Step into a deep theological discourse on the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ, as David Hawking passionately shares insights from both the New Testament and the Old Testament. Journey through scriptures from Revelation and Philippians, enriching your understanding of the dynamics of Jesus’s incarnation, His divine role as our eternal high priest, and the victorious exaltation following his sacrificial death. This episode inspires with its exploration of the eternal truth that God became man to dwell among us and redeem the world.
Suppose there were a group of ants. And suppose that I, as a man, say, I want to communicate with those ants. Now, I could pound the pulpit and say, listen up, guys. No response. I could put a giant sign, drop things from the air. Please, please hire a marketing agency, anything to communicate. Put up a satellite television, anything. I’m not doing a job. What do I have to do to communicate with those ants? Anybody? You’ve become one. It must seem very strange to those without Christian consensus who come from other religions of the world to hear us talk about God becoming a man.
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Welcome to Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. Today we continue our look at one of the most extraordinary encounters ever recorded. John’s face-to-face meeting with the risen glorified Jesus. This wasn’t a dream and it wasn’t a metaphor. This was a real terrifying awe-filled moment when the last living apostle saw his Lord in full majesty. His robe was long, his hair white as wool, his eyes pierced like fire, his feet glowed like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like the sound of a great waterfall. And in his hands, power and judgment. Today, David continues unpacking a passage that reveals the true glory of Jesus Christ. Open your Bible to Revelation 1, verses 12-15 and prepare your heart. First, we have David’s original sermon outlines and notes for each message in our current Revelation series.
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You know, these are great for following along through the series and then into the future when you want to review or share it with others. Discover and experience Revelation.
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Revelation in a deeper, more encouraging fashion with our Revelation radio series on MP3 and David’s message outlines and sermon notes. You know, Jim, the Revelation series sermon notes pack is just $10. That’s sermon notes for each message in the entire series, 48 messages altogether. And you can purchase or download at davidhawking.org or receive them by PDF CD when you call us.
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And then you can save and store all your learning in our current series with the All 48 messages on MP3 format. Download or MP3 CD. Special price this month, Jim, just… Just $30. Or on DVD, a special price this month for the DVD set, $50. Go to davidhocking.org or call 1-800-75-BIBLE. In Canada… at 1-888-75-BIBLE. And Bible by the Numbers is 242-53.
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And your resource purchase or your donation right now will help the future ministry of Hope for Today. And right now, here’s David with today’s study from God’s Word.
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Revelation 1.12. Here’s what it says. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girded about the breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like a flame of fire. And his feet were, they were like fine bronze, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of Hades and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches. Turn to Philippians chapter 2 please. In Philippians chapter 2, picking up at verse 5, it says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God. Now watch it. What you’re saying is that Jesus Christ was in the exact nature and substance of God. Now it says he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. What that means is he didn’t think it was a thing to be grasped or to be paraded. Verse 7 says he made himself of no reputation. Greek word kenosis. He emptied himself. But what he did when he came to this world is lay aside the exercise, the automatic, we would say, exercise of his divine attributes. Now, did he ever express them? Certainly. I’ll keep reading verse 7. He emptied himself or laid aside the exercise of his divine attributes or emptied himself. He did it willingly and took upon him the form of a servant. Now it says he was found in fashion as a man. Now here’s a word for external appearance. Remember in Revelation it says one like the Son of Man. The external appearance, it’s man. It’s a real man. But his true nature is God. It is God in human flesh. The Bible says the word became flesh, not was flesh. He was spirit. God is spirit. He became flesh, a change of condition, when he was born as a baby in Bethlehem. He existed before that. The Son of God is eternal. But he became a baby in Bethlehem. He became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, says John in John 1.14. There’s an external appearance, but there’s more underneath. There’s something else. He was God. Was he man? Yes. But being found in fashion or appearance as a man, it says he humbled himself. Nobody humbled him. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Even the death of, not the cross, there’s no definite article in the Greek, just a cross. Don’t glory in the cross. Glory in the Christ of the cross. And the next words are absolutely fascinating to me. It says, wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him. Wherefore, on the basis of what he did, humbled himself and went to the cross to die for us. Wherefore, on that basis, God exalted him. And in the Greek, there is a play on the words. The word exalted means to be lifted up. In John 3.14, John said, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. There’s a play on the words. The moment at which God was really exalting him is the moment that he is dying on the cross. He was lifted up on a cross, and God takes that and says, wherefore God has highly lifted him up. If you want to see the exaltation of Christ, see the Savior dying on the cross for your sins and for mine. God, the infinite God who flung the worlds into existence and made you and me, God humbled himself, became flesh, and dwelt among us. And this wonderful, wonderful Savior of ours, God has now highly lifted up and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Man, that is unbelievable. He is God Almighty in human flesh. Now how he who fills the universe with his presence could localize himself in a physical corporeal substance is beyond me. No wonder the Bible calls it the mystery of godliness God manifest in the flesh. How can any of us understand that he who fills the universe, for you can’t ever run away from his presence, could somehow localize himself in a physical body and then say about that body, in that body dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. Colossians 2.9. It’s incredible. And that is the gospel. Go back to Revelation again. It was like the Son of Man. Oh, a messianic term, all right. But the whole story of the Messiah, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, the government shall be on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. And get this one, the Everlasting Father, or the Father of the Ages. the Prince of Peace. We’re talking to Messiah. And what does it say? Unto us a child is born. How could the mighty God, the everlasting Father, become a little child? The mystery of the whole gospel. No wonder people struggle with it. We call it the incarnation, meaning God became flesh and dwelt among us. And so there is so much here in verse 13. When you read, one like the Son of Man, it’s a reminder of his humanity, reminder that he came to die on a cross. He is human, yes, but that is not all he is. And the next words, as we go down through the description, will show us that fact. his humanity. By the way, the term Son of Man is used 84 times in the Gospels alone. 