Mike Bickle emphasizes the multifaceted beauty of Jesus as the Son of Man, highlighting His roles as prophet, priest, and king. He explains how Jesus reveals His glory and majesty to John in Revelation, showcasing His infinite nature as the Alpha and Omega. Bickle connects the significance of Jesus' identity to the prophetic message of the end times, urging believers to understand and interact with Jesus in these dimensions to effectively share the message of Revelation. The sermon underscores the importance of recognizing Jesus as both fully God and fully man, which is essential for spiritual growth and understanding of God's plan for humanity.

In the name of Jesus, for the beauty of Christ Jesus, we thank you for his beauty, Abba. We ask that you'd reveal it to us, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, we're in a series on the beauty of God for those that are visiting, and we're actually working through Revelation chapter 4, which is the unveiling of the Father's glory and the Father's beauty, but there's so many intersecting dimensions between the picture of Jesus, the portrait of Jesus in Revelation 1 and Revelation 4 that I want us to be familiar with the two so we can bring them together. So we're just taking a week or so just on this and then going right back to Revelation 4. Revelation 1, I mean Roman numeral 1, Jesus shows his glory and his beauty to John as the Son of Man. This topic or this theme of Jesus as the Son of Man is huge. I'm just going to say that. It might be a new idea to you, but I got a page or two of notes in it. We're not going to cover them all, but I just want to, I want you to register that, that Jesus as the Son of Man, he functions as prophet, priest, and king. Those are the three offices in the Old Testament that were all pictures of the Messiah. And so Jesus as the Son of Man brings these three together, and we'll just touch each of them just a little bit here in Revelation chapter 1, which is really foundational for understanding the Father's glory in Revelation chapter 4. It says in verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Now, of course, this is John the Apostle talking. He's caught up in the Spirit. His natural senses are suspended temporarily, and the Spirit is guiding him and revealing things to him in a direct, in an unusual manner. That's what it means to be in the Spirit on the Lord's day. And I heard behind me a loud voice. It's like the voice of a trumpet. He hears the Lord, actually. It's the voice of Jesus behind him like a trumpet. And this voice, which we find out in a moment is Jesus, he identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. Now, interesting is that God the Father in chapter 1 verse 8 identifies himself in the exact same way. And so this is Jesus identifying himself in the way the Father identified himself. Now, in the book of Revelation, God the Father only spoke two times in the book of Revelation, directly, two times. On both occasions, chapter 1 verse 8 and then chapter 21, on both occasions, he said, I'm the first and the last, the beginning and the end. So this is really big to God the Father. And Jesus begins the revelation of himself here in the book of Revelation by quoting this massively significant statement that God the Father said twice, but more significantly the only two times he spoke in the book of Revelation. He points to this. And of course, this is talking, you know, Alpha and Omega is obviously the first and the last alphabet in the Greek language. And John is writing in Greek to a Greek audience. And so when he says Alpha and Omega, I'm the A and the Z. That's what he's saying. He's pointing to the fact that he's infinite. He's boundless. There's no limit whatsoever of what he can do except that he has to stay within the confines of his own character of righteousness and holiness and be true to his own word. This issue of the Alpha and the Omega expresses his infinity, his boundless supply to fulfill everything he's ever said. And so this is Jesus on his first statement in the book of Revelation about himself. He blasts a trumpet and he goes, I'm infinite as a man. I am fully God, but I yet I am fully man as well. I have the infinite resources of God because I myself am the uncreated God. Jesus is uncreated like the Father is and like the Spirit. Meaning in eternity past, there was never a time where Jesus did not exist. And the fact that he would become human is, is so massive. The uncreated God became human and paid the price for us and then wants us to partner with him in governing the universe. I mean, governing the earth as a man. Massive. Then, so Jesus, verse 11, is standing behind him, just absolutely shocks him undoubtedly. I mean, John's in the Spirit and he's looking around saying, okay, where am I and what's happening? This blast. I'm sure that's not how it went, but this blast of a trumpet. I am the Alpha and the Omega. It is me. I am the express image of the glory and the brightness of my Father. That's Hebrews 1.3. Jesus is the express image, the exact representation of his Father's heart and his Father's power. So Jesus goes on the line and says this and with that introduction of himself with a trumpet, he commissions John to a prophetic office. When he says write in the book and send it, that is a prophetic commissioning to this man in his 90s. He's already an apostle, but he's saying, you will prophesy for all of church history. You will have the ultimate prophecy that will culminate in natural history, but I want you to write it and I want you to send it forth. In other words, I want you to employ it. I want you to circulate it. I want you to get the word out. And so at this time, John doesn't know what he's He doesn't know it's the most significant prophecy in all of human history. He's about to receive it. Isn't it interesting that the two most significant prophecies, as far as I am concerned, in the whole Bible concerning the events of natural history and how they culminate is written by John in his 90s and the other is written by Daniel in his 80s. It was two devout men. They were both single for the Lord their whole life. They were both intercessors committed to fasting and prayers their whole life. And it's at the end of their life. When the Lord gives them the grandest mandate of their entire life, John's in his eighties. I