Awesome

When John walked and talked with Jesus as one of the twelve disciples, he couldn’t fully understand whom he was dealing with. But in Revelation 1, John sees Jesus glorified, magnified, transfigured—and that’s how we need to see Jesus today.

When John saw the glorified Lord Jesus, he didn’t embrace Him or lean his head on the Lord’s shoulder as he had in the upper room. When John saw the glorified Jesus, he was stricken with awe and dread. He realized his own sinfulness and inadequacy in the presence of Jesus. John wrote, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17).

John demonstrated the awe and reverence with which we should approach Jesus. I have heard many Christians pray as if Jesus was their pal, their roommate, a guy from the neighborhood. And I’ve heard people abuse and misuse this word awe, or its adjec­tive form, awesome. I’ve heard people say, “This pizza is awesome!” But when you experience true awe and reverence for Jesus, your legs turn to Jell-O, and you fall on your face as though dead. Have you ever had a pizza that made you do that?

“For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15). Our God is exalted, and yet He comes near. He is glorious and yet extends grace to sinners. Nothing and no one is worthy of our awe but God—God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son. Only the glorified Lord is truly awesome. Nothing else comes close.

Prayer: Father, You alone are awesome. The wonders of Your love are astounding. I cannot comprehend Your greatness. Help me to honor You as You deserve, and have mercy on me, Lord. Thank You for Your grace. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.