again.
"Behold," pause, look, consider this great fact. The finger of inspiration
points to this momentous event, and says, "Behold, he cometh!" These words
should sound like a terrifying alarm in the heart of every unbeliever;
but they are words of joy, comfort, hope, and peace to every child of God.
Your trials may be heavy. Your temptations may be many. Though your heart
now aches, both with affliction and with sin, you have reason to be of
good cheer. All your troubles are temporary. Do not look upon them as though
they will last forever. "Behold, he cometh!" And "I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18). Having shown us what Christ has done
for us in verses 5 and 6, John here encourages us to live in expectation
of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again in power and great
glory. Though Christ's second coming is not the central theme of the Book
of Revelation, "Yet it constitutes a real source of comfort for afflicted
believers. It is the hope of believers and the consternation of the enemies
of the church" (William Hendriksen). Therefore, John gives us this picture
of Christ the coming King.
WHO IS COMING? The One who is coming is the One John has just
described, "Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten
from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth...him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings
and priests unto God and his Father." He is the One who came in humiliation
as the Son of Man. Two thousand years ago the Son of God came into this
world as a man. In order to redeem man, he took manhood upon himself and
dwelt in human flesh. Everything associated with the earthly life and ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ was humiliation (Phil. 2:5-8; II Cor. 8:9). He
was born in Bethlehem in a cow stable! He lived in poverty and sorrow.
He was tempted in all points like as we are. His disciples, his followers,
were the despised riff-raff of society: publicans, fishermen, harlots,
and beggars.
This One who is coming is the One who suffered and died as the sinner's
Substitute at Calvary. In dark Gethsemane, our Savior's agony was so great
that he sweat blood. His heart broke within him as he anticipated the shame
he must suffer to redeem us. There he was arrested like a common theif
in the dark of night. The Lord of glory was beaten, mocked, and led through
the streets of Jerusalem in a procession of humiliation and sorrow. Then
he was stripped naked, nailed to a wooden cross, and hung up to die by
the hands of wicked men. All of this he voluntarily endured because he
had come into this world to die in the place of his people (Rom. 5:6-8;
Gal. 4:4-5).
As he hung upon the cursed tree, the Lord Jesus Christ was made to be sin for us (II Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 2:24). He suffered all the vengeance and wrath of almighty God in our place (Gal. 3:13). He died under the curse of God's holy law, satisfying all the claims of the law's justice against us, so that God might be just and yet justify the ungodly (Rom. 3:24-26). Then he was buried in a borrowed tomb.
This One of whom John says, "Behold, he cometh," is the Christ of God
who now reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Though he lived as the
man of sorrows and died as the sinner's Substitute under the wrath of God,
he is yet alive! On the third day after his death he arose triumphant over
death, hell and the grave. Forty days later the crucified Christ was exalted.
He ascended back into heaven, took his seat upon the throne of universal
monarchy and was crowned with glory and honor. There he reigns as King
supreme for evermore (Act 2:36). This One who is coming is Christ the King.
He is not coming to be king. He is coming as King! Christ the King is coming
to put an end to all rebellion in his empire. "And all that are incensed
against him shall be ashamed" (Isa. 45:24). The Lord Jesus Christ who "loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings
and priests unto God," is coming again. "Behold, he cometh!"
WHAT SHOULD OUR ATTITUDE BE WITH REGARD TO CHRIST'S COMING? We
should look upon the second coming of Christ as a matter of fact. John
does not say, "He will come some day," or "He will come soon," or even,
"He may come at anytime." He says, "Behold, he cometh!" His language is
in the present tense. He seems to have caught a glimpse of Christ coming
even as he was writing. He speaks of it as a matter of fact, a present
reality, not as a distant hope. He who came in humiliation to suffer is
coming in power to conquer. He who came to redeem is coming to gather his
redeemed ones. This is not something to be embraced as a prophetic theory
in the development of a sound eschatalogical creed. It is a fact to be
seen with the eye of faith and anticipated in the believing heart.
The Word of God speaks plainly and constantly about Christ's glorious
second advent (Jude 14; Job 19:25; Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:16;
I Pet. 5:4; II Pet. 3:10; John 14:3). Our Savior gave us perpetual reminders
of his second coming in the ordinances of the gospel. Every time a believer
confesses faith in Christ by believer's baptism, we are taught to look
for Christ's second coming. The new convert goes down into the watery grave
as one crucified with Christ and rises up out of the water as one risen
with Christ in the new birth and living in hope of the resurrection at
the Lord's coming (Rom. 6:4-6). As often as we sit around the Lord's Table
with God's saints and take the bread and wine, we are vividly reminded
that Christ is coming (I Cor. 11:24-26). Though that is a blessed ordinance,
it is only a temporary thing. We will cease to celebrate the Lord's Supper
when our Lord who has gone away returns again.