mean, Daniel's in his eighties and John's in his nineties. And they both write on the same theme, how natural history ends and how God establishes his glory through his son on the earth. Now being one of the 12 apostles is pretty serious, but most of the apostles, their impact though was significant in their generation. We don't know much about what they said or what they thought or much about what they did, but John's prophecy, he gets at the very end of his life. I mean, it's different than his apostolic ministry. This is a different mandate he's getting, he's receiving and it has its own impact. And so he tells him to write this thing in a book and send it. You know, it's one thing to get the message clear. It's one thing to write it down to get it clear. It's another thing to circulate it. John is, is, is about to receive, he hasn't received it yet, the most politically incorrect statement that's ever been given on the earth. The book of Revelation, there is nothing that is more politically incorrect that offends the sensibilities of both believers and unbelievers of Jews and Gentiles than the book of Revelation. So the Lord tells him in a trumpet blast, and then he makes a statement about his infinite supply as God. He goes, I am commissioning you as God, as the one who has the power to back up what I'm about to tell you. Because Jesus is the one who is acting throughout the book of Revelation and he needs to be the Alpha and the Omega. If he is going to back up what he's about to tell John, he must be the beginning and the end of all things. Then he goes, I want you to send it to the seven churches in Asia and he lists them. Verse 12, then I turn around to see the voice that was speaking to me. So I'm, I'm, I'm imagining John for this verse 10 and 11, takes a moment for the Lord to say this. He's, he hasn't turned around yet. He's still, his eyes are closed, I'm imagining. The Alpha and the Omega himself is talking to him, his heart is pounding. Maybe there's a little recovery moment after verse 11. Maybe there's a pause. Well, in verse 12, he finally turns to see the voice that spoke with him. And when he turned, he saw seven golden lampstands. Now we, we know from verse 20, they speak of the seven churches, but the significance of the lampstands is that the lampstands are, is, are one of the most significant articles of furniture in the, in the temple. And Solomon's temple was the, was the lampstands. We'll get to that in a little while, but he sees the lampstands that are positioned in the holy place. He, he knows he's peering into God's temple as what's going on. And you know, do you know who represents God's light in the holy place is, is the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ? Because in the holy place, there was no natural light in the holy place, but it was the lampstands right next to the altar of incense. The prayer and worship, and there's the lampstands and the prayer and worship, and they go together in the holy place. And that is, that is a statement as to how the church of Jesus is to function. Again, I'm getting ahead of myself, but we're to shine forth light, supernatural light. There is no natural light in the holy place, but next to the lampstands is the altar of incense, the worship and prayer ministry, because the worship and prayer ministry and the lampstand ministry, they go hand in hand together. Well, in the midst of the seven lampstands, he sees one like the Son of Man. Now he's looking at his friend, his dear friend, Jesus. But what he sees is so glorious, instead of just saying Jesus, he calls him the one like the Son of Man, which is a obvious quoting of Daniel chapter 7, which we'll look at in a minute, where Jesus was first introduced in the Bible with the phrase, the one like the Son of Man, right from Daniel chapter 7 verse 13, a very famous prophecy of Jesus. Every Jewish leader knew that prophecy, and when John says, one like the Son of Man, John is fully aware he's connecting his friend Jesus to the man from Daniel chapter 7 verse 13. But this man was clothed with priestly garments, with a priestly robe. It's a garment that reaches to the feet. The idea that it's a robe, it's not a just a, you know, like Elijah had a mantle on his shoulders. This was a full robe. A garment that reached the feet was a robe, which is meant to be understood as Jesus in the position of the high priest in the temple. And he was girded about his chest with a golden band. Now the high priest had a sash around his chest, a linen sash, it had gold threads in it, but we find here John sees that the high priest, the Jewish high priest with the linen sash is only a picture of the eternal high priest with a golden band around his chest. So Jesus is clearly being set forth as the great high priest before John. Verse 4, 14. Then he sees his head and his hair were white like wool. He goes on to say, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire, and his feet were like fine brass or refined brass. It's brass that's been cleansed, the dross has been removed because it's been in the furnace. His voice is like the sound of many waters. Now he's actually seeing these things. These are not symbolic, they have meaning about Jesus's character, but he's actually seeing these dimensions of Jesus. Verse 16, he had in his right hand seven stars, which you find in chapter, in verse 20, a couple verses later, these are the seven apostolic leaders over the seven churches. And out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. So now he shows himself, from verse 12 to 18, as this alpha and omega, limitless, no end of my supply, son of man. That's what he's revealing himself to. So he goes back to the original thing that he appeared to John to do in verse 11, was to tell him, remember verse 11, he said, right, I want you to make this prophetic word known to the nations. So verse 7, 19, he goes back. Jesus now continues to speak, because John is now paused, because Jesus spoke in verse 11, he said, right, and the next thing Jesus says is in verse 19. He continues, right. Jesus hasn't said anything besides right, and he repeats it again, right. But verse 12 to 18, John pauses in the narrative to describe what he's seeing before he continues with the message that Jesus gave him. Jesus gave him a very simple message. His message, his summary is in verse 