Why is Jesus Called the "Morning Star"?

　　I think it relates to HOPE and his immanent second coming. When Venus rises, it means the sun will follow very soon (in a morning, usually within an hour or two, sometimes just a matter of minutes). Christ's coming—and in a broad sense this could apply to both his first and his second coming—means/will mean God's light is about to shine forever on the universe, making all wrongs right, wiping away all tears, and fulfilling Revelation 21, with the creation of the new heavens and new earth, etc. On a long dark night, the appearance of the morning star means daybreak is imminent. In the long dark night of suffering on earth, Jesus being seen as the morning star means the eternal morning is about to dawn. Hence, Christ as the morning star is a picture of great promise and hope.

　　In one of my books I call Jesus the Morning Star and several readers have gotten very upset, wondering why I would give Jesus a name that belongs to Satan. They are of course referring to Isaiah 14:12: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”

　　The point is that Morning Star was a name for Lucifer before his fall, and there is no inconsistency with two very different beings called by the same name. Lucifer was a creature of beauty and power. Christ is God, the Creator, beautiful and powerful beyond measure, the one Lucifer rebelled against. But the name Morning Star is not tainted—it is Satan who is tainted. Obviously this is the case, or Morning Star wouldn't be used of Christ as it is in Revelation 22:1-15, nor used in a positive way as it is in 1 Peter 1 and Revelation 2.

　　Taken from "Jesus, Venus, and the Morning Star" by Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries, 39085 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 206, Sandy, OR 97055, 503-668-5200, www.epm.org

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