Our Risen and Ruling Lord

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I performed Mason and Cindy Leaf’s wedding on March 17, 2001, in Sylva, NC. Following the wedding I started for home around 6 p.m., taking that beautiful stretch of I-40 west from Ashville toward Knoxville through the Smoky Mountains. The sun was setting and dusk was settling over the mountains. Suddenly quite a ways off to my right I saw a large red neon sign glaring brilliantly to all who passed that way two giant words: JESUS RULES.  

JESUS RULES! So bold, so fearless, so strong, so true. JESUS RULES! Ever since He walked out of that tomb in resurrection power as Satan’s conqueror, sin’s vanquisher, and death’s destroyer, He is our RISEN AND RULING LORD. Revelation 1 gives us the most awesome portrayal of our RISEN AND RULING LORD in all the Bible. Right here at the front door of the great book of Revelation stands our RISEN AND RULING SAVIOR AND LORD as the aged Apostle John saw Him while in exile on the Isle of Patmos, writing in the early AD 90s. Here in these words, God reveals to us the future coming of Christ as our RISEN AND RULING LORD.  

THE FIRSTBORN OF THE DEAD, RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH

The apostle John identifies the source of the book of Revelation, the triune God:

Revelation 1:4-5, 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 the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.

John describes Christ as our faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, the great lover of our souls, and the One who poured out His blood to release or free us from our sins. What a great Savior He is – our RISEN, RULING, and we can add RETURNING LORD.

Revelation 1:7-8, Behold, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. 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.”

“So it is to be.” That’s good. One little Greek word – nai. So it is! Assuredly. He’s coming. Who is He? The God-Man who came to die for sinners. Everyone will see Him. He’s equal with the Father: the Alpha–Omega, the complete story. He is the eternal, self-existing, Almighty God (Pantokrator) who became a man! Now, let’s take a closer look at exactly what John saw as the RISEN AND RULING LORD met him in his exile on that desolate island, Patmos.

THE GLORY OF OUR RISEN AND RULING CHRIST

First, John sees Christ in the midst of His churches.

Revelation 1:12-13, Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; [13] and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.

John didn’t turn and see Buddha or Mohammed or the Mahdi or a set of golden plates or Mary or even Jesus hanging on a cross. Jesus certainly did hang on a Roman cross, but that’s not where He is now. John turned and saw Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God as He wants us to think of Him now – RISEN AND RULING in the midst of His churches, pictured as golden lampstands. MacArthur notes. “The church is God’s most beautiful entity on earth.”    

Second, John sees Christ in all His glorious attributes.

Revelation 1:13-16, and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. [14] His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. [15] His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. [16] In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

  • His full-length robe represents His dignity and perfection as our Prophet, Priest, and King.  
  • His priestly golden sash represents the costliness of His redeeming work for us.
  • His white hair reminds us that He is the source and treasure of all wisdom and knowledge.
  • His flaming eyes pierce through all of man’s sins and excuses and fully exposes man’s depraved heart. He instantly and thoroughly knows every thought, motive, and imagination of every man’s heart. There’s no hiding from His gaze.
  • His bronze, red-hot glowing feet assure us He is the great and mighty judge who will protect His people from all enemies and will finally execute God’s wrath against all His enemies. He isn’t a limp-wristed, weak-kneed, milquetoast, namby-pamby, pantywaist, wimp of a weakling. He is the Lamb of God who came to earth to take away the sins of all His people, but He is also the mighty Lion of the tribe of Judah.
  • His voice, like a trumpet and the sound of many waters, goes forth in the power and authority of the gospel, effectually calling His sheep to Himself, softening their sin-hardened hearts and quenching the thirst of their souls as the living God.  
  • His mighty right hand keeps and protects His people. No one shall ever pluck them out of His omnipotent hand. He has never lost one.  
  • His Word as a two-edged sword goes forth to punish in judgment and to save by His grace and through His Word transforming His people into His likeness.
  • His face is too bright to look upon, utterly dazzling, like the sun. John got a taste of this once before, years earlier on that mountain where Jesus was transfigured before them – a foretaste of coming glory, which is now here.

This is the glory of the RISEN AND RULING Christ. We aren’t talking about some mystical apparition – Jesus appearing in a vision in the clouds or on a piece of French toast or at the foot of your bed. But as you look on Jesus in all his RISEN AND RULING glory – being both Man and God, sovereign, supreme, majestic, yet loving and gracious – your heart might fail like John’s did.  

Revelation 1:17a, When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. 

John fell down as if dead at His feet. That’s where we all belong, along with Daniel, Ezekiel, Peter, all the disciples, that leper who came back worshipping and thanking Christ at His feet, and many more. If you saw Him in all His glory, you too would fall down as if dead. While we need to remember Jesus’ humanity and condescension, when we lose the reverence and awe of Christ, when we forget that He is indeed the risen, ruling, reigning Christ, we have gone too far. But there is mercy and grace in Him.

THE RISEN AND RULING CHRIST BRINGS HOPE AND JOY

Revelation 1:17-18, When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, [18] and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

What does Jesus do? He reaches out that scarred right hand, that life-giving, powerful, protecting, personal right hand and lays it on John. Isn’t that good? We’re not talking about an ethereal gnostic Christ, as Nathan has taught us about the false Christ of Gnosticism in 1 John.  Jesus is the One who came down, not to angels but to humans, and not just to humans but to sinners. He joined us as a virgin-conceived human. He came with the one mission to seek and to save those who were lost. To do that He had to endure the mocking and abuse and spitting and nails and agony of the cross. He came as the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for sinners. And then as the Lion of the tribe of Judah He came roaring out of Joseph’s tomb as the RISEN AND RULING LORD. He ascended to the right hand of God and waits today for the Father’s nod to return to rule and reign forever. He’s man’s only hope. Listen to the words of hope He gave to John in five statements:.

