“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” -Revelation 1:18
The Book of Revelation is a proclamation of things to come, given unto the apostle John, a disclosure and edict given directly from our Lord Jesus Christ. In Chapter one, the Son of Man appears to John in glory and surrounded by seven brilliant lamp stands, the brilliance of Christ trumping them all, as suggested by John’s description. Christ tells John in verse 17 to not be afraid, following it up with the transcribed verse above.
What John saw was He who is truly alive, in His glorified body, given unto Him by the Father, because of Christ’s perfect obedience and righteousness. Frequently in the scriptures, when a heavenly being, or the Lord appears to a mere man, the encounter is so awesome and sublime, that those who are blessed with such visitations, can only respond in reverence and fear, which John indeed does, collapsing at the feet of the Son. This reaction is so common in scripture I would be willing to say that such manifestations and visitations would require the heavenly beings blessing or affirmation that the person upon who the honor was bestowed, would be calmed to receive the message being offered.
The resurrection of Christ is such an amazing truth, I myself had a hard time grasping it. I understood it in terms of an abstract concept, but it wasn’t until I traveled further in my walk that it really hit home, so to speak. Christ not only died, as He indeed affirms in Revelation, but He rose again, being brought back to life by the Father, and in glorious victory! His victory was so great that even Hades couldn’t hold His glory, nor now can it hold our sins, or us, for by His victory we are saved and we perish to the flesh. Thus, we will perish to the world also, and on the appointed day, we will rise again to join our victor and Savior. To be victorious over His own death would be enough, how much more amazing is it then, that He was victorious over ours?
Though a lot of people equate hell with Hades, the two are not interchangeable. Simply, Hades is a place reserved for departed spirits and it is often compared with, or likened to, a state of sleep. Most will enter this realm and be awoken by the Lord in His appointed time. Hell, on the other hand, is a place of eternal damnation, where those who are apart from the Lord will eventually descend. This terrible place, in the temporal sense, doesn’t yet exist, in that man cannot descend into it, until the final judgement.
Christ holds the key to both death and Hades, for he entered both, and exited them, being glorified and rising again alive! Furthermore, because He is alive, He doesn’t need to be born again through natural birth. He is already living. This more than adequately refutes those false Christ’s in the world today that profess to be our Lord. Christ not only died for our sins, but defeated them by His resurrection, so that whomever comes to the cross and bows down before it will be saved. Since Christ is victorious, let us be as well through Him, and battle against the evil that surrounds us. I pray that all those in Christ would arise strong and steadfast, adorned in the armor of God, ready to do battle with the enemy, and fight the good fight on Christ’s behalf and through Him. Amen.
I would like to acknowledge and thank Terie, who prior to my posting, gave me her input concerning this entry.