- Chapter 4: "The Eternal Christ!"

ALL OF THE GREAT ARTISTS OF THE PAST, all of them combining their talents on a gigantic canvas, could never have given us a true portrait of our Lord Jesus Christ or of His universal power. Instead, we look into the Scriptures, and particularly into the Revelation, to find a satisfying description of the eternal Son of God with whom we will be associated throughout the ages to come.

William T. MacArthur, an early leader in The Christian and Missionary Alliance and one of its outstanding preachers, termed the description of Jesus Christ in Revelation 1:13-16 “the only authentic portrait of our Savior and Lord.”

Those celebrated European painters, whose works adorn the world’s great art galleries, undoubtedly did their best to depict our Lord. They were limited, however, by their finite concepts of the Subject. To be frank, I do not want to hold in my mind an unworthy concept of my divine Savior. We Christians should earnestly desire the Holy Spirit to sketch a true and transforming portrait of Jesus Christ across our innermost beings! Our delight should be in the assurance that Christ lives within us, moment by moment. And that assurance must come from God’s holy Word. Do you personally desire with me that the Holy Spirit will dip His brush and begin to paint across the canvas of our souls a living portrayal of Jesus Christ, complete with blood and fire?

It is a sad thought, but I suppose some Christians are going to be disappointed when they actually see Jesus. Their concept of Him has been shaped by the paintings and images they have seen of the human Jesus. The radiant, awesome Jesus of the Revelation is totally outside their perspective.

Those who are critical of the Scriptures would have us believe that the symbols in the Revelation are meaningless and a study in futility. I take strong exception to such conclusions! John saw much, he learned much, and he shares his understanding. For example, Jesus explained to John that the seven stars in His right hand are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. John passes on that information to us.