To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Revelation 1:5b-7
Following on the heels of my recent time in Matthew, this passage just seems to fit right in. The last words I heard from Jesus were the Great Commission and the promise that He would be with His people to "the end of the age". And now, as the words of the prophecy of the book of Revelation ring out to describe a vision of "the end of the age", this prayer addressed to Jesus has incredible significance. In it, we see who Jesus is, what He did, what He deserves, and what He will do.
First, who Jesus is. Jesus is the love of God for us. He loved us through His ministry and through His sacrifice. He freed us from our sins by His blood as the sacrifice acceptable to the Father. He is our atonement.
Secondly, what Jesus did is tied to all this. He freed us. We were in bondage to sin's guilt and He set us free. We were liberated by Him. And He did not just turn us loose as former slaves to a new free pauper status. He made us His kingdom. We became the place where He ruled. We are His domain. And He made us priests. By representing the gospel to men, we are acting on His behalf. By offering our lives in His service, we are offering sacrifices to God pleasing to Him.
Thirdly, this prayer confirms what Jesus deserves from us. He has earned dominion forever. God has highly exalted. God the Father has given Him the name above every other name. It is at Jesus name that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He rules His kingdom forever.
And finally, in true form to the bulk of the book of Revelation, we get a glimpse at what Jesus will do. He is coming with the clouds. This will be global phenomenon. Every eye will see Him. Even those who pierced Him (which technically are the sinners of all the ages) will know He is coming. And not a people group on earth will miss it. Every tribe will be troubled by His return as judge. He is awesome as Savior, as King, and as Judge.
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