​Recognizing Christ, not a caricature

“The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance…’Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ‘” Revelation 1:13-16,19 (NIV)

“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. ' Daniel 7:9 (NIV)

“’His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. ‘” Daniel 10:6 (NIV)

Application:
When John wrote the description of Christ, he was giving an eyewitness account of the Lord as He appeared. Daniel did the same in the account of his vision. Both the Old Testament and New Testament accounts, written hundreds of years apart from men of different heritages and experiences, give consistent descriptions of Christ. Yet modern pictures of Christ continue to paint Him in ways that are culturally-driven and self-promoting. 
This becomes a test for us.
The danger is not in the portraiture, it’s the deeper subconscious desire to ignore scripture on a grander scale so that it makes us feel comfortable. By extrapolation, it’s a desire to change Jesus’s commands instead of following those commands. 
Our mission is to mold ourselves after Christ, not to shape Him after us. 

Prayer:
Enlighten us, Lord, to Who You really are, and embolden us to reject our traditions and instead be changed by You. Amen.