I fell once….
Went out early one dark morning with a cup of coffee to watch the sunrise, and walked right off the edge of the deck. I fell about 4 feet onto my right knee, did a full rollover, and when I came to a stop, I was sitting on the ground asking myself “What was that all about!!” When I looked down I was still holding my coffee and had hardly spilled a drop. On my scale of falls, that’s close to a “10” because of the coffee thing.
I have fallen more times than Carter has little pills, and in more ways than you can shake a stick at, but in the “Hall of Fame of Falls”, not many even come close to the Fall that John took early in the book of Revelation……
“HIS FEET WERE LIKE BRONZE GLOWING IN A FURACE, AND HIS VOICE WAS LIKE THE SOUND OF RUSHING WATERS. IN HIS RIGHT HAND HE HELD SEVEN STARS, AND COMING OUT OF HIS MOUTH WAS A SHARP, DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD. HIS FACE WAS LIKE THE SUN SHINING IN ALL IT’S BRILLIANCE.
WHEN I SAW HIM I FELL AT HIS FEET AS THOUGH DEAD!” (Rev 1:17)
I wouldn’t pretend for a second to relate to the sensations John experienced when he turned and saw Christ. However, it fascinates me to no end to ponder what it must have been like. Pondering is good. After all, seeing HIM at some point is inevitable.
We know there was fear. The first thing Christ did was lay his hand on John to reassure him, but what else was it that struck him so completely? John was in the spirit and spiritually strong, yet he was still a physical being and subject to physical reaction. I offer that among the many things that confronted John, was an overwhelming and total flood of “perspective”. A sonic boom that went through his being with the statement “This is as real as it gets!!” Perhaps there was a moment when John felt the full weight of how feeble and minuscule man is, except for the worth given him by the power that stood just a few feet away.
John loved his Christ and King, and yet to suddenly face his deepest beliefs, made real and glorified, the man collapsed to the ground. John’s “awareness” simply went into overload and for a moment, it was too much.
I think it’s cool how the very glory that brought him down, then raised and restored him…….
“THEN HE PLACED HIS RIGHT HAND ON ME AND SAID: DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST. I AM THE LIVING ONE; I WAS DEAD, AND NOW LOOK, I AM ALIVE FOR EVER AND EVER!
How much more can a man’s eyes take in, than the full glory of Christ! What’s left after that…… “Disneyland”!! I don’t think so.
In the olden days it was called “Gloryland”!
If I turned suddenly and saw before me the “Lord of Lords”, the “King of Kings”, I think immediately I would qualify for the “Hall of Fame of Falls” and there’s no doubt, I would spill my coffee.
Thank you Almighty God in Heaven for your Son and a promise that one day we will see Christ in “All His Glory”. When I fall face on the ground, please restore me that I miss nothing!
DG