Read Revelation 14:14 and Acts 1:9-11. What similarities do you discover?
John states that “I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man” (Revelation 14:14, NKJV). When Jesus ascended to heaven, Luke records in Acts 1:9 that as the disciples stood gazing up into heaven, “while they watched, He [Jesus] was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (NKJV). Jesus ascended in a cloud of angels and will return with a cloud of angels.
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The angels then declared to the amazed disciples in Acts 1:11, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven“ (NKJV). There is a divine truth embedded in this passage that may not be apparent. This “same Jesus,” the “Son of Man,” the One who walked the dusty streets of Nazareth, ministered in the crowded streets of Jerusalem, healed the sick in the villages of Israel, and preached on the grassy hillsides of Galilee is coming again.
The Son of Man is also mentioned in the light of the judgment in Daniel 7:1-28.
Read Daniel 7:9-10, , Daniel 7:13-14. Why did Daniel call Jesus the “Son of Man” in something as serious as the judgment? What, given what we have already looked at, should be comforting in knowing that the “Son of Man” is so central to judgment?
In Daniel 7:9-10, , Daniel views the seating of the heavenly court with ten thousand times ten thousand of angelic, heavenly beings gathered around the throne. The judgment is set, and the books — the celestial records of our lives — are opened before the universe. In Daniel 7:13-14, , the Son of Man approaches the Ancient of Days, the Father, and receives His eternal kingdom. The judgment reveals before the entire universe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have done everything possible to save all humanity. This judgment vindicates not only the saints but God’s own character against the false charges of Satan (see Job 1:1-2:13, Psalm 51:1-4).
| Think about the fact that your whole life will come under scrutiny before God. What, then, is your only hope when this happens? (See Romans 8:1.) |
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