Revelation 1:11-16

11 Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Write promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia--to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. 

12 Then I turned to see [whose was] the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 

13 And in the midst of the lampstands [One] like a Son of Man, clothed with a robe which reached to His feet and with a girdle of gold about His breast.

14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, [as white] as snow, and His eyes [flashed] like a flame of fire. 

15 His feet glowed like burnished (bright) bronze as it is refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday.

After reading these verses we can see that Jesus doesn’t really look like most of the paintings that have been made of Him. We are shown our Lord as powerful, glorious, and triumphant. He defeated satan at the Cross and He is in total charge of everything. We are His possessions and He never leaves us or forsakes us. Jesus is dominant, pure, and victorious. This is the appearance of the One Who Shepherds us and Who keeps us safe until the day of His return! Nothing is happening in this world that can overtake Him, or that is taking Him by surprise. Jesus is in control and He is victorious, and we are in Him and we are one with Him!

For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together) Colossians 1:16-17

Now Jesus isn’t so insecure or being arrogant that He has to tell us how great He is. He is telling us Who and What He is to give us peace. He is telling us these things about Himself to let us know that there is nothing that will harm us or overtake us. Now that doesn’t mean that we won’t be persecuted or even asked to be martyred for our Kingdom. But what it does mean that even though we may be counted as sheep heading for the slaughter, we will never be defeated. Even in death our Lord causes us to triumph. Death has no victory over us and the grave has no sting for us. We are one with the Alpha ad Omega, the Beginning and the End. We are as our Head is, even while we are in this world. Jesus is telling us Who He is to comfort us. 

Now ask yourself this question: why would Jesus need to tell us Who He is, that we are free from sin, and that we are now priests if we were going to be raptured away from the last 3 1/2 years of this period of earth’s history? In Heaven we know that we are free from sin. Also, who would we be priests for if we are in Heaven during these times, each other? Isn’t Jesus our priest? Why would we need to know how powerful our Lord is, if we were going to be raptured away? Are there enemies that can penetrate Heaven? Doesn’t it make more sense that we need to be told these things because we are going to be here during those times? We will go into the lie that is the rapture later, but I want you to begin to think about it.