11, I have no limitation on my power and my wisdom and my supply, therefore, right, the greatest prophecy the world will ever see. Then he shows John, he shows John his infinite supply as the son of man. Then he goes back again in verse 19, and he says, now I'm going to repeat to you, John, get the message clear. To write it is to get it clear and to get it permanent, to get it where it can be transferable, but to write it, you have to get it clear too. And then you get it in a transferable mode, and then he tells him, he goes, John, I want you to write what you've already seen. John is shaking, he's trembling, he's trembling before the Lord, this point in time. And he tells him, he goes, I want you to write the things that you've seen. I want you to write the things that are right now, and I want you to write the things that are going to take place in the distant future, which of course, what the book of Revelation is all about. And then verse 20, he unveils the mystery of the seven stars, which they saw in his hand and the seven golden lamp stands. He tells him, he says, the seven stars are the messengers. The word angels, the word messenger. It's the messenger of the seven churches. And I believe they're apostolic leaders, I believe that they're humans. I don't believe that God, the Lord appeared to John and gave him a message, and they used to write the message down in the natural, then somehow he's supposed to get that natural letter to the angelic realm, like, okay angels, I know you're there, come and take this message. So the angels are supposed to interpret this as angels, the word messenger means angels. Then the angels have the message, now they got to go get that letter to the seven churches in Asia. There's all kinds of dilemmas of getting a letter to an angel and then getting the angel to give the letter to somebody far away. I don't think he's giving a letter to an angel, I don't think that's going on. I don't think John is instructing the angels right here. I think that it's clearly the messengers of the seven churches. And he goes on, he talks a little bit about that. Okay, paragraph A. John revealed his majesty and beauty, I mean Jesus revealed his majesty and beauty to John as the God-man. Now particularly, we're gonna look at this issue of the Son of Man, because this is a grand mystery, the Son of Man. It's a bit of an enigma, the paradoxes of Jesus being fully God and fully man, that's what's before John. But specifically, he's gonna give three different veins of truth about himself. He's gonna show himself to John as the prophet, the priest, and the king. These are the three primary offices that God ordained in the Old Testament. They were special offices that each had special requirements and special prohibitions. They had boundaries that you couldn't cross, because each of these three offices spoke of the Messiah who was to come. And there were very, very strict boundaries on these three offices. And each of them had a specific expression of the power of God. Now what is happening here is Jesus is telling John, in the whole, all of church history, he's saying, I am the one who's going to fulfill the prophecy that I gave John. John had the most radical prophecy, the book of Revelation. He's been mandated to get it clear, to make it transferable, and then to get the word out, and Jesus says, I'm gonna function in the full resources of my Father's glory as a prophet, as a priest, and a king, to bring this prophecy to pass in natural history. So Jesus doesn't only operate as king, he operates as prophet, priest, and king in order to fulfill the prophecies of the book of Revelation. So these are three different dimensions of Jesus. We talk about him as bridegroom, king, and judge. And we talk about him as prophet, priest, and king. Those are two different ways to view Jesus and how he's going to lead history in the end of the age. Okay, paragraph B. As a prophet, Jesus is revealing to John how natural history is gonna come to an end. And he's gonna refer to, he's gonna make reference, he's gonna make reference to the promises that God revealed to Daniel. Daniel 7 is one of the greatest pictures of natural history at the end of the age. Much of the book of Revelation references Daniel chapter 7. Matter of fact, this is where the Son of Man picture is. It's in Daniel chapter 7. We'll get there in a moment. But he tells John, he goes, John, I'm gonna show you things that are gonna take place in the distant future. And again, he doesn't realize it's the most significant prophecy for world history. Beloved, we have this prophecy recorded for us very clear. And this is what we're giving ourself to. There's a bit of labor to work through to get the book of Revelation clear, but it's well worth it. But what we're gonna need to do is we need to understand Jesus as prophet, priest, and king. In order to understand the book of Revelation more clearly, we have to understand the person of Jesus in these three offices, his majesty and his beauty in these three dimensions. When we understand these three facets of his beauty, we understand the book far better. What some try to do, and it's a mistake, they go right to the events of the book of Revelation, and they try to make sense of them in their natural mind, and they try to make sense of them and communicate it to others without having encountered Jesus in these three different ways. And what John is understanding is the encountering of Jesus as prophet, priest, and king will be essential for him understanding and making known the end-time message to others. It's because it's not just gonna change John's mind, it's gonna form and fashion his spirit to interact with Jesus in these three ways. Paragraph C. John's not, Jesus is not just prophet, he's the great high priest. He is going to make a way for individuals, but more than individuals, he's gonna make a way for the nations of the earth and for the earth itself to be purified so it can live in God's presence. I mean, Jesus takes, really gets involved. He gets as hands-on as possible. He doesn't just give the prophecy that he's gonna release his glory in the earth, he is gonna make a way for anybody who wants to participate, not only is our sin forgiven in the initial way, he's gonna make a way to cleanse us as a high priest, to get us progressively clean, and to get us