“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6
Our focus has rightly been turned to the Jesus of the manger - in Bethlehem so far this month.
It’s been Christmas time, and that is what Christmas is about. It’s about Jesus coming into the world.
As we know, the way God designed for that to happen was through natural human process. Through pregnancy, and birth, and dependency, and infancy.
But, lest we have a lopsided view of Jesus, I want to take us to another portrait of Jesus this morning - namely this one in Revelation chapter 1.
It is not a portrait that invalidates the one we find in the account of his birth; it is a portrait that compliments and deepens the birth picture of the gospels. It shows us the divine Jesus behind the human picture we see in Bethlehem.
My aim this morning is to show you twenty-four attributes of Jesus which I see here in chapter 1. And the way I want to present them to you is in the form of twelve couplets or pairs.
The idea being that we can take one pair for each month of the year ahead. I hope that it will be helpful at the end of another year to have our attention riveted on Jesus, and to have twelve useful insights into his character, work and intention as we move into a new year of life.
Mary, we are told, pondered all the things about Jesus’ birth in her heart. And here, you’ll notice in verse 3 that there is blessing conferred on the one who reads this prophecy of Revelation and ‘takes to heartwhat is written in it’.
I would like us to be like Mary. At the first appearing of Jesus, she took to heart the significance of Jesus. And we want to take to heart the significance of Jesus as we find him presented to us here in Revelation.
And there’s a blessing for us if we do!
These twenty-four descriptors of Jesus in his personhood, his work and his intentions do paint for us a very vivid portrait of Jesus - even a terrifying one at times. So much so, that John fell on his face ‘as though dead’, verse 17 says.
Have you ever stood in front of a painting in a gallery and asked yourself: ‘what is this trying to say?’ There seems to be a kind of artist language where everything in the painting is meant to be telling a story; it’s all there for a reason.
But unless you know the interpretive keys, it’s hard to understand what is being conveyed, except an interesting scene expertly painted.
The richer experience of the painting comes with knowledge of what the image conveys.
Some of the language of this passage is like one of those paintings. The image is so much more than a scary man with bronze feet, white hair, blazing eyes and a sword coming out of his mouth. We just need the interpretive keys to unlock what the images mean.
And thankfully the keys are right at our fingertips because they are allin our bibles.
I want to show you how these word pictures tell us a lot about Jesus. And how, when we put them together, they can speak powerfully into our lives this coming year.
The key though that unlocks their power is trust. We must believe in the Jesus that this portrait conveys to us. We must treasure this Jesus. If we don’t believe in the Jesus it conveys, then there will be no power for us here.
January
So, I would like to start with love. January is for the love of Jesus. Verse 5 says he ‘loves us’. And I’m going to couple that with verse 17 where Jesus says to John, ‘do not be afraid’.
This revelation of Jesus made John fall down like he was dead, it was that fearsome. And yet Jesus says, ‘don’t be afraid John’. The reasonJohn doesn’t need to be afraid is not because the portrait of Jesus is inaccurate. It isn’t! Jesus is fearsome. The reason John doesn’t need to be afraid is because Jesus loves him.
I have clients who bring their dogs to site meetings - dogs that I am very afraid of. I spend my whole time with one eye on those dogs because they are so fearsome. They’ve got sharp teeth, and their bodies are as high as my waist. And their heads are bigger than my head. It just feels like they could eat me if they got off their leads.
But when my client sees me looking all uneasy, he tries to relax my mind. He tells me about his relationship with his dogs and how much they love him. He’s not afraid of them.
I am. But I don’t have a relationship with those dogs.
It’s not that Jesus isn’t awesome and formidable and piercing - he is. But it’s that he loves John. He’s for John. And he is for us too. If we have received him as our personal saviour he will not look fearsome to us anymore!
