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Revelation 1:17
“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” Revelation 1:17
Peter said to Jesus, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8). Isaiah confessed, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isa. 6:5). Daniel says of his encounter with God (Dan 8:27), “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Ezekiel, likewise relates (Ez 1:28), “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” And to numerous others: Paul, Zacharius (father of John the Baptist), the shepherds at the birth of the Savior, and even Mary, Jesus’ mother. All came face to face with God’s glory and felt the fear of their own unworthiness. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we all have experienced the despair of sinners in the presence of a Holy God. We faint, fall on our faces, run away, ask God to depart. Yet God is not thwarted by our resistance. He seeks us in our sad condition and gives us His assurance, “Fear not.”
As Paul bore witness to us by the word of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:38,39), “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What greater love is this (John 15:13), “that a man lay down his life for his friends.” And not just for friends, but (Rom. 5:8), “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus reaches out to John with His right hand. That beautiful hand that healed so many people years earlier in the presence of His beloved disciple. That powerful right hand that Jesus raises in oath to God the Father. That gentle right hand that pulled Peter from the depths of the sea. That hand that was nailed to the cross to assure our salvation. That same hand that neatly folded His burial gown as a testimony to His and our resurrection. That hand that raised the bread and the cup in fellowship to His apostles and to us. That hand that washed the dirty feet of men who would betray Him and desert him in the house of Caiphas. That same hand that replaced the ear of one who’d come to arrest Him. That hand that now intercedes for us in the Sanctuary of Heaven; that hand reached down to John and strengthened him to know God’s great love for us. Love that has no beginning and no end in Jesus, the Eternal One who reaches out His right hand in fellowship to everyone of us as He speaks, “Fear not.” Home | About Us | Bible Study | Billerica Blog | Bible Commentary | Devotional | Online Giving | Ministries | Prayer | Media | Bookstore | News | Calendar | Contact Us | Sermons
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