Jesus Is Strong: Part 2

Introduction

(This post is meant for believers. If you don't believe that Jesus is Lord, you may read this post to learn more about Him. Thanks!)

We saw in the previous part of this series (read it here) that Jesus is much more than He is commonly given credit for: He is powerful. He is strong. But why is this so important?

As believers, I think we must constantly refresh our understanding of the fact that Jesus really deserves our consistent respect, not as a good man, but as the Lord God, the Almighty. And after re-realizing that truth, we should continually apply it in a life of obedience.

Personally, I think that my own commitment to the Lord Jesus has wavered lately, and I think I may have forgotten that He is really the Lord. He is my Owner and Master. He knows all, He is all-powerful, and He has all authority in my life and everyone else's. He directs, I follow.

When you or I doubt the authority of the Lord Jesus, there's a possibility for our flesh to try to assume authority. And then, we can fall into sin. But I don't want to do that, and I know you don't either. So, let's continue, and hear what the Spirit of the Lord Jesus wants to tell us.

In Revelation 2 and 3, the Lord Jesus gives messages to the seven churches that are in Asia. By reading each of them, we see clearly that Jesus is Lord of each and every church.

There are seven different messages in those chapters. Here is one of them for us to look at:

Revelation 2:18-29

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire,
and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:

I know your deeds,
and your love and faith and service and perseverance,
and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.

But I have against you,
that you tolerate the woman Jezebel,
who calls herself a prophetess,
and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray
so that they commit immorality
and eat things sacrificed to idols.

I gave her time to repent,
and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

Behold, I will throw her on a bed [of sickness],
and those who commit adultery with her
into great tribulation,
unless they repent of her deeds.

And I will kill her children with pestilence,
and all the churches will know that
I am He who searches the minds and hearts;
and I will give to each one of you
according to your deeds.

But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira,
who do not hold this teaching,
who have not known the deep things of Satan,
as they call them—
I place no other burden on you.

Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.

He who overcomes,
and he who keeps My deeds until the end,
to him I will give authority over the nations;
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron,
as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces,
as I also have received from My Father;
and I will give him the morning star.

He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Jesus describes Himself differently when addressing each church. I think He does so to emphasize aspects of Himself that are relevant to that particular church. They are instructive for us as well.

In the case of the church in Thyatira, we see that Jesus describes Himself in these terms:

The Son of God,
who has eyes like a flame of fire,
and His feet are like burnished bronze.

I'd like to examine each of these elements in turn (with a point of clarification between points 2 and 3):

1. Jesus is the Son of God
2. Jesus' eyes are like a flame of fire
3. Jesus' feet are like burnished bronze

Jesus is the Son of God

In Revelation 2:26-28, the Lord Jesus states,

He who overcomes,
and he who keeps My deeds until the end,
to him I will give authority over the nations;
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron,
as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces,
as I also have received from My Father;
and I will give him the morning star.

By describing Himself as the Son of God, Jesus shows us where His authority came from: God, His Father. Therefore, Jesus' authority over the nations -- including all mankind -- is complete and total. After all, authority could not have come from any higher source than God Himself.

Moreover, Jesus can give authority to whomever He chooses. "He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end" will be given "authority over the nations"! This is an incredible incentive for us to live obedient lives of perseverance in the midst of our trials.

Jesus' eyes are like a flame of fire

Jesus also describes His eyes as being like a flame of fire. This, I think, emphasizes the fact that Jesus can see into our minds and hearts. His eyes, like a flame of fire, illuminating and revealing, look deep into our souls. They burn away all the pretenses and defenses and masks that we construct, seeing clearly what our motivations and intentions are.

He states in the latter part of Revelation 2:23:

...and all the churches will know that
I am He who searches the minds and hearts;
and I will give to each one of you
according to your deeds.

Jesus knows what we have done and who we are. Although we have opaque bodies, He sees through them as though they were transparent. He knows our flaws, and He expects us to be honest and admit our shortcomings. Then, He can heal us, strengthen us, and equip us for ministry. However, if we pretend that we are more than we are, we will not be able to do what He wants us to do with our lives, because we will always be hiding the truth.