prepared to participate. Beloved, we don't just need prophetic revelation, we need to interact with the high priest. We need to be cleansed. We need to have the confidence of our cleansing. We need to have the standard of holiness worked into our spirit because the message itself is not good enough if we're not experiencing the benefit of the high priest. Some take on the subject of the end times, the book of Revelation, and they don't really relate to the high priest much. They don't take serious the need for cleansing, nor the provision for cleansing. They want to get right on to the message, and right on to getting the ministry going forth, and get the world to know it, and Jesus is telling them, no, you have to understand. I have to make a way for you, but then you have to partake of that way. You have to not just acknowledge it, you actually have got to live before me as Jesus is the high priest. Now, He's not going to just purify individuals and prepare His messengers. He's going to prepare us. He's going to prepare the nations and the earth itself. He's going to completely purify the earth so that His glory can come down to the earth. If Jesus was only a prophet, when God the Father's glory came to the earth, He'd burn the earth. I mean, He would completely destroy the earth, annihilate it in the full sense of the word, not just in the purifying, cleansing sense. It would destroy everything. Jesus the high priest has to make a way for the Father's glory to come to the earth. It's not enough that He's king. He's got to be a high priest too. He could come in power as a king, but that wouldn't help us if He didn't make provision. But provision, not just in the sense of forgiving, He has to actually make a way where the nations and the earth and the people of the earth are prepared to receive His kingship. Now, the ultimate, probably the, you know, you don't have to want to pick one verse, but if I had to pick the most extreme verse in the Bible, well, you know, there'd be 20 verses I'd pick, but since I have the microphone, I'll just pick one here. The most extreme verse or at least it would be up for a first prize is Revelation chapter 21, verse 3. It said, God, the Father is going to come down to the earth in His glory. Now he's thinking, well, that's, that seems neat. Why is that so radical? Beloved, when God interacts with the natural realm, the natural realm is utterly destroyed. It says no man could see God and live. How, how are we going to solve the problem of a natural world that if it sees God, the people of it, or the world itself, it, it just, it is completely annihilated. How are we going to solve the problem of God living long-term in the, on the earth? That's a gigantic dilemma. It's one that maybe we don't think much about, but this is at the absolute center of the divine logic of what He's doing. God is, has so much power and purity. He can't come to the earth right now. But the ultimate verse, radical, is God's not just going to come to the earth and visit. He's going to live long-term with the earth and He's going to end up blessing humans and blessing creation instead of destroying humans and destroying creation. That's a massive statement. Chapter 21, verse 3. He's going to dwell in the ideas with blessing forever without destroying anything once it's set up. Once the whole regime is set up, there will be nothing but perpetual blessing forever and forever. Okay, paragraph D. Now as, as the King, Jesus is going to show His power over all of His enemies. He's going to exert His authority against those that resist Him. As a high priest, He's making a way for anybody who blew it, which is everybody, He's making a way for them not only to be forgiven, but to actually to be progressively purified so they can participate with His power. But as King, it's a bit different. He is confronting His adversaries in power and in force in a way that He's not doing right now. He does it a little bit right now, but He's going to openly confront the hostility of the nations. He's going to subdue them and then replace them with purified people and all the governments of the earth are going to be replaced when Jesus comes as King. Now the grand statement from the Old Testament that John is going to connect with in just a moment, we'll see, is Daniel chapter 7. In Daniel chapter 7, this is where the theme of the Son of Man is first introduced in the Scriptures. This is the first time the Son of Man theme is introduced. Now again, Daniel's in his 80s and in verse 13, he says, I was watching in the night visions and behold, it's a brand new idea. One like the Son of Man. So when John quotes this, John knows he's referencing this. This is the greatest mystery. This is the greatest mystery ever because this one like the Son of Man and the mystery is solved in this. He's fully God and he's fully man, but this is a new idea to everyone. Daniel's the first one to see it, but he, this is over, you know, kind of overwhelming his circuit, so to speak. When he sees the one like the Son of Man, I'm getting ahead, but what the implication is, he's the first man to see the revelation of the one who is going to be King is fully human, but fully divine. That's what the Son of Man means. John's the first one to see this, not John, Daniel, and the implications are massive because not only the Son of Man that's human, how can a human come on supernatural heavenly clouds? How can a human being be ushered into the Father's presence on supernatural clouds? He can't. This, this man is more than a man. He has access to the realm of God the Father, and he has at his disposal heavenly clouds that, that are beyond even what the angels have access to. There is no king on the earth who can do this. John is, I mean, Daniel's undoubtedly a little bit mystified by what he's looking. He goes, I'm not getting it. Is he God or is he man? What is going on? He couldn't be there if he wasn't God, but he looks like a man. And again, up to this time, the idea of Jesus being the God-man is, is not, is not clear at all to the Old Testament prophets. Daniel is, is really breaking ground here. Well, this man, this human came to the Ancient of Days, of course, which is the Father. And they brought him near before the Father. Verse 14, and then to a man was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, but it's