After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, John said, "Who is Jesus?" and God said, "Look, He is the Ancient of days of Daniel." Who else has feet like fine brass? If you turn back on Jeremiah it describes Jehovah of Hosts coming in judgment, and His feet are as fine brass, to tread the wrath of God. Who has eyes as a flame of fire? If you turn to Ezekiel you find that this is an index to the vision of Ezekiel. You have seven lines here that take you to seven great visions in the Old Testament, each one of which was a vision of the Lord God Almighty. So God says, "Do you want to know who Jesus is? He is the Jehovah of Isaiah; He is the Ancient of days of Daniel; He is the Lord God of Hosts of Jeremiah; He is the Son of man; He is everything that God was to the prophets of the Old Testament." Jesus now is exalted at the right hand of the Father. He is our God.
If you had walked down the street in Jerusalem and had seen Jesus and that tatterdemalion group of ex-fishermen, you would have said, "They certainly come from the wrong side of the Sea of Galilee," and you wouldn't have been attracted to them at all. And the Lord Jesus Christ had to be lifted up and die, in order to draw all men unto Him. But we are not drawn to a physical image, for as Christ said, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth"' (John 4:24). The Lord of Glory doffed His coronation robes and descended to earth to live in the guise of an ordinary man among ordinary men; but now in John 17:5 He is saying, "Father, give Me back all that I had before."
Don't ever think that heaven is going to be sitting on a cloud. There is going to be activity, government, judgment, work. We have no sympathy for that which says, "And now to work, to watch, to war, and then to rest forever." Have you ever had one of those mornings when you came out and said, "Oh, boy, today's the day I can get it done! I could lick my weight in wildcats today. I'm at the peak! This is it!" Well, that's the way you're going to feel forever and ever. And you won't have to have any Benzedrine either. You will have built into you that which will make you perfect in all your eagerness, and perfect in your sense of accomplishment. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee."
As I read my Bible, I discover more and more that God Almighty never had a thought from eternity to eternity that did not center in Jesus Christ. To God Almighty, Jesus Christ is EVERYTHING, and He loves Him so much that He wants to people the universe with those who are formed in His image. That is why He saved us, as we learn from Romans 8:29: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."' God desires that you and I should be like the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the purpose of salvation.
What is the basis of prayer? When God answers prayer is He just handing something to a child to keep the child quiet? Is it a question of divine whim or fantasy? Of course not. God is a God of love and grace, and indeed He desires to give us all blessings. No father and mother ever wanted to give gifts to their own children as much as God desires to bless to overflowing all of His creatures.
