Spirit Jesus

“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: For the Glory of God did lighten it, and The Lamb is the Light thereof.” — Revelation xxi. 23

To the lover of Jesus, it is very pleasant to observe how the Lord Jesus Christ has always stood foremost in glory from before the foundation of the world, and will do so as long as eternity shall last. If we look back by faith to the time of the creation, we find our Lord with His Father as one brought up with him. “When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep.”

He was that wisdom who was never absent from the Father’s counsels in the great work of creation, whether it be the birth of angels or the making of worlds of men. One of the first events ever recorded in Scripture history is, “When He bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, He saith, let all the angels of God worship Him.” Such words were never spoken of any creature, but only of Him who is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, glorious forever; the first-born of every creature, the head of the household of God, the express image of His person, and the fullness of His glory.

In the earliest periods of which we possess any knowledge, Jesus Christ stood exalted far above all principalities and powers, and every name that is named. When human history dawns, and the history of God’s church commences, you will find Christ pre-eminient. All the types of the early church are only to be opened up by Him as the key. It would have been nothing to be of the seed of Israel, if it had not been for the promise of Shiloh that was to come; it would have been in vain that the sacrifices were offered in the wilderness, that the ark abode between the curtains, or that the golden pot which had the manna was covered with the mercy-seat, if there had not been a real signification of Christ in all these. The religion of the Jew would have been very emptiness if it had not been for Christ, who is the substance of the former shadows.

Run on to the period of the prophets, and in all their prophesyings do you not see additional glimpses of the glory of Christ? When they mount to the greatest heights of eloquence do they not speak of Him? Whenever their soul is carried up, as in the chariot of fire, is not the mantle left behind them a word telling of the glory of Jesus? They could never glow with fervent heat, except concerning Him. Even when they denounced the judgments of God, they paused between the crashes of God’s thunder to let some drops of mercy fall on man in words of promise concerning Him who was to come.

It is always Christ from the opening leaf of Genesis to the closing note of Malachi, — Christ, Christ, Christ, and nothing but Christ. It is very delightful, brethren, when we come to such a text as this, to observe that what was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

In that millennial state of which the text speaks, Jesus Christ is to be the light thereof, and all its glory is to proceed from Him; and if the text speaketh concerning heaven and the blessedness hereafter, all its light and blessings and glory stream from Him: “The Lamb is the light thereof.” If we read the text, and think of its connection with us today, we must confess that all our joy and peace flow from the same fountain. Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness to us, as well as to the saints above.

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