a kingdom on the earth. Now, wait a second. How does a man get before the Ancient of Days in heaven? How do you get to heaven? How do you get to the third heaven? How do you get one of those heavenly clouds that, that bring you in a procession to God, the Father? Then how do you get back to the earth where the kingdom of the earth is yours? All the kingdoms of the earth. Massive, massive statement being given to, to, uh, the, the prophet Daniel. And then in verse 14, Daniel sees that all the peoples, all the nations, all the nations will serve this one man. But there's another, uh, interesting thing. His dominion is forever. Now we're so used to these ideas. It doesn't strike us how strange it is. How could his dominion be forever if he's a man on the earth? Well, he is a man. He is on the earth, but he's fully God as well. That's why his dominion is forever. Billions and billions and billions of years from now, his kingdom doesn't wear out. Well, David's kingdom wore out after 40 years. He wore out. How is this going to happen? He's seeing the, the, the, uh, inner, the, the, uh, interconnection of the two realms. Goes on to say his dominion is an everlasting dominion. It will never pass away. His kingdom, the one which shall never be destroyed. Then later on in Daniel seven, the same vision, then the court of heaven was in session. You know, God's court is in session. And when God's court is in session, there are terrible and wonderful things that happen on the earth, terrifying and wonderful things that happen on the earth. When the court is in session at the end of the age, they're going to take away his dominion. That's a reference to the antichrist throughout Daniel seven. It's going to destroy forever. Verse 27, then the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the sky, under all of, under all of heaven. In other words, it's earthly kingdoms are going to be given to this man. And this man's going to give it to the saints. Beloved, when this son of man receives the kingdom as King, because he's a high priest, he has given you every opportunity to not only be a part of the kingdom, but to be over the kingdom for the kingdoms to be given to you, for you to be part of the government of the kingdom, not just participate as a citizen, but to have the actually have the parts of the kingdom under your authority. Now, this is absolutely new territory for Daniel the prophet. His, his, his mind is being greatly stretched right now. He is saying, how can he be at the father's presence if he's just a man? Where did he get that cloud? How, how come he's over earthly kingdoms, but his kingdoms don't ever end on the earth we're talking about? Not his heavenly kingdom. His earthly kingdom will never end on the earth. I'm talking about on the, on the material earth. His kingdom is going to go on forever, but then he's going to have people that have somehow been made, have been qualified to be over the kingdoms with him. And where are these people coming from? And this whole setup called his kingdom, it says at the end of verse 27, is everlasting. And all the dominions, that means all the smaller ranks and powers and principalities and all the regions and areas and districts, all the dominions, all the districts of government from the least to the greatest sphere, all of them are going to obey this one King. So the world's going to be unified because of all the dominions, all the little governmental subunits of society worldwide, they will all obey one King. Now this is the context for Revelation chapter 1, Roman numeral 2, top of page 2. Now we're going to just look at this, just a little bit of this, and you can read it on your own if it interests you. The Son of Man, this is the mysterious man. John, as we saw a few moments ago, John saw one like the Son of Man. He sees the Daniel 7 13 mysterious man. He sees this mysterious man. Now he knows Jesus is this man, but he's never seen Jesus in a display of glory to this degree. Now Jesus in his resurrected body, and I assume the principle is true for all the saints. My assumption, I think it's a sound assumption, is that in our resurrected bodies we have the ability to manifest the glory that God has given us as our reward, or we can veil the glory depending on the situation. I'll say that again. Jesus could manifest his glory or veil it completely depending on what situation he's in, and I think that's going to be a significant part of our life in eternity. That dimension is going to have many, many implications. Like for instance, the John 20 21 Jesus, that's the Jesus who rose from the dead but appeared as the gardener. When Mary Magdalene saw him, he was, he looked like the gardener. She goes, sir, uh, sir, excuse me, do you know where they moved the body? She doesn't know. She's looking at the resurrected Son of God because he's veiling his glory. This is John 20. John 21, he's, he's with his, uh, the apostles, with his friends. He's making breakfast for them. He's cooking the fish for them and eating with them and they're looking at them. They don't even know who he is at first when they're out in the boat as they're getting closer. John goes, it's the Lord. Oh my goodness, it's the Lord. I mean, his, his glory is completely veiled. So John is not accustomed to seeing his glory unveiled. I mean, he knows he has glory because he saw him on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Mount of Transfiguration, Matthew 17, for a moment, he showed forth his Son of Man glory for just a moment. It's like, and it terrified the three, uh, Peter, James and John. In Matthew 17, they were terrified. They were trembling, shaking, completely terrified in Matthew 17. But even then Jesus was restrained. But here he's standing before John. He's not just trying to terrify John. The message of what he's showing John is, is linked in a critical way to the prophecy of the end times, because it's going to take this kind of Jesus to pull off the end time scenario. It's not just that Jesus has power. He is the mysterious God-man called the Son of Man of Daniel 7. He has more than power. He has the full character of his Father, but he has the full sympathy of human beings. He is the ultimate and only bridge between the two realms. He has the full purity and the full power and transcendence of the Father, but he has the human characteristics