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REVELATION

. Part 5 in the Series entitled “Three”


02/20/11

“Washed in the Blood”


Would you please stand with me for the reading of God’s sacred Word? Revelation 1:1-8…
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things
which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that
he saw.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things
which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which
is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
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.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him:
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.”

What has Jesus done?


In answer to each of these questions, John gives three principle truths.
Consider the first question… Who is Jesus?

This IS who Jesus is. He isn’t simply an historical figure shrouded in mystery and controversy.
He’s wasn’t just some Galilean peasant wandering about in a dusty robe and sandals. He’s
wasn’t’ just a good man or a great moral teacher or a fine example of a good person. Nor was
he just a political rebel and a liability to the Jewish state.
Jesus Christ has been and ever will be the only begotten Son of the Living God – the crucified
Savior and Risen Lord, who is coming again in great power and glory as a conquering Warrior
and King.
He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and one day every knee will bow and every tongue
will confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!

Let’s praise Him for who He is!


And now, let’s dig deeper into the second set of revelations about Jesus, answering the second
question… What Has Jesus Done?

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Listen, whenever we wonder about someone’s greatness and their legacy and impact on history
and our lives, we always look at what they have done, because, as the old saying goes, “Actions
speak louder than words”

So, the question of Christ’s identity and of His plan and purposes for this world are shown in the
next three revelations John gives in verses 5 & 6. So, let’s read it again…
“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.”
Did you catch it? The first of three things that Jesus Christ has done for us is that He has…
LOVED US
It’s an amazing thing, you know, this human craving for love. Every one of us has an innate
desire to be cared for, nurtured, and desired. It is human nature to love and be loved, and we
don’t have to look far for proof of that.
Just days ago you could walk into Walmart, Kroger, or any other retail outlet and you would
have been overwhelmed by the variety of products for sale that highlighted our “obsession” with
love.
From the most expensive display of roses to a small, heart-shaped piece of candy that says,
“Will you be my valentine?”, the proof of our craving abounds! And that’s a good and a normal
thing. God has made us for love. It is an inseparable part of who we are and one of the things
that makes us truly human. Sadly, for many people, the quest for love leads them through s
string of failed relationships and broken hearts, and they never really find that true, pure, and
lasting love their hearts really crave.
But what if it could be found? What if there was someone who loved us unreservedly,
unconditionally, passionately, purely, and completely? Is it even possible?
Yes. It is. There is someone who loves us that way, and His name is Jesus. John writes that
Jesus has “Loved us”.
But what does this really mean? How does Jesus love me? I mean, if He’s really God, and He’s
perfect, and He’s way out there somewhere, how can He love me? Furthermore, if He’s really
God and pure and perfect and He hates sin, how can he even love me, since I am so imperfect?
Listen, I can’t answer that question for you. I ask the same things myself, and I can’t really
understand if, humanly speaking, any better than you. But we CAN look to His “love letter” to us,
this Book, and find the answers.
So, let’s see if we can answer the question… “How has Jesus loved us?”
There are just two things that I want to bring out of the Word to answer this question, and they
are the character and the consequence of His love.
First, let us consider the….
CHARACTER OF HIS LOVE
How can we exhaust the treasures or mine the depths of God’s love? To do so would be like
wrapping our arms around the universe! We could never discover all the qualities of His love.
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But we can learn enough about His love to put a song in our hearts and a skip in our steps.
What a joy it is to discover His love. And today I want to show you five things about His love that
should set your hearts on fire!
First of all, Christ’s love is…
BINDING
In Romans 8:35, the Apostle Paul asks the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of
God?” And then, he demonstrates the binding nature of this love by asking…“…shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Is there anything that can separate from Jesus’ love? No, Paul says. Nothing can do it. It is a
binding love. When God sets about to love us, there is no one and no thing that can stand in His
way. There is nothing that can separate us.
Paul answers his own rhetorical questions. He goes on in verses 36-39… “As it is written, For
thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Listen, I know we go through times in life when it feels like God doesn’t love us. I know that
feeling personally, but God assures us in His Word (and God is not a liar) that there is no
circumstance or problem or season in life that can interfere with His love. His love is binding.
Jesus spoke of the binding nature of His love. He said in the Gospel of John, chapter 10:27-
29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand.”
I am so glad to know that no one can separate me from my Savior’s love. I am so glad that no
financial trouble, sickness, adversity, persecution, or even my own failures can separate me
from His love. His love is binding.
Furthermore, His love is also…
SHELTERING
Back there in John, when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees about His love, he used the analogy of
a shepherd and his sheep. And he spoke of the sheltering nature of His love. Listen to how he
said it.
John 10:1-5… “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger
will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Verses 10-11 - “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that
they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