Other passages of Scripture echo this command. For instance:

Let no man deceive himself.
If any man among you thinks
that he is wise in this age,
he must become foolish,
so that he may become wise.

(I Corinthians 3:18)

By no means is this easy; it requires courage and humility to be honest before our Lord and before fellow believers. Personally, I'm still working on it! But we have to do it if we want to be obedient to the Lord Jesus and have true, lasting joy.

Just to clarify...

Before moving on to the last part of Jesus' description of Himself for the church in Thyatira, it may be necessary to clarify one point. When the Lord Jesus speaks of deeds and rewards for believers, we must be careful to make a distinction. We don't earn salvation or eternal life. Jesus Himself already purchased and secured salvation and eternal life for us!

However, the degree of abundance that we will enjoy in eternity is another matter. Our deeds do play a part in that. Depending on our labor, we will receive an appropriate reward.

In the following passage, the Apostle Paul describes the difference clearly:

I Corinthians 3:5-17

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul?
Servants through whom you believed,
even as the Lord gave to each one.

I planted, Apollos watered,
but God was causing the growth.

So then neither the one who plants
nor the one who waters is anything,
but God who causes the growth.

Now he who plants and he who waters are one;
but each will receive his own reward
according to his own labor.
For we are God’s fellow workers;
you are God’s field, God’s building.

According to the grace of God which was given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building on it.
But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

For no man can lay a foundation
other than the one which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.

Now if any man builds on the foundation
with gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, straw,
each man’s work will become evident;

for the day will show it
because it is revealed with fire,
and the fire itself
will test the quality
of each man’s work.

If any man’s work
which he has built on it remains,
he will receive a reward.

If any man’s work is burned up,
he will suffer loss;
but he himself will be saved,
yet so as through fire.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God
and the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If any man destroys the temple of God,
God will destroy him,
for the temple of God is holy,
and that is what you are.

In this letter, the Apostle Paul describes believers as "God's field, God's building." He states that he laid a foundation for each believer in the church at Corinth. That foundation is Jesus Christ. In other words, the Apostle Paul preached the Gospel to these believers, and they were saved.

In our cases, whoever preached the Gospel to us also laid that same foundation, and now it is our job to build on it. We can build on the foundation of Jesus Christ with many materials, but only some of them are resistant to being burned up. To build with straw, when fire is certain to come, is a sad waste of time and effort.

How much joy will we have when we see Jesus? Will we be ashamed because we did not do what He told us to do in this life? Or will we be confident, knowing that we used the energy, time, and resources He provided for us as best as we could?

Jesus, the Judge, has eyes like a flame of fire. When He evaluates the work we have done after being saved, He will clearly see our intentions, our abilities, and our accomplishments. He will reward us accordingly, but if our works are not up to par, we will suffer loss instead for those works.

So, it is important to stress that our salvation is secure in Christ:

By grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves.
The gift of God,
not as a result of works,
so that no one may boast.

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

But it is also important for us to do the works that God has appointed for us!

For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand
so that we would walk in them.

(Ephesians 2:8-10)

Jesus' feet are like burnished bronze

Finally, Jesus describes His feet as being like burnished bronze. To get a better understanding, we can look at Revelation 1:15, where John first sees the Lord Jesus.

His feet like burnished bronze,
when it has been made to glow in a furnace,
and His voice like the sound of many waters.
(Rev. 1:15 NASB)

The English Standard Version puts it this way:

His feet were like burnished bronze,
refined in a furnace,
and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
(Rev. 1:15 ESV)

But, we ask, when did our Lord Jesus' feet enter a "furnace", and why? Weren't His feet always perfect? When did they need to be "refined"?

I firmly believe that the meaning of that passage is this: When Jesus became sin for us on the cross, entered the deepest and most agonizing depths of hell: separation and torment apart from God His Father.

The Apostle Paul, and Timothy, write:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God were making an appeal through us;
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.

He made Him who knew no sin
sin on our behalf,
so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.

(II Corinthians 5:20-21 NASB)

According to God's perfect will, Jesus' sinless feet were marred by nails, marred by sin, and marred by the flames of hell, all for us. But He emerged from that hell victorious, and now He has "the keys of death and of Hades" (Revelation 1:18)!