and the full sympathy and mercy of a human being that struggled with weakness. It's, that's come together in one man, this, this mystery, this mysterious Son of Man figure. Now again, John is already known. I mean, John's been an apostle now 60, 70 years, because this is about 90 A.D. It's in the 90s and Jesus was crucified 30 A.D. So this is 90 A.D. plus. So it's 60, 70 years in there somewhere. He's, he is known, John's known Jesus is the Son of Man, because Jesus even told him back when he, in his earthly ministry. But John has never, ever encountered the kind of God-man that is necessary to pull off the end-time scenario. And it's not just Jesus needs this kind of sympathy as a man and human characteristics and divine power. It's not just he needs that resource. John and the end-time messengers have to encounter this dimension of Jesus in their own heart. Now I'm not saying everyone's going to have the full experience of Revelation 1, but these, John recorded these, these dimensions of Jesus under the anointing of the Spirit, so that the end-time messengers who were going to preach the book of Revelation would understand interacting with this, this dimension, this reality of the God-man in these ways, in these specific ways, would not only give us confidence Jesus would have the power to pull off what he said he would do, it would actually transform us and form us to be adequate messengers of the message that John is about to receive. This is very personal. I need to drink deep of these dimensions of Jesus. I need to get equipped in my inner man, not just in my thinking, but in my spirit by understanding there's 10 different facets that John describes, of which obviously we're not going to get very far on them, but that's why we have notes, so you can look at them and look the verses up and just begin a journey, kind of launch out and say to yourself and to the Lord, Lord, I want to carry the book of Revelation message. I want to be an end-time messenger. I want to carry the message that John made known because it's for such a time as this. Therefore, I have to interact with the prophet, priest, and king, Jesus, who gave the message because the revelation of Jesus in chapter 1 is dynamically connected to being able to make known the message to others. So I'm looking at these 10 facets of Jesus and Daniel, I mean in Revelation 1, and I'm saying, Lord, I have need to go deep in every one of these. I have to understand each one of these. I have to have them touch my spirit, not just my mind. I want my spirit impacted in these 10 facets of the diamond of Jesus, the Son of Man, the many facets. So this is a really significant prophecy that is bigger than an evening or a session or a little booklet or a handout. This is a lot, I mean, this is of the same stature as the Revelation 4, 15 facets of God the Father's beauty and majesty around the throne. But the two have got to be studied together, they've got to be brought together. A passage, a verse I don't have on the notes is 1 Timothy 3, 16. 1 Timothy 3, 16, you can write that down if you want to and look it up later. It says this, Paul said this, he goes, he goes, without any controversy whatsoever, he goes, without any debate, nobody can debate this, great is the mystery of godliness that God came was manifest in the flesh. What a major statement. What like, let me say that again, 1 Timothy 3, 16, Paul says, without any controversy, he goes, nobody can debate the thing I'm about to tell you. And so you're listening, okay, what is it that's non-debatable? He goes, the mystery of godliness, the mysterious dimension of how a human being enters into godliness and the mysterious dimension of Jesus being fully God and fully man, the two go together. The more we understand Jesus fully God manifest in the flesh, it impacts our spirit and it becomes part of the chariot we get in, so to speak, to go on the path on the roadway of our own personal godliness. When I understand more of Jesus as God, but as man, as transcendent, yet as human with weakness, he had weakness on the earth and the sympathy when those two dimensions I understand in him, it begins to help usher me forward into my own journey of godliness. Great is the mystery of godliness, not only just the mystery of Jesus being God and man, but the mystery of how you and I really, really make ground in our inner man. How is the inner man truly impacted under the anointing of the Spirit? Paul says it's a great mystery. He says, but understanding that Jesus is fully God and fully man is a key chariot, so to speak. I'm just using that in kind of a strange way. We need to get in that vehicle, so to speak, and go forward and meaning that truth will usher us forward in a great way and that's what we're seeing here in Revelation chapter 1. The great mystery of godliness. The very centerpiece of the mystery of godliness is that one man is fully God and fully man and that's our way forward for our spirit and our mind to be impacted. I mean the gratitude we have on one hand and the fear of God we have on the other hand when we understand who it is that's our high priest. It's terrifying. Paragraph A. Jesus most emphasized this self-designation. I mean more emphasized this one facet of his life, I mean of his title, of his function than any other function. More than calling himself the shepherd or the savior or the healer. The number one way he revealed himself was the Son of Man and almost nobody understood what he was talking about when he said it. Now the leaders all understood what he was talking about. The leaders of Israel, I'm talking about the religious leaders, they were all waiting for the Son of Man. They knew he was from Daniel but they knew there was mystery because they knew he's in a cloud and it was at the throne of God and they were kind of a little bit hmm. But the common people, so to speak, they were looking for the messiah. They were looking for some guy to come up and beat up Rome. That's what they were looking for. They didn't really know much about this Son of Man theology and Jesus kept saying it and I'm sure that the masses were going like, why do you keep saying this Son of Man thing? What we want is the messiah. We want the guy that's going to beat up the Romans. Are you him? Just give it to us straight. And Jesus was always kind of in a, you know, mysterious