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Verses 14-15 – “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
And finally, in verses 27-28, He said… “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand.”
Can you see the sheltering nature of His love? He is the “good” shepherd, and He cares so
deeply for His sheep that He will guard them against predators and protect them from dangers.
He will meet their needs, nurture, and care for them. And ultimately, He will give His very life to
protect and defend them.
His love is a sheltering love. He has promised to shelter us from the Enemy who would
otherwise destroy us.
We’re reminded of this in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 22:31-32, when Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren.”
Do not think for a moment that you’re any different than Simon Peter. The same devil that
wanted to destroy him, also wants to destroy you. And the only reason He hasn’t succeeded is
because Jesus Christ shelters you in His love. His love is sheltering.
Now, this binding, sheltering, love is also…

IMMEASURABLE
The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:14-19, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fullness of God.”
How can we ever understand the measure of God’s love. O, we see it, but do we understand it?
How could God even consider sacrificing His own Son for the pitiful lives of people who reject
and deny Him anyway?
What kind of love is this? It is a love that is immeasurable, incalculable and unfathomable. It is
beyond our finite minds. I can’t get my head around it. And frankly, neither can you.
How do you explain the love that caused Jesus to look down from his agony on the cross, upon
those who spit in His face and drove the death nails, and say, “Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.”
His love was so awesome that it shocked and even disarmed his enemies – so much so, that
the centurion who oversaw his execution was convinced, saying, “Truly this man was the Son of
God”. (Mark 15:39)
Only the love of God is big enough to do that! His love is immeasurable. What’s more, His
love is…

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COMMITTED
In John 13:1-5, we read, “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour
was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which
were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son,
to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was
come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took
a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the
disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”
Even though Jesus knew that in a matter of hours these men, to the very last one, would
abandon Him in his hour of need, He still loved them. “He loved them unto the end.”
That is a committed love. Jesus was committed to those men, even if they weren’t committed to
Him. And the same is true for us. There are times that our commitment wanes-times when we
don’t love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
But do you think His love waivers? No. Never. He is not shaken or moved by our weakness or
failures. And He has committed to loving us.
So, even as He looked ahead to a cross and saw no one there to stand by Him, he kneeled and
washed the feet of those who would forsake Him – and even the feet of the one who would
betray him. Nothing could break His commitment to love them. And friend, nothing will break
His commitment to love you either. He loves you, even in spite of yourself, and He will not stop
loving you.
And you listen to me very carefully…this is also true of those who do not love Him in return. The
Bible says in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son;
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
And yet, in spite of that love, we see just a few verses later, Jesus says, “And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.”
What can we conclude? That men will climb over, around, and under God’s amazing love, just
to live in darkness. They willingly forsake heaven for a place in hell just so they can hold fast to
their sin.
And yet, though millions march on to hell without Christ, they do so in spite of His love. He
hasn’t loved them any less. He has always been committed to them as well as us. He died on
the cross for every man, woman, and child.
His is a committed love.
Finally, His love is…
COMPELLING
In 2Corinthians 5:14, we read, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge,
that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

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What was Paul really saying? The word “constraineth” in this context means “moves” or
“compels”. Paul is saying that this magnificent love of Christ moves him and compels Him to
preach the Gospel. He looks at the world around Him and sees dead men in need of
resurrection, and he knows that there is One – Jesus – who has what every man needs to find
true life.
Paul knew what it was like to receive the unmerited love of Christ. And because he had
experienced it, he was responsible to share it. And he knew it. He said, “I am compelled by
Christ’s love to preach the One who died for all!”
And brothers and sisters, so are we!
Listen to the words of the Apostle John in 1John 4:7-10, “Beloved, let us love one another: for
love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because
that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins.
Now, listen to what he says in verse 11 should be our response to such love – “Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
John is telling us the same thing Paul said, “Christ’s love compels us.”
Listen, if you have truly experienced Christ’s love, you must also be moved to love others. You
must feel compelled to give them the same gift that you’ve been given! If you feel no desire in
your heart, no compassion, no compulsion to share the Gospel, there is something wrong with
your heart, because Christ’s love is a compelling love!

CONCLUSION
How do we begin to describe the wonders of Jesus Christ’s love? All of our words fall short. It is
a love beyond our comprehension.
As the songwriter said,
“The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,


God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
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On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

We cannot fathom God’s infinite love, yet, we can experience it for ourselves. God is not so far
away, nor is He so busy or unconcerned to shower His love on you. In fact, He already has.
Jesus Christ died so your sins could be forgiven and you could have a relationship with God,
your Creator, who also wants to be Your Father.
Now, those of you who are really sharp are thinking, “But wait, he only told us of the Character
of His love, what about the consequence?” You’re good! But you’ll have to come back tonight
for that!

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