“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).

The three verbs, “loved,” “washed,” and “made,” reveal the personal, victorious aspects of Christ’s work on our behalf. The same three verbs are also found in Titus 3:4–7: “The love of God our Savior toward man appeared . . . the washing of regeneration. . . . That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs.” May we ever marvel at what Christ has done for us! He loved us. There is no reason for God to love us. Sinners deserve nothing but eternal damnation; yet God loved us! “We love Him, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). His love is best seen in the sending of Christ. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). He washed us. Our sins are gone because of Christ’s blood. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12). “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9). Praise God! We are cleansed by, and only by, the blood! He made us. Christ not only loved us and washed us, He made us kings and priests. In the Old Testament, a king could never be a priest. Those who tried (Saul, Uzziah) were judged; but the New Testament believer is made both by Christ’s death. “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests” (Revelation 5:10). NPS