10/08/2026
Worship Sunday | August 9, 2026
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Kenneth Gerada
Scripture Text: Revelation 1:10โ18
๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐
As we continue to study the book of Revelation, we will encounter many thingsโvisions, judgments, seals, trumpets, kingdoms, tribulation, and things that are still to come. But before John saw all these things, there was somethingโor rather, Someoneโwhom he saw first.
He saw Jesus Christ in His glory. And that is important. Because sometimes when we think about Jesus, we have a very limited picture of Him. We picture Jesus as the baby in the manger. We picture Jesus as the teacher walking around Galilee. We picture Jesus hanging on the crossโthe suffering Christ, the Christ who was crucified and laid in the tomb. All of those are true. But the Jesus John saw in Revelation was not merely the Christ who was laid in the tomb.
John saw the glorified Christ. He saw the risen Christ. He saw the exalted Christ. He saw the eternal Christ. He saw the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Revelation 1:10โ18 tells us:
โI was in the Spirit on the Lordโs Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet...โ
John was on the island of Patmos because of his testimony and faith in Jesus Christ. He was experiencing persecution. And while he was there, God gave him a vision.
What did John seeโand what did John feelโwhen he encountered the glory of Christ?
๐ฐ. ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐จ๐พ ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฟ๐จ๐ณ๐ป๐ฌ๐ซ ๐ช๐ฏ๐น๐ฐ๐บ๐ป
In verses 12โ16, John describes what he saw. He saw Christ standing among the lampstands. He saw Him clothed in a robe reaching down to His feet, with a golden sash around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In His right hand were seven stars. And His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. John was not seeing an ordinary man.
He was seeing Christ in heavenly splendor and glory. The imagery communicates majesty, authority, holiness, purity, divine wisdom, and power. This was Jesusโbut Jesus exalted. This was Jesusโthe King
What happens when a person sees the glory of Christ?
First, he will be awestruck by the splendor of His majesty. When we truly see who Christ is, we cannot treat Him casually. When we see His glory, we become aware of His greatness and our own smallness.
Philippians 2:10โ11 reminds us that one day:
โAt the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.โ
One day, every person will see the glory of Christ. For some, that recognition will come too late. But today, we have the privilege of seeing Christ by faith. We may not physically see Him as John did, but through Scripture, through faith, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can behold His glory.
Second, we are moved from unbelief to deep faith. When you encounter the glory of Christ, you begin to realize that Jesus is not merely a historical figure. He is not simply a good teacher. He is not merely a prophet. He is Lord.
Third, we are transformed to the very core of our being. Look at the Apostle Paul. Paul was once persecuting Christians. He was convinced that he was doing the right thing. But on the road to Damascus, he encountered the risen Christ. And Paul was never the same again. An encounter with Christ changed the direction of his entire life. The same thing happened to John. And it raises an important question:
Can a person truly see the glory of Jesus and remain the same? No. When we truly encounter Christ, something changes. Our priorities change. Our desires change. Our attitude changes. Our worship changes. Our obedience changes.
Fourth, we respond in worship and total obedience. When we understand who Jesus really is, worship is no longer merely singing songs. Worship becomes a response to His worth. We worship because He is worthy. We obey because He is King. We serve because He is Lord.
John Owen wrote in The Glory of Christ:
โNo man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter who does not in some measure behold it here by faith.โ
In other words, if we want to behold Christ's glory someday, we must learn to behold His glory now by faith.
Your vision of Christ affects your worship of Christ.
How you see Jesus determines how you worship Jesus. If Jesus is small in your mind, your worship will also be small. If Jesus is merely a teacher to you, you will treat Him like a teacher. If Jesus is merely a Savior who helped you, you may worship Him only when you need something. But if you see Jesus as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, your worship changes. Because you know that you are not serving an ordinary person. You are serving the King. So when we sing worship songs, let us remember whom we are singing to. When we serve in the church, let us remember whom we are serving. When we obey God's Word, let us remember whose authority we are submitting to. No one truly sees the exalted Christ and remains unchanged.
๐ฐ๐ฐ. ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐จ๐พ ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ป๐ฌ๐น๐ต๐จ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐น๐ฐ๐บ๐ป
John did not only see the exalted Christ. He also saw the eternal Christ.
In verse 17, Jesus says: โI am the First and the Last.โ Think about John's experience with Jesus. John was one of Jesus' closest disciples. He was there during Jesus' earthly ministry. John was there when Jesus made extraordinary claims about Himself.
In John 8:58, Jesus said: โBefore Abraham was born, I am!โ John heard Jesus make that claim. John understood that Jesus was claiming an existence that transcended Abrahamโeven though Jesus had physically entered human history.
John was also there at the cross. He saw Jesus suffer. He saw Jesus breathe His last breath. And Jesus entrusted His mother Mary to John. John knew what it meant to see Jesus die.
John also heard Jesus promise in John 14 that He would go and prepare a place for His people. And now, years later, on the island of Patmos, John sees Jesus again. But this time, he sees Him in power, splendor, and majesty. And Jesus declares: โI am the First and the Last.โ It means that Jesus transcends time. He was there before creation. He remains when history comes to an end. He is not limited by calendars. He is not controlled by governments. He is not restricted by generations. Kings rise and fall. Empires rise and disappear. Governments change. Nations change. Generations come and go. But Jesus remains. He is the Eternal One. Throughout history, many rulers have tried to achieve immortality. Some kings were worshiped as gods. Some rulers wanted their names to live forever. Some searched for physical immortality. But eventually, they all died. Human beings cannot escape time. Human governments cannot defeat death. Human kings cannot become eternal. But Jesus is different.