Jesus' feet were tested in the fire and proven to be pure bronze. They were purified and refined, not because He had sinned, but because He took our sins upon Himself. Having paid the entire debt, His feet now glow gloriously. He who suffered the agony of those flames in our place today commands us to repent and obey Him as our sovereign, glorious Lord.

If He wills, we will continue this series in the near future.

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Browse this series: PART 1

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Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)
unless otherwise noted.
All boldface emphases are mine.
Added (italicized) words in the original NASB text have been omitted, or [bracketed].
Some punctuation and capitalization has been altered from the original NASB/ESV text.

Jesus Is Strong: Part 1

Jesus is coming quickly. He will return soon.

What reaction do you have to those statements?

I ask because today, especially in Western culture, many think that Jesus is a perpetually peaceful, gentle, meek, smiling man. We fancy that He never frowns, always speaks softly, and is a dedicated pacifist. Although God raised Him from the dead, we think Jesus is still gentle and meek and mild today, and that He always will be.

We who think of Jesus merely in these terms are wrong.

The Apostle Paul rebuked the church at Corinth for failing to respect Jesus' authority demonstrated through the Apostle Paul:

I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare, since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.

For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God.

For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God toward you.

(2 Corinthians 13:2-4)

It is definitely important to realize that Jesus died for us, and that at one time He refused to show His strength so that He could save us.

But it is also important, I think even more important, to realize and believe that He did not remain dead, and that today He is revealed to us as incomparably strong.

We believers should know that our Savior is not just the Lamb who gave His life for us; He is also the Lion. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

His coming again should strike deathly fear into the hearts of unbelievers and motivate those of us who believe in Him to live pure lives in submission before Him.

If we look in the book of Revelation, we can see Jesus as He is today, and as He will be in the near future. This book was written by a man named John, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1).

Look with me at how John describes Jesus:

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, 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 — and He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to Him, the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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.

“I am The Alpha and The Omega,” says the Lord God, “Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to Come, The Almighty.”

I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like of a trumpet, saying,

“Write in a book what you see, and send to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.

And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.

His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

His feet, like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice, like the sound of many waters.

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.

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, and The Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

"Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.

"As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."

(Revelation 1:4-20)

This is hardly the meek and humble Jesus we are accustomed to hearing about.

No, this Jesus has eyes, "like a flame of fire" and "feet, like burnished bronze." His voice is "like the sound of many waters," and "out of His mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword." His face is "like the sun shining in its strength."

And His authority is immense. He holds authority over the angels of His churches, and over the churches themselves. He is "The Ruler of the Kings of the Earth." Not only that, but He has "the keys of death and of Hades."

Jesus is "The Living One." Jesus is "The Alpha and The Omega." Jesus is "The Almighty."

"To Him, the glory and the dominion forever and ever!"

Yes, it is this mighty Jesus who is "coming with the clouds." Even the ones who pierced Him will see Him, and "all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him." When Jesus returns, all will see Him, not in weakness and humility, but in glorious power and authority.

John saw Jesus, and he "fell at His feet like a dead man."

But this passage also shows us Jesus' love and mercy. Although He is The Almighty, He also knows how to keep His power under control. Here, He comforted John, placing His right hand on him. Then He let John know that he had a job to do: To write the Revelation of Jesus Christ so that we, His bond-servants, would receive and heed the testimony (Rev. 1:1-3).

As we close, notice again John's words at the beginning of this passage: "Grace to you and peace" — to whom? Not to unbelievers, but to believers — "to the seven churches that are in Asia." For those who are not in Christ, who have not been "released from" their "sins by His blood," there is no grace, nor peace, but only judgment and wrath.

Again, the fact that Jesus will return should strike deathly fear into the hearts of unbelievers and motivate those of us who believe in Him to live pure lives in submission before Him.

If the Lord Jesus wills, we will continue this series in the near future.

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Browse this series: PART 2

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Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
All boldface emphases are mine.
Added (italicized) words in the original NASB text have been omitted.
Some punctuation and capitalization has been altered from the original NASB text.