This is an unfathomable abyss of wonder!

Charles Spurgeon, "John's First Doxology"

(Be sure to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Revelation 1:5, "Unto Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

He loved us first, before He washed us: "Unto Him who loved us, and washed us." Not "Unto Him who washed us, and then loved us."

This is one of the glories of Jesus' love, that it comes to us while we are defiled with sin--yes, when we were dead in sin, and children of wrath. Jesus' love does not first go out to us as washed, purified, and cleansed; but it went out towards us while we were yet foul and vile, and without anything in us that could be worthy of His love at all. He loved us, and then washed us. Love is the fountain-head, the first source of every other spiritual blessing.

The phrase "Him who loved us," seems as if it encompassed all that Jesus did for us. At least, His sacrificial death was the grandest thing He ever did, in which all the rest is wrapped up. It is not, "Unto Him who took our nature; or unto Him who set a perfect example for us; or unto Him who intercedes for us;" but, "Unto Him who loved us," as if that one thing comprehended all, as indeed it does.

He loves us! This is matter for admiration and astonishment. Oh, my brethren, this is an unfathomable abyss of wonder! I can understand that Jesus pities us; I can very well understand that He has compassion on us; but that the Lord of glory loves us, is a boundless thought which my finite mind can hardly grasp. Come, brother, and drink of this wine on the lees, well refined. The glorious Jesus loves you. You can ponder this, but you can never fully grasp it!

The love of Jesus is a pure, perfect, and divine love; a love whose heights and depths, none can measure. His nature is eternal and undying, and such is His love. He could not love you more. He will never love you less. With all His heart and soul and mind and strength, He loves you!

Then the apostle passes on to the second reason why he should thus magnify the Lord Jesus by saying, "And washed us from our sins in His own blood." "Washed us!" Then we were foul and impure. He washed us who had been leprous with sin. Why would He have anything to do with such filthiness as ours? Would that sublime holiness of His, come into contact with the abominable guilt of our nature and our practice? Yes, He loved us so much, that He washed us from our sins, as black as they were. He did it effectually, too: He did not try to wash us, but he actually and completely washed us from our sins. Our stains were deep and damnable. They seemed indelible, but He has indeed "washed us from our sins." Not a spot remains, though we were as black as midnight. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow!" has been realized by every believer.

But think of how He washed us, "with His own blood." Yes, Jesus shed His blood for such filthy and unworthy ones as we are, that He might forever put away the iniquity of His people by His sin-atoning sacrifice.

At what a cost was this cleansing provided! Have you ever felt at times as if, had you been there and seen the Lord of glory about to bleed to death for you, that you would have said, "No my Lord! The price is too great to pay for such a wretch as I am!"

"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully." Ephesians 3:17-18

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Today's choice AI resource:  The Chosen -- A Scriptural Evaluation