I AM the Bright Morning Star

Self Portraits of Christ  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  27:41
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Text: Rev. 22.16b Title: “I AM the Bright Morning Star” Topic: Christ the Preeminent One Series: “Self-Portraits of Christ” Occasion: Sun AM, 5-31-2020, First FWB Church Duncanville Introduction: Immanuel Kant wrote: “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe. – the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” I must admit that I agree with Kant. One of my favorite sights in nature is lookup at the spectacle of star-bejeweled sky on a dark night. I understand very well what the Psalmist meant when he said, the heavens declare the glory of God, because looking up at a star-studded sky blows my mind as I contemplate the distance, size and number of these shining, sparkling stars in the night sky and I remember the God who saved me is the one who made each of them. Jesus in his final self-portrait describes himself as the bright Morning Star. That is a bit of an odd way for Christ to portray himself. What is Christ saying about himself when he paints himself as the bright Morning Star? I. I AM Brilliant and Radiant I was watching the British Sci-fi series Dr. Who sometime back and there was an episode where due to a twist in the Space-Time Continuum which the Doctor had to correct. all of the stars were hidden from earth’s sky. Can you imagine what it would be like to look up into the dark night sky and to see nothing but blackness and emptiness. Could you imagine what it would be like to see the stars shine forth in their brilliance and radiance for the first time? Someone has said that if the stars could only be seen once every 100 years (like Halley’s Comet which is visible every 70 years) their appearance would be the most celebrated event of the century. We have gotten so used to seeing the stars that we have quite forgotten about them, and even if we do remember to look up in our urban landscape, we have almost hidden them from view by our artificial light. But go to my Uncle Dean’s farm in South Texas and stand in the cow pasture looking up on a clear moonless night at the stars. Their brilliance and radiance are nearly breathtaking. Christ is proclaiming his brilliance and radiance. And you know, as with the stars in space, we have often have difficulty remembering that. Like the stars, we are so used to seeing Christ that we often take him for granted and his brilliance and radiance are lost to us. People around us also have difficulty seeing his brilliance and radiance because they live in a world that has choked out the brilliance and radiance of his light with things that are artificial. I know some people there who had been gloriously saved and transformed from some of the darkest of sins, believe me they understood the brilliance and radiance of Christ. They saw it when Christ broke through and saved them! II. I AM the Preeminent One I love looking at the stars, but you know there are so many stars that there are very few that I can identify. And I don’t think I am alone in that. There are very few that could identify even more than a handful of stars, because there are very few that stand out from the rest, or have preeminence. It is interest that Jesus did say, I am a bright star, but I am the bright Morning Star. Notice those capital letters they are very important. They tell us that Jesus is not claiming to be any star or a star equal to other stars. He is claiming to be a very specific star – the bright Morning Star. It is a star that can be easily identified and has its own name because it is a star that shines brighter than the stars around it, a star that is preeminent in the night sky. In our world today there are millions of stars… There are TV stars, Sports Stars, Rock Stars, Porn Stars, Political Stars, Movie Stars, etc. But there is only one bright Morning Star. He outshines all the others. As the morning star is the brightest star in the sky, so is Christ the most radiant light to ever shine in our world. All our luminaries pale into insignificance compared to the brilliance of his life. He is the peerless one. He is the one without equal. How different is the attitude of the Christian from the world around it. The world desires to make itself the star, but the Christian repeats the words first spoken by John the Baptist, “He (Christ) must increase, but I must decrease.” Our goal is not to become preeminent, but to make Christ preeminent. III. I AM the One who Remains When All Else Fades Away When I hiked Pikes Peak several years ago, we left for our hike in the dark predawn hours. After hiking about four miles we reached the Peak of Mount Manitou and stopped to rest just in time to see the sunrise come up in the East. It was one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen! On the top of that mountain it looked like you could almost look to the East and see halfway to Topeka! And as the blackness of the night sky gradually gave way to wave after wave of golden fiery sunbeams, you noticed that one after another the stars faded from the sky until eventually there was only one star remaining (the bright Morning Star) and the sun. It is no accident that Jesus paints himself as the Morning Star in this self-portrait. For it is the bright morning Star that remains when all else has faded away. What a comforting thought for us as Christians! Jesus says to us, all else will fade away. Your youth will fade away, your wealth may fade away, your health may fade away, your friends and family members may desert you, but take heart I remain when all else fades away. I am the bright Morning Star. I will be here! I will never leave you nor forsake you! (Josh 1.5) Lo I am with you always even to the end of the age! (Matt. 28.20) When all else has vanished, Christ still shines brightly. He shines on the darkest night, will radiantly beam over the horizon of life when the dawn breaks and the shadows flee away. But there is yet another significance to Christ painting himself as the bright Morning Star. It is the Morning Star that marks the transition between day and night. IV. I AM the One who Defines Time and Eternity By painting himself as the bright Morning Star, Jesus identifies himself as the one who defines time and eternity. It is no accident that we divide time between BC and AD. AD meaning Anno Domini or “In the Year of the Lord” and BC meaning “Before Christ.” The morning star marks the dawn of a new day. Christ ushered in a new age. His coming split time into two. Everything prior to his advent pointed to and awaited his coming. And after his coming the age of grace was initiated and continues until today. His life gave promise of a new and bright future for mankind. And it will be his 2nd coming that marks the end of time and the beginning of eternity. It is Christ the bright Morning Star who defines both Time and Eternity. V. I AM the One to Guide Your Life By For many centuries man charted his journeys according to the stars. The great desert caravans travelled in the cool of the night according to the stars, and the sailors navigated the seas with their eyes to the stars. The stars were the roadmaps, the directional signs for their times. The caravans would make their way through barren wilderness and the sailors through uncharted seas by the guidance they found in the stars. An artist once drew a picture of a lone man rowing his little boat on a dark night. The wind is fierce, the waves crest and rage around his frail boat. But there is one star that shines through the dark and angry sky above. On that star the voyager fixes his eyes and keeps rowing on through the storm. Beneath the picture are these words: “If I love that I’m lost.” From Christ alone we can take our bearings for our journey on the sea of life. Our boat is small and the sea is so wide. But the compass needle of life will cease its oscillations when its directional point is pointed toward the one who is the bright Morning Star. Like the ancient mariner we may determine all our decisions and directions from that Star. Conclusion: Radiant Christ, take preeminence in my life guiding me over the pilgrimage that it must make.
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