This verse presents three distinct glories of our Lord. First, He was and is the Faithful Witness. In particular, we believe that this has in view His life. When He was here, His life was a faithful witness to His Father. He revealed the Father through His words and works. He witnessed to the truth (Jn. 18:37). He was faithful in every situation, in season and out of season.

The Firstborn from the dead is how we know Him today. He has not only died but is risen again from the dead. He is the firstborn, or first in rank, because there will be many others also who will be raised from the dead.

He also will be the Ruler—Prince, or Leader—of the kings of the earth. This looks forward to His glory in the millennial reign of our Savior. All will be subject to Him (Rev. 21:24, 26).

In addition to these glories, we also have His work brought before us. In wondrous grace, He has washed us from our sins in His own blood. His own blood was required so that Isaiah’s invitation could be fulfilled: “‘Come now and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (Isa. 1:18). Nothing else could cleanse us from our sins in the sight of a holy God. As we often say, we are judicially cleansed before God. We will never stand before Him as our Judge because of our sins. They have all been washed away through Christ’s death and shed blood. Hallelujah!

The strongest soap or chemicals in the world could not remove one of our sins. Christ’s blood cleanses from every sin (1 Jn. 1:7). Have you come to Him to have your sins washed away?