Jesus Overload

Our perception and understanding of God is often based on our filters. We run Him through our filters. We then shape our reality of Him into an image. Often an image that we want or at least can understand. We essentially create our own image of God. I recently wrote a short article called “God Unfiltered” which can be read here. I would suggest taking a few minutes to read it as it will give you some context for this article.

One statement I made in “God Unfiltered” is “Filters can be our personal agendas, fears, comfort, past experiences the list goes on and on.” We often hear the voice of God through these filters. We also form an image of what we think God is like. John wrote about an encounter in the book of Revelation that overloaded all His filters and understanding of Jesus to that point.

When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Revelation 2:12-18 (NLT)

John walked with Jesus in the earth but had never seen Him like this before. He says he saw “someone like the Son of Man”. He did not fully recognize that it was Jesus. As you keep reading he then says “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead.”. He was so overwhelmed with this revelation of Jesus Christ that his body could not even stand. He fell to the ground in fear. This is what I call “Jesus Overload” thus the title of my article.

Jesus then makes the declaration of who He is “First and the Last” and what He did “I died, but look—I am alive”. Essentially saying John “don’t be afraid” it’s me Jesus. But I am revealing myself in a way you have never seen me. John had His filter or understanding completely overloaded.

Jesus is much more than we think He is. We think we know His power. But our revelation Him is so limited. He commands the dawn. Even much greater still He holds the power of salvation. We do not fully comprehend what kind of power He wields. We do not fully understand the depravity of the contract Adam made with Satan that pulled humanity into sin. Likewise, we do not fully understand the power it took to undo the contract. The cost of the cross was much more than we will understand in this life. All through eternity we will be in awe of the price Jesus paid. To ransom a human being out of sin and the domain of darkness is power beyond description.

We see God dimly. In part, due to fact we could not handle the full revelation of Jesus Christ and live. So He has us in a revealing process. But in part, because we have so many filters. I think to a large degree we like or at least are comfortable with our filters. They keep a cushion between us and God. We want intimacy with God but it can be uncomfortable when He gets to close. That does not mean we do not desire to be closer to God. But we need our walls broken down and filters removed. Removing these things will allow us to connect with God on a level we never dreamed possible.

The question is do we want to see Him as He really is or as we perceive Him to be? We need the “….spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Paul spoke about in Ephesians 1. We need our filters overloaded to the point our hearts and minds are transformed. Transformation happens when we see Him as He is.

We need “Jesus Overload”.