John sees Christ

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JOHN AND THE VISION OF CHRIST


     I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me 
     a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, 
     the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, 
     and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; 
     unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto 
     Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 
     And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being 
     turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 
     Rev 1:10-12 

When John heard Christ speak to Him, he turned to look for the origin 
of the voice that He might see the One who spoke. And what he saw first 
was not Christ, per se. He immediately saw seven golden candlesticks. 

We find what these candlesticks represent in the following verse. 

     "...the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." 
     Rev. 1:20.

The picture of John seeing the candlesticks in his endeavour to see he 
who spoke to him revealed the churches to be the means by which Christ 
speaks. When John turned to see where Christ's voice came from, He saw 
candlesticks which symbolized the churches! Christ speaks through 
His church.   Christ is again REVEALED through people.  The Revelation
of Jesus Christ  is what this book is about.

The candlesticks which John saw were identical to the candlesticks 
or lampstands Moses first constructed for the tabernacle. 

     And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten 
     work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, 
     his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 
     And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; 
     three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and 
     three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 
     Exo 25:31-32 

The candlesticks were in the form of a tree with one main shaft 
and three branches protruding from each of the two sides of the shaft. 
The shaft itself formed a candlestick, too. Thus, seven branching 
candlesticks were pictured. A likeness of such a seven-branched 
candlestick still survives on the Arch of Titus, being carried on 
the back of a Roman soldier, from the time Rome plundered the temple 
in 70 AD. 

     And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the 
     Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt 
     about the paps with a golden girdle.
     Rev 1:13 

Jesus stood in the midst of these candlesticks. In other words, He 
was revealing Himself through the Church. The Revelation of 
Jesus Christ occurred through the Church. 
Christ must be revealed in as many believers today as exist, since 
that is the reason He puts His Holy Ghost into our lives. He 
wants to live in us. He wants to be revealed through us to the 
world. We are the only "Jesus" some people will ever see, but unless
we allow His Spirit to reveal itself through us, and learn how to 
allow this to happen, He will never be revealed through our lives. 

---
In Christ,  
Michael F. Blume   
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mfblume/mblume.htm
http://www.netdot.com/jwg7192/writings/mike.htm