“And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood…”
To Him who loved us
Jesus’ motivation in doing what He did is love. Jesus needed to love us before He would free us from our sin. He needed to free us from our sin before He “made us” (v.6). The sequence is important. It would not be a good thing to have unforgiven kings and priests.
“Loved” is in the present tense. Jesus loves us now. Jesus loved his disciples unto the end. His love is persistent and insistent.
“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).
Principle:
Jesus loves us unconditionally.
Application:
Jesus loves us to the end. His love is unconditional. There is never a point where He stops loving us. We cannot calculate this kind of love.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
“To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).
The love of Christ is not fathomable. We cannot explain it. It is inscrutable.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