February
In fact, he loves his people so much he was willing to die for them. That’s the first half of the February pair. Verse 5 says, ‘he freed us from our sins by his blood’. And I want to pair this one up with what is says about Jesus earlier in verse 5 – namely, he is ‘the faithful witness’.
There is an act on the part of Jesus and there is a testimony on the part of Jesus. And they go hand in hand. The act is his own death on the cross for us.
That happened at a moment in time, and we weren’t there to see it. Jesus loves us in our trusting that he went to the cross for us - to take away our sins. That’s what the verse says.
And since we weren’t there, we must believe that the testimony of Jesus about that act of Jesus for us, is true. Jesus is ‘the faithful witness’. He is totally true and totally accurate.
Through his word he has testified that, not only did he go to the cross for us if we believe in him, but also that his going to the cross for us was enough. It was enough to satisfy the anger of God against us.
Jesus is a trustworthy witness to the effectiveness of his own work on our behalf, so that we can have confidence that his posture towards us is not the terrifying portrait that John absolutely was floored by, but is a posture of love!
March
March is for the humanity of Jesus, coupled with his immovablestrength. And I place it here because without his humanity he could not have died for us.
Verse 13 describes him as ‘someone like a son of man’. In fact, he wasn’t a son of man - he had no earthly father.
But he was born of woman and as such he was a son of humanity, even though he was so much more than a mere son of man. But in his appearing as a man, Philippians says, he became obedient to death. And that is essential to God’s plan to redeem us and essential for our salvation.
The verse that counterbalances that understanding of who Jesus is, is that of verse 15, when it says, ‘his feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace’. It’s a reference from Daniel 10, where Daniel has a vision of a man with bronze legs. The image speaks of resolute stability and immovability. And it’s a glorious stability that is being conveyed, that’s why the bronze glows.
So, Jesus might look weak in his humanity; coming into the world as a baby; dying on a cross as a man, but we shouldn’t feel like we have weak Jesus. Rather, he is absolutely fixed, and he is glorious in his permeance.
April
And that enduring nature says something about his control. April is about Jesus’ sovereign control over all things. We see it clearly in verse 5, he is ‘the ruler of the kings of the earth’. And at the end of verse 18 when he says to John, ‘I hold the keys of death and Hades’. These two declarations about Jesus that speak to his sovereign control over the natural realm and the spiritual realm.
The rulers of the earth think of themselves as amongst the most powerful of beings. Some of them jostle for the accolade of most powerful. But Jesus is ruler over them all.
Vladamir Putin, Donald Trump, Xi Jingping, Kim Jong Un, Kier Starmer – they are all in the positions they are in because Jesus is in control.
But he’s not only in control of the natural realm, he’s in control of the spiritual realm too. Death is under his control because he can rescue people from death and deliver them over to life.
Hades is under his control because the realm of the dead will give up its dead when Jesus says so, and every single person will be raised to life with a body.
Death and Hades lock people in, but Jesus holds the keys to them and at his command they spring open.
In this way Jesus is the sovereign ruler over all the realms of earth and heaven. He is in ultimate control.
May
And because he is sovereign, his voice is a voice of majestic authority. How could it be anything else? May is all about the voice of Jesus. In verse 10, John heard behind him a loud voice that he describes as being ‘like a trumpet’.
We know it was Jesus’ voice, because when John looked around to see the voice, it came from the among the golden lampstands, which is where Jesus was standing. And then in verse 15, his voice is described as sounding like ‘rushing waters’.
When God appeared on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, his presence was announced with a trumpet blast. Jesus carries that same authority. He speaks with the loud command of the trumpet blast. In Ezekiel 43, God’s glory is accompanied by a voice that sounded ‘like the roar of rushing waters’.
The trumpet and the rushing waters show Jesus to be ultimate in authority and majestic in authority. All authority has been given to him and his word of judgement will be true and definitive.
June
Next, Jesus has overcome death in his own body. June is for life from the dead. And as he has risen, so we shall rise in him. In verse 18, he is declared to be the ‘living one’. Even though he died, he lives.
