Do not be afraid;
I am the first and the last,
and the living one.Revelation 1:17-18
I think they must have a class in Angel School where they say: "When you meet a human, the first thing you have to say is 'Do not be afraid.'"
An angelic presence and the glory of heaven tended to drive people to their knees.
How much more so if you met Jesus!
That was John. He'd been exiled to the prison island of Patmos. "10 On the Lord's day [he] was in the Spirit" when the Son of Man appeared to him. John "fell at his feat as though dead."
It was probably Jesus himself who taught the cherubim at Angel School, so he knew what to say, "Do not be afraid."
The key, however, is that this message isn't just for John. It's for everyone who reads Revelation ... and more importantly, wades into "9 persecution" on account of Jesus' name. "Do not be afraid." Jesus was here from the beginning (he is the first). He'll be there to welcome us home at them (he is the last). And in the meantime, he is "the living one" who gives us hope.
So kneel down for a minute in awe and thanksgiving. But then stand up because Christ makes us victorious.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who's standing
on his tip-toe because
if God is for us, who
can be against us
-- Rom 8:31
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