The Sound of Many Waters
Oct 21 2022 - Eric Buresh
We each relate to Jesus according to the individual ways God created us to uniquely worship Him in the great diversity of the Church. This tapestry of worship is part of the beauty of the Bride who was hand-picked by God and who Jesus is gathering to Himself.
In that uniqueness, we have amazing freedom to worship God in ways that bring us connectedness, closeness, and joy in our growing unity of oneness with Jesus. But, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we are worshiping Jesus and not some personalized view of Him we’ve concocted according to the desires of our own deceptive hearts.
Today, in my quiet time, I took a few minutes to remind myself that Jesus is not my buddy, He is God. I bowed down, and I worshiped Him. Sometimes we can get confused and lose sight of the splendor of Christ. We can take His teaching that He is our Friend and start to think of Him as an equal like our human friends. I think this tendency comes from the fact that for much of Jesus’ earthly ministry, His humanity veiled this glory, hiding it from human sight behind the weakness of human flesh. This veiling was a component of the sacrifice Jesus made when He gave up His heavenly throne and took on the form of human flesh so He could become a perfect sacrifice for us. But that is not an accurate picture of Jesus right now. Right now, Jesus is in His full, resplendent glory at the right hand of God the Father.
We can get a glimpse of Him because God chose to give us the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:1. Open your spiritual eyes and see Jesus as He really is right now (Rev. 1:12-16):
Clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. He is dressed as a perfected priest, the firstborn among a priesthood of believers.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. He has the wisdom and knowledge of His infinite time and existence.
His eyes are like a flame of fire. He has infinite energy and vigor to carry out the completion and perfection of His bride and to execute wrath against all unbelievers for the glory of His Father.
His feet are like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace. His steps are strong and sure and perfectly confident. He never slips and the Serpent of Old cannot strike His heel.
His voice is the sound of many waters. His simple spoken words sound like immense rapids rushing through a narrow gap in the rocks. It’s deafening and powerful. He cannot be ignored.
He had in His right hand seven stars. He holds His bride (the churches) in His hand, prizing and protecting. His hands are more capable and powerful than any puny effort we could ever muster.
Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. He is prepared to both heal and purify His church with His Word (which is the sword of the Spirit) by the dividing of our flesh from His indwelling Spirit, and ultimately to unleash His wrath on those who reject Him as their righteousness.
His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. The light of His glory radiates with infinite, scorching brightness. Darkness will flee. The darkness in our own minds will be lifted. Our chains will be fully broken. He is our light!
What a glorious, beautiful, majestic Jesus! I can’t wait to behold Him. I know that I will respond just like John: “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” Rev. 1:17. And Jesus will be a gentle, tender friend to me just like He was to John: “But [Jesus] laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid.’” And this Revelation vision is not an odd one out. This is our Savior in His true and glorified state. Consider the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus’ true glory and majesty were displayed in visible form in a blinding display of whiteness. Matthew 17:2. And Jesus’ interaction with the three disciples was nearly the same as with John: “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”” Matthew 17:6-7.
Someday, Jesus will reach down and touch me as I’m pushing my face into the ground, He will assure me, and welcome me into worship and oneness. Today, I’m practicing for that day. I want to love Him as much as I can before I see Him in His full glory. I hear people say often that Jesus is our friend, and that is certainly true. He is gentle and kind, and loving to us in ways we cannot even fathom in our human state. We can boldly approach His throne because He bought us the right with His own blood. But He’s not like our human friends. The relationship is not the same. Jesus is not equal with us; He is infinitely higher than us. The relationship is not a two-way street; He has no need for us and is perfectly satisfied in the Trinity. Jesus is God. While we have “fun” with our human friends; we worship Jesus. He is the Great Shepherd; we are His sheep.
Jesus is a friend unlike any other. He is the Holy Son of God. He is full of grace and beauty and splendor and majesty. We should go to Him boldly, but we go to Him in reverence. Let us join the disciples today, face down, so we can feel Jesus gently lift us up!