Revelation 1:5 Commentary and Bible Study

All the offices of Christ that we read about elsewhere are here. ‘From Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness.’ He is Prophet. He is the author of the whole of the Bible. He is the member of the Godhead to whom was deputed the task of making known God and his purposes and his works to mankind. He is the perfect Prophet, the faithful witness. ‘And the first begotten of the dead’, the one who was resurrected. It refers to his atoning work: his death and his resurrection – we see it as one. His priesthood – he ‘washed us from our sins in his own blood.’ What is a priest? An earthly priest is supposed to represent God to man, and at the same time represent man to God, and he stands between man and God, and offers up sacrifices. Of course, he is only a man. Nothing he does is really effective. He is only an illustration of the great Priest, the Mediator who would come and offer up himself. And he is King – ‘the prince of the kings of the earth.’ So Christ is our teacher, our sin bearer and Mediator, and the one who rules over all things – deputed by God to rule the world and his people eternally. The word ‘witness’ is the Greek word from which we get our English word martyr. Does it mean a witness, one who testifies, or does it mean martyr in the strict sense? It undoubtedly means martyr because that is how it is used in the following chapters in Revelation, where it refers to Christians who were slain as martyrs. Christ faithfully came to earth for his people, and went to the cross, and suffered and died to make an atonement. He was, if you like, the first martyr who gave his life. ‘Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness [referring to his death], and the first begotten of the dead [referring to his resurrection] and the prince of the kings of the earth [referring to his present reign now in glory].’ He leads the way out of hell and death, the same way that he will bring all his people. He allowed death to do its worst to him so that he could then break its bands once and for all. Death was forced to give up its prize and life came forth never to return. This gives hope to those who still dwell in the shadow of death. Is there a way of escape? Yes, for Christ is the firstborn from the dead, and many others will follow.Christ’s love is individual and personal. Love is the fundamental energy behind all he has done for us. Nothing but love could have achieved it. Love made him die for us when we were unlovely, rebels, despising and rejecting him. Love overcame every obstacle, anticipating what he will make of us when his work is complete. How has he expressed that love for us? He has washed us from our sins in his own blood. How do we measure love? By what love is willing to give, by the cost it is prepared to pay. He has washed us in his own blood, but can shed their own blood except at the cost of their lives. The language is very graphic, for it is Christ himself who does the washing, and he uses his own blood to do it. He knew that this alone could remove the stain of sin, and so he did not refuse it, despite the cost to himself. Would he have given so much, if something less could have served the same purpose? Certainly not! The cross is not an extravagant gesture. It is the only means that could achieve the result, satisfying the justice of God.