“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6. And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
This morning I began my annual trek through Revelation. I always enjoy this book, if “enjoy” is the right word. It is interesting, but it is filled with some terrible facts about sin and the world. But as I read this morning, I was impressed with what I have printed above that will serve as the text for this article. It tells us what Jesus means to us and what He has done for us. I rejoiced as I read it, and I pray that you will rejoice as I share my thoughts on it. It begins, “to Him who loved us…” As I wrote this, my mind went to the song that I have known since childhood, and still sing: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…” The Bible just told me again! The love of God/Jesus for us is the most amazing fact in the Bible to me. There are a lot of interesting things in the Bible, but the sacrificial, all-encompassing love of Jesus for us is the most interesting, most amazing and most personal of all biblical truths. Here is what I want you to see as you read this – Jesus loves you! Like me, and everyone else in the world, you do not deserve that love, but Jesus does love you. I want you to bask in that love when you read this as I have done this morning. You do not have to understand why He loves you, you just need to believe it and to grasp it for yourself. If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, this would be a good time for you to personally accept His love; if you do know Him as your Savior just stop whatever you are doing right now and thank God for His sacrificial love. The text tells us that He, “washed us from our sins in His own blood.” In 1 John 1:7, the great apostle tells us: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Our modern sensibilities might make us a little shy about the blood of Jesus, but it IS through His shed blood that we can be washed and cleansed from our sins. The root word for “washed” here is the Greek word louo (long o), and means to wash the whole body. This means that the blood of Jesus has completely cleansed us from sin. On the cross, Jesus did not just wash our feet, but He washed us all over. Sin has no dominion over us, because Jesus has cleansed us from sin. This doesn’t mean that we will never sin again, for we will, but because of His cleansing blood, Jesus will forgive us for our sins. Again I remind you, we do not deserve this, but we have it by His amazing grace. (You can stop here and give Jesus a heartfelt “thanks.”) Next, the text tells us that Jesus has, “made us kings and priests to His God and Father…” This is not written to make us proud, but to humble us. What this means is that, in spite of ourselves, Jesus has made us “kings” in that we reign with Him and will reign with Him in glory. This does not give us earthly power, but it does have great eternal significance, for we shall reign with Him forever and ever. He has also made us “priests,” which means that we have total access to the “throne of grace,” and can get through to the Lord by simply praying. It also means that we have the priestly office of introducing others to the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” As “kings” Jesus has given us a great position in His kingdom, and as “priests” He has called us to serve Him in any way that He chooses to use us. The text ends with a paean of praise: “…to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” We are not given the great promise in this text to feed our own pride; rather, we are reminded of who is responsible for our salvation and that to Him belongs “glory and dominion forever and ever.” It is all to His glory and His reign over the universe that we offer thanksgiving and praise. Do it now! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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