84 times. And I love this. 21 of them refer to the second coming. Isn’t it great that God wants all of us to know that after his resurrection, he’s still a man? What a wonderful Savior. Imagine the day when we see Jesus. It will be worth it all when we see him Number three, verse 13. We talked about his centrality, his humanity. Look at his royalty. His royalty. Clothed with a garment down to the feet. That is a particular statement to indicate royalty. It isn’t a common tunic of the average person. Clothed with a garment down to the feet. If that were not enough, girded about the chest or breast with a golden girdle. The sign of royalty, the gold alone. But there’s something more here. Not just that he’s king, but I think, and I want to give you the reasons why, I think what we have pictured is our Lord is the high priest. Turn to Exodus chapter 28. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our high priest. Hebrews 3.1 says he’s the high priest and apostle of our confession. There was only one high priest, you know. One at a time. Until the time of our Lord and through corruption, we had two actually, Annas and Caiaphas. There were reasons for that in history. But you just have one high priest, and that high priest goes into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. Jesus is our high priest. He’s not a high priest after the order of Aaron. He’s a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. There’s only one who’s after the order of Melchizedek. There aren’t two, not three, not an order, not a chain of them. Just one. That’s all. And he’s our Lord Jesus Christ. Exodus 28, verse 4. It says, And these are the garments which they shall make, a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, an embroidered coat, a miter, a girdle. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. Having looked at that, turn to chapter 39, verse 29.
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39, 29. 39, 29. 39, 29.
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Because remember in the text it says there’s a girdle around his chest. Here’s what it says in verse 29 to 39. And a girdle of fine twine linen and blue and purple and scarlet of needlework as the Lord commanded. Now on that is a plate also. Verse 30. They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote upon it a writing like to the engravings of a signet, holiness to the Lord. There’s also on his chest… some jewelry which represents the 12 tribes of Israel. They’re on his chest like it’s on his heart, like his responsibility is to intercede for the 12 tribes of Israel. I got to thinking about all that. Turn to Psalm 93 verse 1. I guess a lot of these separated from each other. It’s hard to put it together and say conclusively that the picture is of the clothing of the high priest. But perhaps you’ll agree with me as you just walk through this. In Psalm 93, 1, it says, The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with what? majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself. So the majesty of the Lord is being pictured by his clothing. I know these are metaphors, clothed with strength, clothed with majesty, but the picture in Revelation is of one clothed with a And that was similar in fashion and design to the high priest of the Old Testament. And then the Lord describes himself in those terms, majesty, strength, being clothed and girded. Look at Psalm 104, verse 1. Psalm 104, verse 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, thou art very great. Thou art clothed with honor and majesty, who coverest thyself with light as with a garment, who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. So the power, the greatness of God, O Lord my God, thou art very great, is pictured by being clothed with honor and majesty. And I think that’s a picture of what we have. Go to Hebrews chapter 3. Let me tie this together in the sense of the priesthood of Christ. Hebrews chapter 3, dealing with the royalty of Christ, his clothing perhaps illustrating the high priest himself. Chapter 3, verse 1, “…wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” Go to verse 3. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has built the house hath more honor than the house. So the exalted position of our Lord as high priest. Look down at chapter 4, verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Now here’s where you find an amazing combination in the Bible. Let us therefore come boldly unto the what? Throne of grace. So wait a minute. Priests don’t sit on a throne. Interesting that we’re talking about Jesus being the high priest, and that we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our firmness. He was in all points, temples. Well, then let us come boldly unto the throne of grace. Talk about royalty. Now we go from priest to king, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. By the way, there were no chairs in the temple or the tabernacle. Priests never sat down. Flip back to chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. Remember, the priest never sat down. One of the reasons for that is to indicate the continuous ministry of priests. But now look at what we have in Hebrews 1.3. Speaking of Jesus, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. And here in Hebrews it discusses a high priest who’s sitting down. What is the picture of sitting down? The work is finished. There’s no more sacrifices to be made. He gave us a once and for all sacrifice. Look at chapter 7, please, of Hebrews, verse 24. Chapter 7, 24 until 8, 1. Watch this carefully. Chapter 7, Hebrews verse 24, “…but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” For such a high priest was fitting for us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins and then for the people’s. For this he did once when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests who have infirmity or weakness, but the word of the oath which was since the law maketh the son who is consecrated forever… Wow, forevermore, now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum, we have such a high priest who is seated on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. And I say hallelujah to that. Isn’t that great? He’s ever living to make intercession for us, constantly praying for us, constantly defending our cause, and it’s all done. The payment for our sin is done. Amen. So in the courtroom of heaven, you’ve got a prosecuting attorney, the enemy, the devil himself, who according to Revelation 12 won’t be kicked out until the tribulation period. He now has access to the throne of God, and the devil is day and night, according to the Bible, accusing the brothers and sisters. The devil is the accuser of brethren. And the Bible says, my translation, don’t sweat it. No problem. Why? Because we have an advocate, a defense attorney, Jesus Christ the righteous, whoever lives to make intercession for us. Romans 8.34 says, who is he who condemns? It’s Christ who died, it’s Christ who’s risen again, and it’s Christ who’s at the right hand of the throne of God making intercession for all of us. Those are legal terms. He’s defending your case. Jesus Christ is our defense attorney. And what he’s pleading our innocence over is that his blood has washed us white as snow. We are holy and blameless not because we prove that we deserve to be pronounced such. We are holy and blameless because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us so through his precious blood. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. We are forgiven. We are clean. We are white as snow.
