S7EEN ART - Christine Nichols: October 2013

Friday, October 18, 2013

King of Glory

KING OF GLORY!

King of Glory - Christine Nichols, 2009

Psalm 24 is one of my favorites Scriptures. God knew my heart and graciously, most generously, gave me a painting entitled, "King of Glory." The Holy Spirit guided my mind and my hands to create this acrylic painting in 2009. It was the first time that I used a palette knife for an entire piece of art.

When I finished the painting and stepped back, I saw Christ's face. Tears ran my face as I gazed at His. A Picasso-like abstract perhaps, but the face of my Savior and Lord, nonetheless. This was accomplished by following the Holy Spirit's lead. I did not intentionally paint the form of any image. I'm a novice painter - no lofty art school for this Minnesota Mom, but I was called by the Lord to paint for Him and it is He that I seek during the creative process for I know that without Him, I can do nothing! John 5:15

Studying the painting further, I saw a lamb and lion combined in one - depending on the angle of your view. Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He is the Savior of the world for all who believe that He died for their sins and God raised Him from the dead. He is the triumphant King of Glory who is coming soon!

In Psalm 24, David asks a good question, "Who is this King of Glory?" and answers it at the end of the psalm.

Psalm 24 NIV

Of David. A psalm.

¹The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
²for He founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

³Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in His holy place?
⁴The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.

⁵They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek Your face, God of Jacob.

King of Glory close-up

⁷Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.

⁸Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
⁹Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰Who is He, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    He is the King of glory.

The answer to David's question: "The Lord Almighty—He is the King of glory." In Revelation 1:8 Jesus declared that He is the King of Glory when He said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

The King of Glory is the Almighty,

and Jesus is the Almighty,

so then you can easily deduct that

Jesus is the King of Glory!

In the videos below you will view the creative stages of the painting,

King of Glory, and the song by Third Day with the same name.

King of Glory - Christine Nichols, 2009

All my paintings begin with prayer. I ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance from beginning to end - from choosing the canvas and paint colors to the last brush stroke. I pray that the Lord's message would go forth through the art and that Father God would be glorified.

I believe all prophetic art has a message, but what the Holy Spirit speaks to me about a specific piece of art, may be different than what the Spirit says to you. Seek Him for a personal interpretation.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, I invite you to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART. Thanks!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

King of Kings - Christine Nichols, 2009

Jesus Christ has many names and titles given to Him in the Bible including the Lamb of God, Immanuel (God with us), the Alpha and Omega, Savior, Redeemer, and King of Glory, just to name a few. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus said told His disicples just prior to His ascension to heaven: "All authority (power) is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords and every knee will bow to Him! In Revelation 19, we are told that the name KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS is written upon His robe and upon His thigh.

The prophetic paintings of the same titles were painted with quick, deliberate brush strokes and within minutes of each other. In both paintings there is a similar figure in the heavenly setting. When the paintings were completed, the Holy Spirit gave the titles for each painting, but I didn't understand why the images appeared similar yet distinctively different because when I think of the name given Jesus, "KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS" I see it as one title for one God whose name is above all names.

Revelation for the paintings came through another believer a couple of years after the paintings were completed. She said that in the painting, "Lord of Lords" Jesus is sitting on His throne in Heaven, whereas in the painting, "King of Kings" He is appearing in the clouds. When I heard this explanation, Scriptures came to mind for each painting and it made complete sense to me:

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. ¹⁵According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

KING OF KINGS:

In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which God will bring about in His own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and might forever. Amen. 1 Timothy 6:13-16

They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers.” Revelation 17:14

On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:16

KING OF KINGS on left, LORD OF LORDS on right.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. Psalm 136:3

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2

As Christians, followers of Christ,

we are to bow to His majesty

for He is indeed the KING OF KINGS

and LORD OF LORDS!
Is Jesus Christ the King and Lord of your life?

"King of Kings" by Christine Nichols, 2009

"Lord of Lords" by Christine Nichols, 2009

Saturday, October 12, 2013

(The) King Knocking

Jesus Knocking at the Door of Your Heart

Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20 KJV

This verse talks about a close, personal relationship with Jesus. The word "sup" means intimacy in the Greek. Jesus Christ wants a very intimate relationship with you.

The painting is an abstract profile of Jesus robed in purple with His right hand extended as if knocking on a door. Open the door of your heart to Him! The Scripture and painting also deals with the lukewarm church of today. Here's the verse in context:

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

¹⁹Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.
²¹To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on His throne. ²²Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Note about the painting: I did not intentionally paint a profile of the Lord. As I was being lead by the Holy Spirit in choosing the colors and the brush strokes, I thought I was painting a seascape with multicolored waves - see photograph on the right. Imagine my surprise when the Lord told me to flip the painting and there before me stood an image of Jesus knocking on a blue door! To me, this piece is a modern version of the famous painting, "Christ at Heart's Door" by Warner Sallman.