But his life from the death is pattern-making also. Verse 5 says that he is ‘the firstborn from the dead’. In other words, others will tread in his footsteps. As he has risen, so shall those who are united to him rise from the dead.
Death will not be victorious, even though it is coming for us all. To be in Jesus is to be alive in him forevermore!
July
Hebrews says that because Jesus rose from the dead ‘he ever lives’. And the purpose it gives for his ‘ever living’ is to intercede on our behalf with God, and so to ‘save us completely’.
Intercession is the work of a priest. And Hebrews presents Jesus as our great high priest. That’s what July is for – the priesthood of Jesus.
Verses 13 and 14 present Jesus in this way. Verse 13 describes him as ‘dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet’ and with a ‘golden sash around his chest’.
Exodus 28 describes the clothing of the high priest which included a robe and a sash. These items that Jesus is wearing point us to his high priesthood.
But the difference here is the robe reaches all the way down to his feet and the sash is golden. That shows that Jesus is a high priest in a different order to that of the Aaron. A better order.
All the high priests in the order of Aaron died and could no longer intercede for people. But Jesus is not of the order of Aaron, he is of the order of Melchizedek. He has a priesthood that lasts forever and therefore he can continue to intercede for us and so save us completely.
The second half is that His hair was ‘like white wool, as white as snow’ - verse 14 says. This speaks to Jesus’ purity. Hebrews 7 adds that such a high priest ‘meets our need completely – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners’.
Although the reference to his hair is probably driving at his wisdom, yet the colour is driving at his purity. Jesus intercedes with God the Father on our behalf with his own perfection and with perfect wisdom.
The Father cannot refuse him – he is perpetually well pleased with Jesus! That is immeasurably good news for us!
August
But, even though Jesus has ascended on high and is interceding for us, that doesn’t mean he’s not with us now. He is with us now.
He said, with his departing words to the disciples, ‘and surely I am with you always, to the end of the age’. He also said to his disciples that he would not ‘leave them as orphans’ after he had departed, but would ‘come to them’ - by his spirit.
The first thing he did was make us to be ‘a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father’, verse 6 says. He is the high priest, but he has made us to be priests too. Priests who serve our God.
And we serve as part of a kingdom, of which Jesus is also the king. 1 Peter 2 says we are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation’ on account of Jesus.
Why does Peter say that? He says it to reinforce the point that we are ‘living stones’ that make up a spiritual house. And that house is called the church. Verse 13 has Jesus in the midst of the lampstands, which verse 20 identifies as the churches.
Jesus walks amongst his churches. His presence strengthens his churches. This awesome portrait of Jesus, which frightened John to his core, is meant to encourage and embolden the church in its function of witnessing to this dark world and standing firm against the tide of unbelief and anti-God sentiment that it operates in.
That’s why chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are a kind of report card; feeding back on how the seven churches are performing in their God-given role.
Some of those report cards are good, but most of them are critical in some way. And it behooves us to look squarely at Jesus again, as we leave another year and go into a new one and ask: ‘where can we derive more courage from this portrait of Jesus, and where can we stand firmer as a church?’
So August is for the church that he has made us, and the presencethat he is amongst us.
September
Obviously, if we are going to make a stand in our culture as a church, and if we are going to serve our God faithfully, we will come under some fire – both from our culture, and from the spiritual forces of evil. And that will feel uncomfortable; and it will feel very trying at times.
Verse 9, for September, helps us not to be alarmed when the trials come because they are to be expected.
Along with the kingdom that we have been made a part of by Jesus, we get to join him in his ‘suffering’ and his ‘patient endurance’ both of which he demonstrated going to the cross. They are ‘ours in Jesus’ verse 9 says.
Peter urges us to not be frightened by these things, but to count ourselves blessed when we suffer for what is right. And to always revere Christ in our hearts.
