“Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee forever.” (Psalms 45:2)
There is controversy about whom this psalm is written about. It was written about a king whom scholars have debated may have been Solomon or Jehoram. But it doesn’t matter when we realize that God used the psalmist to reveal the King of kings. The word that discloses this, is the word “forever.” Nothing and no one is eternal except God.
The word “fairer” means beautiful. To us who know Him as our Lord, our Savior and king, He is more beautiful than any other person. The word beautiful not only describes beauty but excellence. When Jesus walked on this earth, there was nothing physical that made Him stand out. In prophesying about the Messiah, Isaiah wrote, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2) Jesus came to be sacrificed. The perfect and spotless Lamb of God came to be rejected and tormented in our place. He did not come to be admired by any earthly standard. The purity of His nature was to become the object of contempt and to be distained with all the sin of man, taking the wrath of God in our stead.
But He did not die to be forever shamed with the covering of man’s sin but was resurrected in glory and seated at the right hand of God, glorified forever. I am more than certain I will recognize my Savior although He looks nothing like Isaiah pictured Him or like paintings have depicted Him. John gives us a physical description like no other in the book of Revelation. “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” (Revelation 1:13) It appears that Jesus was wearing a gown or robe of some kind down to His feet. This indicates His priestly status. And He had a golden sash or belt around His chest, which reminds us of the breastplate of the high priest which had the names of the children of Israel.
He no longer looks like a thirty-three-year-old man. His appearance reflects His divine nature. “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.” (Rev 1:14,15) There is symbolism in His appearance of authority and majesty. “And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.” (Revelation 1:16) He spoke, and His words were Scripture. His face was shining with the glory of God. Moses had this same countenance after spending time with God on the mountain. “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.” (Exodus 34:29,30) The face of Jesus also radiated light after the transfiguration. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.” (Matthew 17:1,2)
The man John saw was Jesus glorified. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18) It doesn’t seem that John recognized Him because he didn't write that this man is Jesus. John is completely humbled by this appearance. And Jesus has to tell John who He is. We have to remember that John is still only a man with limited knowledge. Whereas, when we meet Jesus face to face, we will know Him. He will appear to us as He is glorified in heaven, but we will have knowledge of the Lord. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1Corinthians 13:12)
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