Read and pray: “I saw another strong Angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon His head, and His face was like the sun, and His feet like pillars of fire” (Rev. 10:1).
In our previous messages we saw that Christ presently exercises His sovereignty for the spreading of the gospel, to bring His people into Himself; He exercises His headship to cause us to grow and function so that His Body may be built up; He exercises His priesthood to intercede for us; He executes the new testament on our behalf and ministers the supply of life to us.
We are all under His care. As far as we are concerned, nothing is lacking. But what about the universe? And what about God’s total purpose? To answer this, we need to consider one more aspect of the Lord’s ministry in the heavens.
This final aspect of Christ’s universal administration in the heavens is revealed to us in the book of Revelation. The entire universe, both the heavens and the earth, is under His authority. He is the universal Administrator.
THE HIGH PRIEST CARING FOR THE CHURCHES
In Revelation, first of all we see that Christ, God’s Anointed One, now cares for His church. He cares for it administratively. The churches are God’s lampstands shining forth His testimony and they need Christ’s administration.
At times problems and difficulties arise that require His administrative attention. In ancient times the high priest cared for the lampstand, making sure that all the lamps were in good condition to continue shining.
Our High Priest does exactly the same today as He walks in the midst of the lampstands (Rev. 1:11-13). He also cares for the churches by holding their leading ones in His hands. The leaders in the churches are likened to stars shining in the heavens in the darkness of the night (vv. 16, 20). We who serve the churches need to realize that we are not in our own hands but in His. He administers the lampstands and holds the stars.
The vision presented in Revelation 1 shows us how the churches can go on in these times. The situation among Christians surely leaves us disappointed and discouraged. We need to turn from the earthly view to Christ! He is the First and the Last! He lives, and He lives forever! He is able! He is the One who now holds “in His right hand the seven stars” and walks “in the midst of the seven golden lampstands” (2:1). He “opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens” (3:7).
By looking only to Him we will be encouraged. The local churches will never fail because of this Administrator who walks among us and holds our leaders! This is Christ’s administration in the churches.
THE REDEEMING LAMB EXECUTES THE TESTAMENT
Revelation also tells us that Christ is the Administrator who takes care of all the peoples. There are the Jews, who are God’s chosen people; the Gentiles, who are the nations; and those who participate in Christendom. We need to know that even Christendom and the way it will progress are under Christ’s administration.
After all these categories of people have been dealt with according to Christ’s government, the millennium, the kingdom of God on the earth, will come. After that there will be a new age, eternity, with the New Jerusalem and the new heavens and the new earth. Of all these peoples and times, Christ is the Administrator.
This is what is revealed to us beginning in Revelation 4. The scene shifts from Christ taking care of the lampstands (chapters one through three) to “a door opened in heaven,” and we are shown “the things which must take place after these things” (4:1).
Christ is presented as the redeeming Lamb who has overcome, qualified to take the new testament, open it, and execute it. This is the meaning of the scroll sealed in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne (5:1).
When a strong angel proclaims, “Who is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals?” (v. 2), only this worthy Lamb-Lion is able to come and take the book (5:5-7). He is qualified to take the new testament, open it, and execute it.
The new testament in Paul’s Epistles is mainly for our enjoyment of the riches of Christ that have been bequeathed to us. There is, however, another aspect of the new testament. God deals with the universe according to His testament. He will act toward the Jews, the nations, and Christendom according to His testament.
In it there is an inheritance for us, the believers, to enjoy. In that same testament there are also matters concerning how God deals with the various peoples and even with the heavens and the earth. It is this new testament that the Redeemer of the entire universe is qualified to take, open, and execute.
In the end, everything in the universe will be headed up in Christ. The Jews, the Gentile nations, and Christendom will all be dealt with, and the kingdom of God will be brought in on the earth. When everything has been headed up in Christ, the fullness of the times will have come. The heavens will be new, as will the earth and everything in it.
The whole universe will be in order. There will be no more divisions, confusion, darkness, death, night, or tears. When we are asked how we are, we usually answer, “fine.” In reality, not everything is fine. Things are tangled, confused, obscure, and moving toward death. There is reason for tears.
Even people should weep over the miserable condition of things. To claim that we are fine or that things are fine is not to tell the truth. No one is fine. No family is fine. No society is fine. But the day will come when there will be new heavens and a new earth. All things will be headed up in Christ. Everything will be put in order. Then everything will be fine.
Who is worthy to administer these new heavens and new earth with the New Jerusalem? Only Christ. It was He who died for the redemption of the entire universe. It was He who defeated Satan through His death. It was He who consummated the covenant with His redeeming blood. It was He who bequeathed to us the new testament as an inheritance. He is fully qualified!
He is worthy to take the book of the new testament, open it, and execute everything written in it, providing us with everything that has been bequeathed to us, carrying out every item contained there, and putting everything in order in the universe. This is the supreme heavenly ministry of Christ: the carrying out of everything God has planned.
“ANOTHER ANGEL”
In Revelation Christ is first presented as the High Priest for the churches. He walks in their midst, takes care of their shining, and holds all their leaders in His hand so that they may go on even in the dark night of a degraded situation.
Next Christ is portrayed as the overcoming Lamb, the Lamb-Lion qualified to execute the new testament. Then, in chapters seven, eight, ten, and eighteen, He is referred to as “another Angel.” That the title “another Angel” refers to Christ is clear from the context. God sent many angels; however, Christ, as God’s sent One, is extraordinary. In this role He is called another Angel.
To control the universe
In chapter seven, Christ as God’s Angel controls the entire universe, directing the other angels in order to execute God’s judgment on the earth (vv. 2-3).
🌿 Enjoy more:
Hymn: The Church – “The Lampstand of Christ”
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