Context No. 3631 of 4322 · Revelation

Revelation 1:1-6: in context

1This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John, 2who testified to God’s word and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw. 3Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is near. 4John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood— 6and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

John opens the book of Revelation, and before the visions of judgment and glory, he anchors everything in who Jesus is and what he has done. Jesus is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

And then a doxology bursts out: to him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, be glory forever. Notice the tenses: he loves us, present and ongoing, and he freed us, a finished act, by his blood. The whole sweeping book of Revelation rests on this bedrock, the love of Christ that never stops, and his once-for-all liberation of us from our sins. Whatever storms the visions go on to describe, they are all held within the love of the One who loosed us from our sins and made us his royal priests. And there is a blessing on all who read, hear, and keep this word.

Do I anchor my life, amid whatever storms come, in the Christ who loves me continually and has freed me from my sins by his blood, making me part of his kingdom of priests?

Sources

Revelation 1:5: "To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood."
Revelation 1:6: "And he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever."
Revelation 1:3: "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it."