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You’re listening to Hope for Today, the Bible teaching ministry of David Hawking. David will be back in just a moment or so to close out today’s lesson, so do stay tuned. First, David’s son Matt is with me, and we’re going to share a wonderful Bible study resource with you. I think you’re going to like this.
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In our Revelation series, we will encounter Babylon and Babylonianism. What is Babylon and Babylonianism? Well, Babylon is mentioned 286 times in the Bible, including its origin and early beginnings.
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The first ruler of Babylon was Nimrod. You might recall that from your history. And according to a multitude of legends, Matt, the life story of his wife, Semiramis, gives remarkable insight into what idolatry, immorality, and paganism is all about.
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And from her day into our own, the religion of Babylonianism has penetrated all nations according to the Bible, seducing and deceiving as it goes.
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And it will play a prominent destructive role in the end time. And we’re going to see that unfold in this series. In fact, Revelation 17 through 18 gives us fascinating details about Babylonianism, its mystery,
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And it’s fall. And the book of Revelation further pictures its outworking as a prostitute sitting upon a seven-headed beast with ten horns on its seventh head. And the Antichrist apparently arising out of a ten-division confederacy that will control the world.
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And the end goal is the diabolical seduction of the nations and the suppression of the heart and soul of Christian belief and practice.
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Well, this month, Jim, we’re featuring… A special price on my dad’s book, Babylon, Its History and Prophecies. Normally $15, just $10 this month.
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Babylon’s History and Prophecies is a study guide and a commentary on the scriptures addressing Babylonianism.
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Order at davidhocking.org or call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE. In Canada… at 1-888-75-BIBLE. And Bible by the Numbers is 242-53.
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And please do know that your resource purchase or your donation will help Hope for Today and make you a co-labor in the ministry with us.
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And first and foremost, please do pray for this ministry. We give God the glory for His work in and through it.
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On Just Before David Returns, if this ministry has been speaking to you, stirring your heart and helping you grow in the Word of God, well, would you consider sowing back into the ministry? To donate, call 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or in Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE, or go to davidhawking.org. Now, if you prefer to mail a gift or maybe send a note of encouragement or share a prayer need, you can do that by mail if you like. Write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011. RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S, 8P1. Well, as promised, here’s David to close out today’s study.
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Thanks, friends, for listening to our study of Revelation. We’re in chapter 1 still, and we’re in verses 12 to 15 on the glory of our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ our Lord. I’ll tell you, I can’t get enough of this. I don’t know about you, but the book of Revelation is the book to tie things together, to show us the future, yes, but primarily to reveal the glory and the majesty of our blessed Lord Yeshua. Yeshua is His Hebrew name. In fact, it’s an abbreviation for Yehoshua. which means the Lord is salvation. Well, I hope that you are telling your friends about these wonderful booklets that we have out now, just $5 each. And don’t forget to tune in every single broadcast for the book of Revelation. I’m looking forward to it. I hope you are, too.
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Before we go, be sure to visit DavidHawking.org. You’ll find our free daily devotional, Meditations in the Psalms, a full archive of recent broadcasts, and resources to help you dive even deeper into God’s Word. Well, next time on the program, David returns for our final look at the Apostle John’s life-altering encounter with the risen Lord in Revelation 1, verses 12-15. The sights, the sounds, the glory… This moment wasn’t just overwhelming. It was transformational. John saw the majesty of Jesus unveiled. And what he wrote still shakes the soul. Don’t miss this powerful conclusion. And be sure to invite a friend to listen along with you as we bring you the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible right here on Hope for Today.
Step into a deep theological discourse on the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ, as David Hawking passionately shares insights from both the New Testament and the Old Testament. Journey through scriptures from Revelation and Philippians, enriching your understanding of the dynamics of Jesus’s incarnation, His divine role as our eternal high priest, and the victorious exaltation following his sacrificial death. This episode inspires with its exploration of the eternal truth that God became man to dwell among us and redeem the world.