way. He would answer, I am the Son of Man. They go, oh don't give us that answer. Most of them probably didn't even know it was straight out of Daniel chapter 7. I'm getting all the religious school authorities knew it well but the folks, the common folks didn't quite know that because they were not that familiar with the prophets. At the end of his teaching, paragraph B, at the very end of his ministry, Jesus tells them straight forward in Matthew 24 verse 30. He goes, I'm the guy who's going to come on the clouds from Daniel 7. They're looking at him. Now the problem that they, they didn't have a problem. The Jews don't have a problem with the messiah being human. They have a problem with the messiah being God. Gentiles are opposite. We don't have a problem with the messiah being God. We have the problem with the messiah being human. I mean we know he's human technically but when we think of Jesus, we always almost always think of him in his superhuman qualities. We don't really think of him mostly in his human qualities. Now he looks at them and he tells them, he goes, guys I want you to understand. I am the guy from Daniel 7 on the clouds. Again we're so familiar with this passage in Matthew 24. This is a massive statement. It's the very end of his earthly ministry. This is on Tuesday. He's on the Mount of Olives and he's talking to the guys about the end times. He's going to die on Friday. He says, I'm the Daniel 7 guy. That's what he tells them. They're going, yeah we figured you were Daniel 7. We don't really know what it means but wow. Well John is going to get the most shocking revelation of Jesus in revelation one which is the Daniel 7 son of man standing right in front of him. Paragraph D, when Jesus spoke of himself as the son of man, he was proclaiming the most important two truths about himself. He was saying I am fully God but I'm fully man. That's what he was saying in the designation the son of man. Again the Pharisees, the trained Pharisees who were trained in the scriptures for years and years and years, they understood that's what he meant. But most of the other folks when he called himself the son of man, they didn't really grasp what he was saying. As by using this title at the end of paragraph D, Jesus was saying I am God. I am the one that stands before the ancient of days. Then he says but I'm man. I'm on your side. I'm with you. I'm the guy that's going to rule on the earth as a human. That's what he's saying in this title. Paragraph E, by using this title he veiled his eternal glory as God. He even veiled dimensions of his office of Messiah. By using this title because most of the folks didn't understand what he was talking about when he said it. They just kind of went right over their head and they said he just keeps, you know, pressing this idea that he's the son of man. We don't really quite know what he's talking about. And I have some reasons in paragraph E and F as to why it is, paragraph E, why he veiled this title, I mean why he used this title and why he didn't unveil fully who he was. I'm not going to go into that right now. Paragraph F, in the trial, in the trial, here it is Thursday night, they get him in the garden and they bring him and they have the late night trial and he stands before the high priest, Matthew 26, and he says to them, you will see the son of man at the right hand of power. When he says the phrase the son of man, it's the first time that they have connected because they're trying to charge him with blasphemy, but they can't get, they have all these people coming and accusing him and making up lies and at the trial you, you know the story, but they can't get him on anything. And then when he looks them in the eye and says, I am the son of man coming on the clouds, they knew that he was claiming to be Daniel 7.13 man. And they said, you are what? I am the man from Daniel 7.13. And then Caiaphas, the high priest, he tore his garments. He says, that is blasphemy. You're making yourself out to be God. If you're the son of man, that means you're saying you're God. That's why it was called blasphemy to call himself the son of man. Because Caiaphas understood that the Daniel 7.13 man was God. He didn't understand how he could be a man and be God, but he knew he had to be divine to be that person. And that's why they're so angry at him because they were trying to think of some way to nail him, but they couldn't really quite get him because he was just preaching on the Sermon on the Mount, kindness and mercy and godliness. How do you kill a guy for teaching on godliness and healing people? They had to get him on a heresy and the only, and they, they didn't know this information. So Jesus pulls out this and gives them the very thing they need. He knew this would be all they needed to crucify him because they charged him with heresy by the statement, I am the son of man. Because the son of man was clearly the claim to be the Daniel 7 man. Interesting in paragraph G, a little bit later when Stephen is being stoned, the thing that enrages them, Stephen is giving this sermon in Acts chapter 6 and so, I mean Acts chapter 7, Stephen's giving this sermon and they're, they're, they're annoyed at him, though the power of God's on him. They don't like him, but then he says this, Jesus is the son of man and the high priest is there and he goes, ah, and then they just kill Stephen. They throw the rocks at him. They go, you can't, you can't link Jesus to Daniel 7 13. And he says, I see him, the heavens have opened. He is the Daniel 7 13 man. I'm looking at him with my eyes. And the high priest and the council, which is the Sanhedrin, they were so enraged, they, they threw rocks at them. I mean, when Jesus said it, that gave them the sentence to execute him. And when Stephen said it, that gave them the anger to execute him. That phrase completely triggered them, pushed them over the edge on both occasions. There's something about this reality, great is the mystery of godliness, when we begin to touch the son of man reality, these two realms in one person, and then how he expresses it as, as a prophet, priest, and king, because the God-man, son of man reality is expressed in all three of these, these realms. Now, I realize that some of you, this is just all completely new. And you're going, man, I don't get the son of man thing. I don't get the