“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”
– Revelation 19:11-16 (NASB)
When the misinformed thinks of Jesus nowadays, one imagines…
An overly ebullient, grinning hick with a curly mullet, a man bag, and a quaint southern drawl, who spits out more aphorisms than Joel Osteen on crystal-meth-laced Mountain Dew bender.
Or The Nazarene gets painted as some rambling, Rasputin-like mystic who strings together long, illogical stories like an unshorn, Devil’s lettuce inspired, Matthew McConaughey grad speech.
Either that or Jesus Christo gets pitched as some unisexual, religious, gluten-free Gucci model who might confuse us in regards to his actual gender, but he’s crystal clear with his message that we should all be tolerant of the ridiculous no matter how much it offends reason.
Two things are for certain in our culture’s postmodern paranormal messaging regarding Christ and Christians:
Jesus is not a warrior and…Christianity is for tinkerpots.
Indeed, our wussified culture has created for themselves a wussified, Faux Christ, who’s nicer than the actual Jesus and has little to nothing to do with the rebellious, young Galilean who jettisoned evil politicians and priests and crushed el Diablo two thousand years ago.
Consequently, his followers are expected to produce gelded disciples who do not upset the world like the first century believers did.
Well, as you can imagine, Dear Reader, I’m here to blow that nonsense all to smithereens.
The Jesus revealed to John in the Book of Revelation (in the first-century mind you) was not a sweet religious bearded lady doling out daisies and riddles. Oh, heck no.
Let’s go through the list of how John described Jesus in His ascended state, shall we?
- First of all, He’s no punk deity. I got that right off the bat reading that chunk of text. Did you? He, Jesus, is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Satan’s not the power broker. Jesus is. Please note that.
- Lawlessness is in Christ’s crosshairs. According to the text, Jesus is currently warring in pure righteousness against evil.
- Via the sharp sword that comes out of His mouth He, not the Devil, will subdue and rule nations through the power of the gospel.
- He will tread on God’s enemies in the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Question: does the aforementioned elevate the picture of the Lord whom you serve? It does to me.
The apostle Paul knew that Jesus. That’s why he could say with great boldness…
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us – who was raised to life for us – is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us
(Romans 8:31-39).
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The Wildman Devotional:
A 50-Day Devotional For Men
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Doug Giles is Pastor of Liberty Fellowship in Wimberley, TX, and is the founder of ClashDaily.com
Follow Doug on Instagram and Twitter @TheArtOfDoug.