  1. I am for you – you don’t need to fear (vs. 17b).  While we too would probably drop at His feet as dead people, Christ lifts us up and says, “Don’t fear!” The RISEN AND RULING LORD is for you and if Christ be for you, who can be against you? “Don’t be afraid.” How many times Jesus said, “Fear not” to His disciples! They were terrified when they saw Him walking on the water, thinking they saw a spirit. But He said, “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” If you know the RISEN AND RULING Christ, you have all you need to handle life’s trials. When you face persecution, surgery, cancer, the unknown, when you realize you’re going to die and stand before God, don’t fear. Your RISEN AND RULING LORD is for you; His hand is on your life. In Psalm 63:8 David declared, “My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”  
  1. I am your God – I am the first and the last, the protos and the eschatos (vs. 17b).  Jesus isn’t the lesser god of the cults or the social justice Jesus of the liberal crowd. He is the second person of the Godhead.

Isaiah 44:6, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That’s why you can trust Him. He is God’s Word to us, from A to Z. If you’re wondering what all this means, look at the last chapter in Revelation.

Revelation 22:12-13, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. [13] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

He came from eternity into time to redeem us and bring us to glory. He’s our Risen, Ruling, and Returning Lord God Almighty.

  1. I am the source of all life – I am the living God (vs. 18a).  He is not a dead idol or a mere ideology or empty philosophy. In Psalm 42:2 David prayed, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Have you never sensed the emptiness of life without Christ? This world and all its dead idols will never satisfy your heart. If it can break, leak, die, rust, or age, it won’t satisfy your soul. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.” Our RISEN AND RULING LORD is the living God. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).  If you are outside of Christ, you are living a dead life. All your hopes, your dreams, your goals will vanish the moment your life ends. To know Christ is to know true and satisfying life. He is the living God.
  1. I have conquered death forever – “I was dead and, BEHOLD, I am alive forevermore.”  

Why does He say this? He wants us to face the future and death with the courage that only He can give. He died in the place of sinners. He submitted to Satan’s heel-crushing. He went down into death as the Lamb, but He came roaring out of death into life as the ever-living Lion of the tribe of Judah. David took Goliath’s sword and cut off his head. Christ took Satan’s sword, death, and cut off his head. Hebrews 2:14 says through death Christ rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Sin is paid for once for all. There will never be another sacrifice for sin. These  priests who claim they are sacrificing Jesus Sunday after Sunday in the mass are following a deadly, fatal error. There was one sacrifice for sin; Jesus was that once for all and final, “It is finished” sacrifice. He died once for all and having swallowed death up completely, He now lives forever.  

Hebrews 9:28, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

He is our RISEN AND RULING LORD, and He assures us He’ll never die again. Up from that grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes. Skeletons of men, women, and children can be found in the cemeteries and in earth’s crust around this world. There’s a mummy museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, with all kinds of skeletons on display. We once saw the mummy of Tutankamon in the Chicago Field Museum. But there is one skeleton no one will ever discover. They will never find the skeleton of Jesus Christ, who is alive forevermore!  

He is Lord, He is Lord;

He is risen from the dead and He is Lord!

Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess,

That Jesus Christ is Lord!

  1. I rule over your greatest enemies – death and Hades.  

Revelation 1:18, I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Our RISEN AND RULING LORD says, “I have the keys to death and Hades.” If you’ve got the keys you’ve got authority. Christ went into death, came out again, and will open that door for every one of His people. None will have died in vain. At the Great White Throne Judgment He will throw death and Hades into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). Why? It all goes back to that first Sunday, that first day of the week, when Christ came out of that tomb, our great and mighty Conqueror, our RISEN AND RULING LORD! 

SO WHAT?

That empty tomb is the hinge of history, the linchpin of our faith, the Gibraltar of biblical Christianity. It is the ultimate proof that Christianity is true. The resurrection of Christ fired and fueled the preaching in Acts. “You killed Him, but God raised Him up” (Acts 2:23-24). We can and should be people of the greatest joy, of constant thankfulness, regardless of our circumstances, suffering, trials, pain, for this one huge reason. He’s alive. We nailed Him to that cross, but God raised Him from the dead as our RISEN AND RULING LORD. We will see His face (Rev.22:4) and serve Him with pure joy and pleasure forever and ever. That’s in the final chapter of the book.  

That red neon sign along I-40 glowing in the dusk captured the whole truth in just two words, “JESUS RULES.” He is our RISEN AND RULING LORD. Do you believe this? Have you fallen down as a dead man in Jesus’ awesome presence? Has His powerful right hand touched your heart? Can you say He is your RISEN AND RULING LORD? As you look at your life this Resurrection morning, can you say all your hope is in Him? Nothing in history matches the fact that this Man, this Jewish Messiah, not only died but was resurrected, never to die again. That tomb is empty. He is alive forevermore. He is our RISEN AND RULING LORD.  Praise God.  Because He lives, we too shall live!