The verse I want to pair with this one for September is the statement in verse 14 that says, his ‘eyes were like blazing fire’. It’s a reference from Daniel 10 again.
It conveys the penetrating vision of Jesus. Hebrews 4 says ‘no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account’.
Considering the trials that ours in Jesus, I’m taking this statement about Jesus’ penetrating gaze, as comforting. He knows the wrongs that are being perpetrated against his people. He will not let one of them go unaccounted.
Every creature - earthly or heavenly - who has persecuted his people will have to pay. Vengeance is his. He is a just Jesus and he will repay each one according to their deeds.
So, trials for standing firm, yes. But Jesus has not forgotten us either.
October
October’s verses give us even more hope for help in these trials. Here we find Jesus’ provision for his church. In verse 16, Jesus is seen with a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. And he’s also seen with seven stars in his right hand.
Hebrews 4 helps us to interpret the sword. It says, ‘the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword’. So, the Word that proceeds from the mouth of Jesus is living and active. That’s good for us. Hebrews says it penetrates judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
I’d like to encourage you all, on the cusp of a new year, to read your bibles every day next year. Make it your number one resolution. There is nothing that will benefit your life so much as allowing Jesus’ sword to penetrate your heart every single day.
Jesus has designed his word to do us good. This is not a sword that slashes his people, it is a scalpel that he uses like a skilled surgeon to tend to his people. Let’s be a church of the Word in 2025.
The seven stars I think are church elders – literally the messengers of the churches. The elders are the one’s tasked with messaging the word.
Paul and I must handle the word faithfully and carefully. And we will be held to account for doing that.
Jesus has designed that his churches be shepherded by the elders that he raises up in them - especially as they take the word and faithfully convey to the people what it means, and the implications for her service here below.
Jesus said in John 10, ‘no one will snatch them out of my hand’. The stars are in his hand. The churches that are true will not be snatched away. And he will ensure that happens by means of his word and his faithful shepherds who love the church enough to say both encouraging things, and hard things too.
November
November is for the eternal purpose of Jesus. Verse 7 says ‘he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him’. And verse 17 reminds us that Jesus is ‘the First and Last’. His work is finished, but the final consummation is yet to be realised.
This isn’t it folks. What you see around you in the world now, is not the end game. The end game is a world inhabited by people who all know and love Jesus.
That means there is another installment in this plan. Jesus as ‘First and Last’ refers to his God-ness – he will be worshipped by all. And that’s why he’s coming back.
When he comes, he is coming to take up his rightful reign on the earth. And in honour of his arrival, every single eye will be fixed on his appearing.
The people who rejected him will mourn because of him. They will know, in that moment, that he has not come to bring peace to them, but his sword of judgement. Here the sword of his mouth will slash.
And they will see the fearsome Jesus that this portrait depicts – the one that caused John to fall down as though dead.
December
The final pairing - for December - is Jesus’ glory and triumph. Verse 18, Jesus declares, ‘I am alive for ever and ever’. And verse 16 says, ‘his face was shining like the sun’.
The ultimate goal of all of God’s plan for mankind and the world is that his glory be seen and known. The glory of God’s grace is most supremely seen in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ.
And when that final state comes into being, and sin has been dealt with once for all, then the glory of Jesus will be forever seen and forever praised.
In Revelation 5, Jesus is depicted as a lamb looking as if it had been slain. In verse 12 it says that all those in heaven, said in a loud voice: ‘worthy is the lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth andwisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!’
Jesus was slain, and now he is alive forever more. And as a result of that, he is worthy to receive all the glory for ever and ever. When he returns, in all his glory, he will receive the honour and praise he is due. And we will be a part of that throng that finds our most exquisite joy to be the praise of our Lord, Jesus.
So, I hope, that as we end this year, we will end it with our eyes fixedon Jesus.
And, that as we go into a new year, we will have a more complete; a more rounded portrait of Jesus, that will help us in the year ahead.