He Cleansed Us with His Own Blood and Made Us Kings and Priests for God

DATE: MAY 17, 2020

TOPIC: "He Cleansed Us with His Own Blood and Made Us Kings and Priests for God" Revelation 1:4-6 I like to see of Jesus when he was on earth, to see his life and works which make us cry and make us suffer when we think he suffered so much. We see the Lord's sufferings and identify ourselves with our human nature. And this is what happens, that more often we do not get to see JESUS IN HIS SOVEREIGNTY! We spend years after years suffering His death, and that is not wrong because in that great sacrifice we can see His great love, His dedication. But now, it is very important that these verses of the Apocalypse make us see THAT HE IS THE SOVEREIGN OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH!

I. (Vs. 5) Jesus is "...THE FIRST-BORN OF THE DEAD..."

A. He is "...THE SOVEREIGN OF THE KINGS of the earth..."

1. "...from the (Vs. 4) SEVEN SPIRITS before his throne..."

2. (Vs. 5) Those seven spirits come from Him, from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, who is the firstborn from the dead, and the sovereign of the kings of the earth (Revelation 4:5; Isaiah 11:2).

3. All of this clearly describes God the Son!

4. "...Jesus Christ the faithful witness..." He is the faithful witness, the trustworthy witness (the one who is trustworthy).

5. As the firstborn of the dead, He is the first to rise from the dead! Not to die anymore! He is the One who maintains the position of honor and preeminence (of privilege, of special merit) among all who are raised from the dead to enjoy eternal life!

6. He is also the sovereign of all the kings of the earth!

7. Here in the Apocalypse the apostle John refers to the Savior as "...Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by HIS BLOOD." WITH HIS OWN BLOOD!

8. He loved us and freed us from our sins. HE LOVED US SO MUCH BEFORE CLEANSING US!

9. "...cleansed us..." It is that He has already cleansed us. It is a past and finished work!

10. Learn today and observe that the price he paid was: "HIS BLOOD." HIS OWN BLOOD!

11. A sincere evaluation forces us to confess that the cost was too elevated!

12. We did not deserve to be cleansed at such an excessive price (higher than normal, which lacks measure)!

13. (Vs. 6) "...and made us kings and priests for God, his Father..." Now we are EACH BELIEVER A KING AND EACH ONE A PRIEST!

14. Kings and priests for His God and Father!

15. We see here that with His love He did not settle with cleansing us, although it could have been just that, but He went further and MADE US A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS FOR HIS GOD HIS FATHER!

16. As holy priests we offer spiritual sacrifices to God: We offer Him our own people, our possessions, our praise, and our service!

17. As regal (royal) priests, we proclaim the "excellency of Him" who "called us out of darkness into His admirable light." (1 Peter 2:9)

18. If we meditate on such a great love, we can only conclude that (Vs. 6) He is worthy of all the "...glory...", "honor" and "adoration" and "praise".

19. And He is worthy of the "...empire...", of the dominion (the power that he possesses) over our lives, over the church, over the world, and over the entire universe. Amen.

20. (Vs. 7) "Look, he is coming with the clouds..." This Blessed One returns to earth in chariots of clouds!

21. His coming will be neither local nor invisible, because "...every eye will see him..." (Matthew 24:29, 30).

22. "...even those who pierced Him..." Those people who were guilty of His crucifixion will be confused.

23. In fact, "...all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him." For He will come to judge His enemies and establish His kingdom.

24. Believers do not lament for His coming, but say, "Yes, amen!"

25. (Vs. 8) Here is a change from the one who speaks in this chapter, now it is the same Lord Jesus.

26. The Lord Jesus is presented as "...the Alpha and the Omega..." These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, it means that Jesus Himself says that He is the beginning and the end!

27. HE COVERS THE TIME AND ETERNITY, AND DEPLETES THE VOCABULARY OF EXCELLENCE!

28. HE IS THE SOURCE AND GOAL OF CREATION! HE IS THE ONE WHO STARTED AND WHO WILL END THE DIVINE PROGRAM IN THE WORLD!

29. "...who is and who was and who is to come..."

30. ETERNAL IN HIS BEING AND THE ALMIGHTY IN POWER!

31. And being Him all this, He calls us kings and priests!

32. Because He made us like this! Amen. King = the person who, due to his characteristics, stands out among the others, is the maximum representative, since he has hereditary power. Priest = is the one who consecrates his life to Divinity and his functions are religious rites.