I Am The Bright And Morning Star

Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 26th October service and hymns are below.

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Our principal verses are:

Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

I Am The Bright And Morning Star

This ‘I am’ statement from our Lord Jesus serves again as a clear testimony of both our Saviour’s divine nature and His human nature. In these final verses of our Bible the Lord Jesus announces His certain and imminent return to earth and we are given a closing glimpse of Christ’s glory. Our Saviour tells us, ‘I am the root and the offspring of David’, then He declares, ‘I am the bright and morning star’. Finally, we are told, ‘Surely I come quickly’. Christ is coming back and that right soon. Eagerly the church awaits His return and the dawn of a new day.

Root and branch

Our Lord Jesus may be said to be the root of David because He is David’s Lord and Head. In a temporal sense David had his being from the Lord Jesus who is Creator of all things. In a spiritual sense David, with all believers, has his eternal life in the new creation. Thus David may be said, really and truly, to spring from the Root who is Christ. Yet, too, in Christ’s human nature He was of the house and lineage of David in fulfilment of God’s covenant promise that the Messiah would spring from David’s seed. As God, Christ is the root of David; as man, He is the offspring of David.

The Day Spring from on high

Furthermore, Christ is ‘the bright and morning star’. He is the ‘sun of righteousness’ who has risen from the dead and rises daily in faithfulness and mercy to His people as their God-Man Mediator. The ‘bright and morning star’ is a beautiful picture of the Saviour and one that speaks forth Christ’s inherent glory as that Man in whom dwells ‘all the fulness of the Godhead bodily’. To teach us of Himself our eternal God condescends to liken Himself to the sun, a created body. Then to gladden our hearts and enhance the comparison He rises daily, shining brightly, with gracious mercies for His chosen, covenant people.

Balaam’s Star

The picture of a star has long been used by God the Holy Spirit to foretell the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Balaam, that devious prophet-for-hire of old, desired to curse the Children of Israel but could not resist blessing the Lord’s own people, ‘the church in the wilderness’. Balaam confounded his paymasters, who sought to trouble Israel, with foresight of God’s coming presence amongst them and their deliverance by a glorious and victorious King. He declared in anticipation of Christ that a ‘Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel’.

With eager anticipation

Later, Paul tells the church of a ‘glory that excelleth’ and Peter speaks of ‘the glory that should follow’ and ‘the glory that shall be revealed’. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the fulness of that glory and, as certain as the rising of ‘the bright and morning star’, He is coming again to bestow glory upon His people. We shall walk in streets of gold by the light of His love in a land where there is no night, nor any need of a sun. We shall bask in the warmth of His embrace. We shall recline in the comfort of His presence. We shall sit on thrones in the shining city of His making when ‘the dayspring from on high hath visited us’ again.

Practical benefits

We have discovered from Christ’s other ‘I am’ sayings how our Saviour is always ready to bestow His church with useful and comforting views of Himself, drawn from the natural order. He does so that we might discover more of His grace and love towards us and that we might exalt and glorify His name now, on earth, as we shall do everlastingly in heaven. Christ is the brightness of His Father’s glory and those things that are most glorious and desirable, even in our fallen estimation, such as life and light, resurrection and truth, personal spiritual care and everlasting salvation are all claimed by our Saviour in these great ‘I ams’.

Precious promises

Until He comes Christ’s church, the Lord’s people, have this promise: that the Lord whom we await shall visit us each day with faithful mercies necessary for our time. Morning by morning new provisions will be supplied. Christ shall rise in our hearts as the bright and morning star, the sun of righteousness, to lighten our way and direct our path. He shall nourish our souls with spiritual bread and rejoice our hearts with the spiritual fruit of the vine. He will be to us an open Door and lead us in the way we should go. He will cause us to trust in Him as the beginning and end of faith. He is our Saviour. Jesus Christ in whom we trust. The Great I Am.

Amen

Hymn 482

The Believer’s Treasure. Col. 1. 5, 6; Matt. 6. 20, 21

Gospel Mag., 1796           L.M.

1
In heaven my choicest treasure lies,
My hopes are placed above the skies;
’Tis Christ, the bright and Morning Star,
Draws my affections from afar.

2
O that my anxious mind were free
From this vile tenement of clay,
That I might view the immortal Word,
And live and reign with Christ my Lord.

3
Then should I see, and feel, and know,
What ’tis to rest from sin and woe;
And all my soul be tuned to sing
The praises due to Christ my King.

4
Hail, blessed time! Lord, bid me come,
And enter my celestial home,
And drown the sorrows of my breast,
In seas of unmolested rest.

Hymn 1011

God’s Presence is Light in Darkness. Luke 1. 78, 79

I. Watts    C.M.

1
My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights.

2
In darkest shades if he appear,
My dawning is begun;
He is my soul’s sweet morning star,
And he my rising sun.

3
The opening heavens around me shine
With beams of sacred bliss,
While Jesus shows his heart is mine,
And whispers I am his.

4
My soul would leave this heavy clay,
At that transporting word,
Run up with joy the shining way,
To embrace my dearest Lord.

5
Fearless of hell and ghastly death,
I’d break through every foe;
The wings of love and arms of faith
Should bear me conqueror through.

The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that He is the Root and Offspring of David and the Bright and Morning Star. These wonderful names reveal more of the character of the Lord Jesus and point to our future glory in heaven.