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.

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

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

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

King of Glory close-up

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

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

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! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
³² And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I 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.’ ³⁴ And 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

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, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Redemption

Redemption

If you were to choose a synonym or phrase for the word redemption, what would it be? Atonement. Sacrificial Lamb of God. The Blood of Christ. Ransom for All. Purchased with a Price. Forgiveness of Sin. Justified. Grace. Deliverance from Sin's Bondage. Righteousness through Faith. Freedom. Eternal Inheritance. Peace with God. Adoption into God's family. Reconciliation. Choose one, choose them all for such words and phrases describe the powerful redemptive work of Christ on the cross as the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! John 1:29 & Revelation 5:8-14 There is no doubt in my mind, as the artist lead by the Holy Spirit, that this painting speaks of redemption through the blood of Christ for all who have faith to believe, and the painting also signifies the importance of the "sprinkling of the blood" explained in Hebrews 9 & 10.

Righteousness Through Faith - Romans 3:21-26

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,^{[*See note below]} through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance (long patience) He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. ²⁶ God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous^{[and acquit]} the one who has faith in Jesus.

<sup>*The Greek for sacrifice of atonement refers to the atonement cover (mercyseat) on the ark of the covenant (see Lev. 16:15,16). Learn more about redemption at Gotquestions and Studylight. Both websites include multiple Scripture passages. 

As I was preparing this blog, the Holy Spirit brought the song, "I am Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave to mind. I thought, "Okay...that goes along with the message of redemption," but it wasn't until I found two videos on Youtube where the lead singer, Mike Weaver, shared the story behind the lyrics that I realized how very applicable the song is to every Christian believer.</sup>  

^{Quote from video: "Real humility is simply agreeing with whatever He (God) says about anything. Over my life, as a child of God, as someone who has been ransomed by the blood of Jesus, when He looks at me, He says, "Redeemed.""}

Redemption - 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, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.