The King Knocking - Christine Nichols, 2009

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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Lamb of God

Lamb of God - Christine Nichols

The Lord has given me a few mysterious "portrait" paintings through the years and I count, "The Lamb of God" as one of them. I say mysterious because I have never intentionally painted a portrait in my life. Faces are not my forte, believe me, but that has not stopped Father God's purpose from going forth.

This piece was painted in 2010, and although I lost my detailed artists notes for the paintings, I do remember the Holy Spirit choosing the paint colors and instructing me how to apply them to the canvas diagonally to achieve the diamond shape in the center. The face in the center of the diamond was achieved by applying paint and lifting it off. I remember that I was totally surprised to see an image, which to me, looks like a lamb. An abstract lamb, but a lamb none the less! What do you see?

Jesus Christ is referred to as the “Lamb of God” in the Bible. This symbol points to Christ being a perfect sacrifice for sin. It also conveys His meekness and His willingness to submit to suffering and death. Here's a passage of Scripture from John 1 when John - the Baptist, and Jesus met for the first time:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
³²And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The Apostle Paul spoke of Jesus as "Christ, our Passover Lamb" in 1 Corinthians 5:7

The Apostle Peter said of Jesus:
^"...but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:19

In the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ is the glorious Lamb:

The Lamb is worthy Rev 5:8-12 See also Rev 7:9-10; Rev 15:3
The Lamb is upon the throne Rev 17:14 See also Rev 5:6; Rev 7:17; Rev 22:1-3
The Lamb will execute judgment Rev 6:16 See also Rev 6:1-3; Rev 14:10
The Lamb is the Bridegroom of the Church Rev 19:7-9 See also Rev 21:9

My all-time favorite praise song is Agnus Dei sung by Michael W Smith

Alleluia
Alleluia
For the Lord God Almighty reigns!

Alleluia
Holy
Holy are You Lord God Almighty!
Worthy is the Lamb!
Worthy is the Lamb!

Lamb of God - Christine Nichols

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Let There Be Light

Let There be Light - Christine Nichols

This painting was a few years in the making, unlike God's proclamation of "Let there be light" and instantaneously light appeared! We know this by the first few verses of Genesis 1, which is the first book of the Bible. The word genesis means "a coming into being" and in this instance, it was the absolute power of God's very words. He spoke light into existence.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day." Genesis 1:1-5

The first chapter of the Bible outlines creation from bringing forth light to humankind. Note that the sun, moon and stars were created on the fourth day.

Genesis 1
V 1: START Genesis and the Bible begin with God who created everything.
V 2: SPIRIT God’s Holy Spirit is there in the beginning, bringing order from chaos and light from darkness.
V 3–31: SEQUENCE The order of God’s six-day creation is as follows:
Day one—light;
Day two—sky;
Day three—land, including vegetation, and sea;
Day four—sun, moon and stars;
Day five—sea-life and birds;
Day six—animals and finally man in His image as a special creation to rule over all living creatures and to benefit from God’s provision in His creation, which is ‘very good’.

The Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005 Day One Publications.

As Genesis 1 shows the six days of creation, I thought I would show the creative steps of the painting:

First, the background layer was painted horizontally across the canvas. It was a combo of gesso and hues of blue.

During this creative step, I wondered is the Holy Spirit was leading me to paint a flower.

The "flower" became a starburst background and I began dabbing the wet paint from center outwards.

At this point, the Holy Spirit told me the title of the piece: "Let There Be Light" in 2010.

Three years later, the Holy Spirit lead me to slightly adjust a photograph of the painting. It looks like the birth of star to me.

As I was given the title, I assumed the painting was complete, but there a part of me that didn't quite know what to think of the artwork. It seemed too pastel to me. Then three years later, as I was working with image editing software on another project, the Holy Spirit told me to import an image file of this painting and with a couple of minor adjustments, the painting went from pastel to vibrant! The newest version of this painting brings Psalm 33:6 to mind..."By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." In fact, I used this painting in blog I write entitled, Psalms Blogger for Psalm 33.

Let There Be Light - Christine Nichols

Perhaps the lesson to be learned by this experience is that light is shown by it's contrast to darkness. In the Bible, light stands for goodness, purity, and life, whereas darkness equals evil, perverseness, and death. This contrast of light and darkness is repeated throughout Scriptures from the first book of Genesis to last book of Revelation.

~ x x x x x x x ~

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Lord of Lords and King of Kings

"Lord of Lords" by Christine Nichols, 2009

"But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” Luke 22:69

KING OF KINGS:

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Compare the paintings side-by-side:

KING OF KINGS on left, LORD OF LORDS on right.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. Psalm 136:3

On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:16

As Christians, followers of Christ,

we are to bow to His majesty

for He is indeed the KING OF KINGS

and LORD OF LORDS!
Is Jesus Christ the King and Lord of your life?

"King of Kings" by Christine Nichols, 2009

"Lord of Lords" by Christine Nichols, 2009