In Revelation 1:18 the Lord also says, “I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Due to the fall and sin of man, death came in and is now working on earth to gather up all the sinful people into Hades. Death resembles a dustpan used to collect the dust from the floor, and Hades resembles a trash can. Whatever the dustpan collects is put into the trash can. Thus, death is a collector, and Hades is a keeper. In the church life today we are no longer subject to death and Hades, for Christ abolished death on the cross and overcame Hades in His resurrection. Although Hades tried its best to hold Him, it was powerless to do it (Acts 2:24). With Him, death has no sting and Hades has no power. We must be the same as Christ. In the church life the keys of death and Hades are in His hand. It is impossible for us to deal with death; we simply do not have the ability to handle it. Whenever death enters, it will deaden many. But as long as we give the Lord Jesus the ground, the opportunity, and the free way to move and act among us, both death and Hades will be under His control. However, whenever the Lord Jesus does not have the ground in the church, death immediately becomes prevailing and Hades becomes powerful to hold the dead ones. We should praise the Lord that Christ has the keys of death and of Hades. Death is subject to Him, and Hades is under His control.
Christ’s resurrection was also His victory over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave (2:24). Satan, death, Hades, and the grave form a group. Christ, the Son of Man, was not only vindicated by God and was proved to be a success in His achievements, but He was victorious over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave, all of which are a great concern and trouble to us. The Son of Man overcame death and destroyed Satan (Heb. 2:14). The keys of death and of Hades are now in His hand (Rev. 1:18), and He is victorious over the grave. Such a Christ is walking in the midst of all the local churches in His recovery, taking care of them as the golden lampstands.
The Christ in Revelation is different from the One in the four Gospels. Yes, He is the same Christ, but He is the same Christ in different aspects. In the four Gospels Christ was mild, gentle, and kind. When He looked at people, they felt loved. In the Gospel of John, Jesus looked at people and wept; He truly captured people by His loving look (11:35; Luke 22:61). This same Christ, however, appears differently in the book of Revelation. He has seven eyes, which are like a flame of fire (1:14; 5:6), burning and shining. In the Gospels His most intimate disciple could even recline on His bosom (John 13:23). John was close to Him, and He was nice, dear, gentle, kind, and loving to John. However, when John saw Him again in Revelation, he was frightened and fell at His feet as dead (Rev. 1:17). If such a Christ appeared to us today, we would all be shocked. Luke 4:22 says that words of grace proceeded out of His mouth, but Revelation tells us that a sharp two-edged sword proceeds out of His mouth (1:16; 19:15). Moreover, in John 1:29 He is introduced as the Lamb of God, but in Revelation 5:5 He is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The book of Revelation unveils Christ to us not in a common way but in an extraordinary way. This way is absolutely different from that in the Gospels. In this sense, Revelation continues the Gospels and the Epistles, but it does not reveal Christ according to the Gospels and the Epistles. In Revelation He is not a small, gentle, kind, patient, silent, and suffering Christ; He is a bold, fierce, rich, burning, and living Christ. If we experience the Christ unveiled in Revelation, we will be in life, enjoy His victory, praise Him, and shout for joy.
If we consider the picture of Christ in Revelation 1, we will see that this chapter presents a fierce Christ. His eyes are as a flame of fire; His feet are like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace; His voice is as the sound of many waters; and out of His mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword. We must have a new impression of Christ. Christ, the Son of Man, who is walking in the midst of the local churches, is living, burning, and fierce. He is gracious, yet He is terrifying. Particularly at the end of the age of the church, Christ must be fierce. Because the days are so dark, evil, and dead, we need a fierce Christ. If we contact the Christ in Revelation, we will not be cold but burning, and we will not be silent but will shout to praise Him.