March 15: GLORY TO THE KING OF KINGS

. . . the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father . . . Revelation 1:5b-6a

Descriptions continue as to the identity of the One being revealed. Jesus, by virtue of His death and resurrection has become the legitimate ruler over the kings of the earth. Recall that the devil took Jesus to a high mountain, showing the kingdoms of the world in all their worldly splendor and said, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:9) Our Lord flatly refused this compromise. Instead, He won for Himself the right and the authority to rule. After His resurrection, Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (28:18) This authority began to be manifested when God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:20b-21)

The greatest act of love toward all of humanity is that Jesus loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. The word translated washed may also be translated cleansed, loosed, or freed. But that is not all there is to salvation. When someone is born again (John 3:3), that is just the beginning! Jesus not only wants to give us a new beginning by washing us clean; He wants to keep us clean! He is the author and finisher (Hebrews 12:2) of our faith, and as long as we are alive in this world, we are to humbly submit to His authority, allowing Him to transform our character into His own likeness: this is sanctification. And this is why Revelation’s vision of the saved is as kings and priests to His God and Father. This also answers the question about who witnesses Satan’s end as described in Ezekiel’s prophecy: Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you . . . . I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. (Ezekiel 28:17, 18b) And as God’s people gaze at [Satan] just before he is destroyed, he will gaze back at the redeemed and will have to admit: people who submitted to the authority of Jesus were supernaturally enabled to withstand all of the devil’s craftiness, trickery, and deceit.

Daniel was given a preview of the result of the heavenly judgment against Satan and his unstable earthly kingdom built by deception: But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him. (Daniel 7:26-27)

. . . to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6b