KINGS AND PRIESTS
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5, 6
John the Beloved was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. There, God showed him things that would occur in the future. In this Scripture, John speaks of things that Christ has done and is going to do in the lives of His children. We can relate to these benefits and privileges John wrote about. He spoke of “him that loved us.” This is where our story begins, with the love of God.
What a reassuring fact it is, that the Lord loves us immensely and unconditionally! He loved us when we did not love Him. As only He could, God in His great love looked beyond the guilty sinners that we were and saw souls worth dying for. He loves us when we behave and when we misbehave. He loved us when we were lost and undone, and He loves us now as His children. He showed His love for us when He died for us on the cross. He drew us to Himself by this great love; and when by faith we received Him as our Savior, He “washed us from our sins in his own blood.”
Nothing could cleanse us from our sin except the perfect and sinless blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves us so much that He became the sacrifice for sin so that we could be forgiven. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, but He became the sinless and spotless Lamb. His blood continues to wash us and cleanse us. By the grace of God and the gift of salvation, we have been reconciled to God and redeemed.
Because He loves us and has cleansed us, He has made us fit to serve Him with our lives. He has made us “kings and priests unto God.” As kings, we reign in life through Jesus Christ. We will one day reign with Him in His kingdom. As priests, we offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving and have access into the very presence of God.
There is an obvious progression in these three distinct blessings. It starts with God’s love. His love for us was the reason Jesus came from Heaven to die on the cross of Calvary. It was His love that sought us and bought us. After we are saved, we see that He has a plan for us and wants to include us in service for Him, all for His glory.