We should always look upon Christ's second coming with immediate interest and anxious expectation. I fear that our thoughts about Christ's second coming are too much like the scoffer's words. Though we might never say the words, "Where is the promise of his coming," I am afraid we live too much as those who do not expect it to happen. That should not be! John says, "Behold, he cometh!" He will be here so soon that John puts it in the present tense - "He cometh!" He means for us to understand that Christ is already on his way back to this world. Do not imagine that Christ delays his coming, or that he is simply waiting in heaven to return at the appointed hour. Everything that our Lord is doing in providence and grace he is doing in preparation for his glorious advent. We get uneasy because he has been gone for two thousand years; but he does not calculate time as we do. To him one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (II Pet. 3:8). By that measurement he has only been away for two days! He went away on business for his beloved bride (John 14:1-3; 16:7). As soon as his business is done, as soon as everything that has to be done is done, he will return. His bride may fret and worry, but he knows what he is doing. He will not be moved with passion. He is faithful. He dwells in the leisure of eternity and in the serenity of sovereignty. He is not limited by time and space. He will accomplish his work. Then he will return. From the very moment that he went away, the Lord Jesus has been coming back again. Everything is moving toward that end. "Behold, he cometh!" He is on his way! Every hour brings him nearer. Soon he shall appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation. "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." At the time appointed, Christ will appear! We should await our Savior's coming with patience and anticipation. The grace of God teaches us to be always "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:13). Looking for the glorious appearing of Christ, be patient in trial (I Pet. 1:7), diligent in service (Acts 1:10-11), and always watchful. Live upon the tiptoe of faith, looking for Christ to appear.
HOW WILL THE LORD JESUS CHRIST APPEAR? John says, "Behold, he
cometh with the clouds." John Gill tells us that this "denotes the grand
and magnificent manner in which he will come, making the clouds his chariots...and
the visibility of his coming." When our Savior comes, he will make a glorious,
climatic appearance. "He comes `with the clouds,' that is with glory (Dan.
7:13; Mk. 14:62; Rev. 14:14; Ezek. 1:4-28) and with anger, wrath, judgment
(Zeph. 1:15; Psa. 97:2). The Bible knows nothing about the invisible or
secret second coming. Nowhere is this taught. On the contrary, every eye
shall see him" (William Hendriksen). When Christ comes, everybody will
know it!
In the wilderness, the presence of the Lord was known by the visible
pillar of a cloud by day and of fire by night. The cloud was the sure token
of God's presence. Even so, every eye shll see "the Son of man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30). Christ
will come with great majesty. The King of Glory shall descend from heaven
with clouds of angels and of saints at his side. All the forces of nature
will announce his arrival. The archangel will shout, the trump of God will
sound, the thunder shall announce him, the lightening shall dance before
him, and the clouds will be his chariot. As God came down upon Sinai in
clouds and thick darkness to give the law, so shall the God-man descend
in final judgment. His coming with clouds also implies the power with which
he shall appear. "His strength is in the clouds." He once came as a tender
plant, a root out of dry ground, robed in swaddling clothes, and laid in
a manger; but now he comes with clouds, robed with the tapestry of heaven's
throne, in power and great glory. Certainly, the clouds represent the terror
of his judgment. All believers shall be caught up together with him in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air (I Thess. 4:17). But, to those
unbelieving rebels who remain upon the earth, those clouds shall be signs
of horrifying wrath and judgment (Psa. 97:1-6), as clouds filled with justice,
vengeance, and anger. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming with clouds of unparalleled
splendor. To his saints, this is glorious. To his enemies, this will be
terrifying (I Thess. 5:2-10; II Thess. 1:6-10).
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN CHRIST COMES AGAIN? It is evident that
Christ's coming will be a literal appearance. It is true, Christ comes
to his people spiritually in grace, in providence, and at death. But John
is talking about the literal, bodily, visible coming of the Son of God
to this earth the second time. Child of God, you will see your Savior with
the very same eyes with which you read these words, for at his glorious
appearance there will be a general resurrection (John 5:28-29; I Cor. 15:51-58;
Job 19:25-26).
At his coming, the Lord Jesus Christ will be seen of all men. "Every
eye shall see him." Every child of Adam, both the living and the dead,
shall see the God-man face to face. Your eyes and mine shall look upon
him. In that day, we will look on him, nothing and no one else but him.
Nothing else will be of any significance. Every believer shall look upon
him with satisfaction and delight (I John 3:2). "They also which pierced
him" shall see him. Pilate and Judas, Herod and Caiaphas, the Jews and
the soldiers, all shall see him. Indeed, all who have pierced him by enmity,
rebellion, and unbelief shall see him. When our Lord appears the second
time, an overwhelming horror shall engulf the world. "All kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him." In the last day, as in this present day,
God's elect in the world will be few. However, in that great day, Christ
will conquer his enemies. Every knee shall bow before him and every tongue
shall confess that he is Lord (Isa. 45:23-24; Phil. 2:9-11). Then every
unbeliever, every rebel will wring his hands in fear, scream in terror,
and their hearts will convulse with horror before the wrath of the Lamb
(Rev. 6:14-17). What do God's people say to these things? "Even so. Amen!"
"Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because
of thy judgments, O Lord" (Psa. 97:8). Our hearts rejoice at the prospect
of Christ's coming, his triumph over all his enemies, our complete salvation,
and the ultimate, univeral revelation of our Savior's glory.