prophet, priest, and king thing. I know Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. And I'm going with that. And that's good to go with that. But you're going to need more than that. If you're going to be equipped to carry the book of revelation message, because the book of revelation message needs the revelation one Jesus, the rev, it needs that facet, those facets of revelation touching our spirit in order to equip us to carry this message, not just again to give us the knowledge to tell others. It's going to fashion and form our own inner man, because great is the mystery of our own godliness. I mean, it's not mysterious what we're supposed to do to be godly. I mean, it's, it's no mystery at all what we do to be godly. We say yes to the right things. We say no to the wrong, wait, yes to the right things. We say no to the bad things, yes to the good things, say it that way. And we fill our heart with the word. We claim his grace. We, we understand the, the simple little processes. But the mystery is, is how the, the Holy Spirit interacts with the human spirit, with these truths, and transforms us with a real substance of godliness on the inside. That is a mysterious, invisible process. That's a, to Paul said, even to this day, that whole, that whole path of godliness, how it actually technically works on the inside, is mysterious. But I know this, when God came in the flesh, that's the centerpiece, not only for making a way for us to be forgiven and changed, but that's the centerpiece of meditating on God became man, the son of man reality, which is really the, the Revelation 1 truth that John is actually face to face with. That is what's going to transform our inner man in a very powerful way. What I'm saying here has, it truly has major implications to it. And I, and I realize if you're new, and maybe you're just first time visiting, or maybe you're just new in the Lord, and you're one of the part of one of the programs, you're saying, this is, this is heavy. No, this is heavy. That's exactly right. This is massive. It's big. And my spirit is hungry to go there. I want to go, I want to take these 10 facets of Revelation 1, about Jesus as the son of man, uh, prophet, priest, and King. And I want to feed my spirit on him. I want to, I want to get in that vehicle, so to speak. I want to get on that pathway of, of accelerating my growth in the, in the progression of my inner man and the things of the spirit. And I know that what Jesus showed John was not just for John. What Jesus showed John was germane and relevant for everybody that would carry the prophecy that John gave called the book of Revelation. That means to us, it's germane to us, it's very, very relevant to us. Okay. Top of page four, we're going to end here in just a moment. Top of page four, Roman numeral four, John's commissioned as a prophet. Then paragraph Roman numeral five, we look at a few dimensions of the high priest. Roman numeral six, top of page five, I told you it was going to be done in just a minute here. We're going to look at Jesus's nature. He's like the father because Jesus, uh, John says his hair is white and his head is white like wool. That's a direct quote from Daniel 7. He said, Jesus, you're just like the father. You have the same glory. I mean, I know that, but I see it. The glory and the eternity of God, the father is yours. You are as pure and you are as eternal as your father is the Jesus of white hair and the Jesus, uh, with his head and his hair white. Again, these are direct quotes from the ancient of days from Daniel chapter seven, where the son of man was introduced. This Jesus is utterly transcendent. We know this, but, but when we interact with his transcendence, when we begin to understand, he is not just a guy trying to talk us out of doing some bad things because you know, kind of messes things up. He is the transcendent God who is eternal. Who's offering us union with him. Beloved. When we understand just a little bit of this, there's an urgency in our spirit to get on the fast track, to go after him in a new way. Uh, page six, Roman numeral seven. We look at Jesus, the King. We look at Jesus, the warrior King out of his mouth as a sharp sword. His face is like the countenance of the sun. And actually that's one of his weapons. It's one of his weapons. You'll, you'll, uh, look down, uh, the very last, uh, uh, part of, of page six at the very bottom. It's from the song of Deborah. Remember Deborah, the great judge, the leader of Israel, Deborah. She sang the song that God's enemies were slayed. The God, the warrior King killed all of his enemies and his people who love him will be like the sun shining in its full strength. And she, and this is a direct quote, actually out of this song, John sees that Jesus's face is like the sun shining in its strength. You know, when Jesus appears to the antichrist, it says, I don't have this on the notes, but in second Thessalonians one, eight, it says he, when he appears in the second Thessalonians two, eight, it says that when he appears, the very brightness of his face will consume the antichrist. The brightness of his face is one of his weapons against darkness. And he shines the brightness of his face, even on his saints. That's what Deborah was singing. She says the godly ones have interacted with the countenance of Jesus and their own spirits are bright because they've interacted with the Jesus whose face is like the sun. Well, there's a lot to that. I realized I just barely hinted at that, but that's just for, for the eager. And some of you are very eager. It's kind of a little hint to, to, to go on that path. So I'm going to have the worship team go ahead and come on up if they would. So I want to encourage you. And I know that not all of you are in the frame of mind for this, but some of you are, even if it's just a small number of you, I'm going to encourage you to take these notes, open up your Bible. We got the bridegroom fast this week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, look at these, ask the Holy Spirit, say, Holy Spirit, help me. This is like a little roadmap. It's just a little, it's not a really good roadmap. It's a real vague general one, but there are some really key divine hints on where your spirit can go and be utterly fascinated in God by the Jesus of Revelation chapter one. Let's stand.