Jesus does not merely possess eternal life. He is eternal. He is the One who was before creation. He is the One who remains after history ends. He is the First and the Last.
Timothy Keller described this beautifully: Jesus is the King who did not come to be served but to serveโthe eternal King who stepped into time to die for His subjects.
Kings normally expect their subjects to serve them. But Jesus, the eternal King, came into this world to serve. The eternal King stepped into time. The Creator entered His creation. The King came as a servant. And the King died for His people. That is the glory of our King.
John Piper emphasizes that the eternality of Christ means that He has always existed in the perfect fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lacking nothing.
So when Jesus says, โI am the First and the Last,โ He is telling John: โJohn, I was there before everything began. I am here now. And I will still be here when everything else is gone.โ
If Christ is eternal, He is not surprised by your future. He already knows tomorrow. He already knows next year. He already knows the things that you are worried about. He already knows the things that you do not understand.
If Jesus is the First and the Last, then your future is already within His sovereign hands.
๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฐ. ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐พ๐จ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ต๐ป๐ฏ๐น๐จ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐น๐ฐ๐บ๐ป
Verse 17 says: โWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.โ This was John's response to the glory of Christ. He fell before Him. He was overwhelmed. He was captivated by the presence, majesty, holiness, and power of Jesus. John had walked with Jesus. John had heard Jesus teach. John had seen Jesus perform miracles. But now John sees Jesus in His glorified state. And his response is immediate: He falls at His feet. Because when holiness exposes our human weakness and unworthiness, there is no more fitting response than humility and worship.
True worship begins when we are captivated and humbled by the sheer magnitude of who Jesus is.
Have we lost our sense of holy awe? Sometimes we become too familiar with God. We sing about Him. We talk about Him. We pray to Him. We hear sermons about Him. But have we stopped being amazed by Him? We cannot be enthralled by Christ if we keep Christ small in our minds. John saw Jesusโand he fell down. Jesus reached out His hand.
Verse 17 continues:
โThen he placed his right hand on me and said: โDo not be afraid.โโ
The same hand that holds the seven starsโ the same hand that holds the universeโ is the hand that reaches down to John.
The King who commands the universe is the same Savior who touches His servant and says: โDo not be afraid.โ
John was overwhelmed by His presence, but he was also overcome by His peace. Jesus did not say, โJohn, be afraid of Me.โ He said, โDo not be afraid.โ This is the comfort of knowing who our King is.
The King who holds the stars in His hands is the same King who holds you. The King who commands the universe cares deeply about you.
John was also overwhelmed by the power of Christ. Jesus said: โI am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.โ
Jesus was deadโbut He is alive forever and ever. Death could not hold Him. The grave could not defeat Him. History could not contain Him. And He holds the keys of death and Hades. That means our Savior has authority over the very thing that human beings fear most.
Death does not have the final word. Jesus does. And because Jesus is eternal, our temporary crises do not have ultimate power over us. If Christ is the First and the Last, then your crisis is somewhere in between.
But Jesus is at the beginning and Jesus is at the end. Therefore, we can trust Him even when we do not understand. To be enthralled means to be captured by something beautiful, powerful, and compelling. John was captured by the overwhelming vision of Christ. And when we see Jesus clearly, we begin to fear the things of this world less. We stop placing our confidence in circumstances. We stop placing our hope in human rulers. We stop placing our security in our own strength. We stop fearing the unknown. And we find our rest at the feet of Jesus.
๐ต๐ธ๐น๐๐
๐ธ ๐ฝ๐๐ป๐ ๐๐ด๐ ๐ธ๐๐ธ๐
๐๐๐ป๐ผ๐๐บ ๐ธ๐ฟ๐๐ธ, ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ด๐ ๐ฝ๐ธ๐๐๐
There is something significant about the structure of Revelation. John would eventually see the seals. He would see the trumpets. He would see judgments. He would see kingdoms. He would see the Antichrist. He would see tribulation. He would see the final defeat of evil. He would see the New Jerusalem. But before John saw all of those things, he saw Jesus.
God did not first give John a picture of everything that would frighten believers. He first gave John a picture of the One who would overcome everything. Because sometimes we become so focused on what is happening around us that we forget who is above us.
We focus on the crisis. We focus on the economy. We focus on the government. We focus on wars. We focus on the future. We focus on our personal problems. But Revelation reminds us: Look at Jesus first. John repeatedly saw the throne throughout Revelation. Because whatever is happening on earth, God is still on the throne. Whatever is happening in your life, God is still on the throne. Whatever happens in history, God is still on the throne. Whatever happens to governments, God is still on the throne. Whatever happens to the nations, God is still on the throne.
Our confidence is not in understanding every prophecy.
Our confidence is in Jesus Christ. The glorious One. The exalted One. The eternal One. The victorious One. The One who holds the stars in His hands. And the One who holds you in His hands.
