Who Is and Who Was and Who Is To Come

Passages like Ezekiel 1 which attempt to describe, in humanly conceivable terms, the overwhelming glories of the heavenly realm, feel something like speaking with someone who just can't quite find the right analogy. The author grapples with words to convey the magnificent glory of the Son of God -- "such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."

When you think of Jesus Christ, who do you envision? Is it a brown-haired, light-skinned, kind-looking man welcoming children to him as he sits on a rock or holds a lamb?  Or maybe you have a more culturally aware picture of a plain middle eastern guy. But do you ever imagine this?:

"And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around."

Ezekiel 1:26-28

I was speaking with a beloved non-Christian friend of mine who said he was down for Jesus as a man, as a respectable role-model of morality. This picture of Christ as only a man, and not the glorious eternal Son of God who came for the purpose of redeeming souls headed toward eternal deserved wrath, is not only a false God and idol, but a gross distortion of who God reveals himself to be in His Word. I say that not to shame my dear friends who are willing to give a nod of approval to Christianity, but I say it as a warning against insulting the holy eternal Son by reducing him to an inoffensive, easily digestible figure who is powerless to save. 

Jesus Christ is both fully man, and fully eternal glorious Son of God, who we too should fall before at his feet as though dead (Rev 1:17). For this reason, it is astounding that He calls us friend, that he was born as perishable man, and that he lived to wash the feet of us Judas's by condescending all the way unto death as the perfect, all-powerful sacrifice. The incomprehensible range of Christ's being is amazing. Christian, see that He is truly "'the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty'" (Rev 1:8).