Summary
“The time is at hand,” writes John. “Repent the Kingdom is at hand,” said Jesus.
The Kingdom is at hand, for the King is at hand.
He holds seven stars in His right hand and His face shines like the sun.
“There’s a star man waiting in the sky,” sang David Bowie. “He’d like to come and meet us but he thinks he’d blow our minds.”
The Bible ends with the great unveiling—apokalypto—of Jesus.
And the Bible begins with the great katakalypto—the veiling of Jesus.
Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the dream of their own sovereignty, and then they could no longer tolerate the presence of the Sovereign.
They hid their hearts and veiled their bodies.
A veil also covered the throne of God in the temple, in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is a bride and when she dreams her own dreams her mind is veiled.
“The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the Light,” writes Paul.
When a person dreams “I am salvation,” that person veils their mind to “God is Salvation,” which is the very name of Jesus, who is the Life and the Light.
Darkness, death, Hades, and fear are all the dream of our own sovereignty.
We cannot conquer those dark dreams with more of the very same dreams.
We can only conquer those dreams by waking up.
And we’re terrified to wake up.
If only the Starman could enter our dark dreams and give us the courage to wake up, lose our dreams, and then find that we are God’s dream.
And, of course, He did.
He dwelt among us full of grace and truth.
We nailed Him to the tree in the garden and He cried, “Father forgive.”
The sun went dark, creation trembled and the veil in the temple ripped from the top to the bottom.
He appeared to John on the island of Patmos, and John fell at His feet as though dead.
Jesus went to him and touched him with the hand that held the seven stars.
He touched him as if to say, “John, you know me. It’s me, your best friend Jesus . . . and yes, I am also the Almighty.”
One day soon, you will see Him and suddenly realize that He constantly dreams you into existence. At that moment, you must believe that the Starman is also your best friend, Jesus.
He is the Light and you are His Lampstand.
*Sermon discussion questions are available for this sermon here: Discussion Questions “Waking To The King of Kings”