04-12-2026 Washed in the Blood
Text: Revelation 1:4-7
Last week on Easter Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It’s the basis of our faith wherein He defeated death and all who will accept Him into their lives through faith are given eternal life. Long after the events at Calvary, the message of the Cross still remains. The effects of the Cross will remain in this world throughout all the ages until Jesus returns to establish His earthly kingdom. One of those effects is that it won’t always be an easy road for His followers. The Apostle John, author of this morning’s text, was placed in exile for his faith in Jesus. Our text this morning is found in Revelation 1:4-7 where John is writing about the Cross to the seven Churches: “ (4) John to the seven churches which are in Asia; grace be unto you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; (5) 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 Who loves us and washed us from our sins in His Own blood. (6) And has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be Glory and Dominion forever and ever. Amen. (7) Behold, He comes 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.”
John is reminding the seven churches of the Cross because it is important that all churches, then and until the second coming of Jesus, are to teach the message of the Cross. Any church that doesn’t has lost their message. Today, Churches are still ignoring the Cross. Too often pastors don’t want to teach about the Cross because it’s too bloody to talk about, so they don’t want to risk alienating the parishioners. But what they’re forgetting is that without the shed blood of Jesus, there is no salvation. All who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior are accepting that they receive eternal salvation because they are washed clean of their sin by the blood He shed on the Cross.
When John wrote “Unto Him Who loves us and washed us from our sins in His Own blood” in verse 5 he is telling us in no uncertain terms that the Cross proves the love that Jesus and His Father have for all who accept Jesus as leader of their life. Romans 5:8 tells us that the Cross says God loves us. If you ever doubt this, remember what Jesus said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without the shedding of blood on the Cross there could be no forgiveness of sins. I John 1:7 tells us that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So, you see, if there was no Cross, there would be no cleansing or forgiveness of sins. His blood is what makes us clean from our sin in the eyes of God.
Because of what Jesus did on the Cross, all who accept Him are made kings and priests as John says in verse 6 of our text. They have been lifted from rags to real riches and exalted from peasants to princes. All who are cleansed by faith in Jesus are now fit for divine service. Think about what God did for a few fishermen that chose to follow Jesus: He made them the key people in establishing His church.
What does it mean that those washed in His blood are exalted from sin to divine service? It tells us that when we accept Jesus, our future is as bright as the promises of God. We have been delivered from the limits of time into everlasting life for eternity. We are to live and share the message that Heaven is waiting for all faithful believers when they leave this earthly life.
When we have been washed in the blood of Jesus, verse 7 tells us we can now focus on the future. Regrets for things that happened in our past are behind us and rewards for what we do for Jesus now and in the future are ahead of us. The return of our Lord is our blessed hope as we are told in Titus 2:13. We can look beyond the troubles and problems of our present life because of the promise of what our life will be like when Jesus returns to establish His earthly kingdom.
Paul confirms for us in Philippians 3:13-14 that with Jesus as our Lord and Savior we can forget all that’s behind us. He is also a living example of this. Remember, Paul was the one who held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr, when he was still called Saul whose life mission was to kill all Christians. But Paul was able to change and become an amazing teacher of how Jesus can change a life. All of us have done things for which we are ashamed, and we live in the tension of what we have been and what we hope to become. But when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we can completely let go of all our past guilt and look forward to what God, through the Holy Spirit, will help us become. We no longer have to dwell on our past. Instead, we can grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on our relationship with Him now. We realize that we are now forgiven and can move on to a life of faith and obedience. We can look forward to the prize of Heaven later and a fuller and more meaningful life now because of our hope in Jesus Christ.
This and so much more awaits us when we have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. The washing away of sin comes when we make the decision to have faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Before we leave this morning, we will once again remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the Cross. If you haven’t yet made the decision to faithfully accept Him as your Savior, don’t wait any longer. There will come a time when it will be too late. Make the decision now to open your heart to Him and come and be clean by His blood.
Until we meet again, may God bless you and keep you, may He shine His light on you, show you grace, and give you peace in all the days ahead.