Revelation 5:9-10

- Jesus was the lamb of sacrifice to God. In the tradition of Jews, they sacrificed a perfect lamb to God. It is an offering to God and it must be healthy, no defects, and often times, the first born. It is supposed to be the best  among all. The sacrifice is unblemished.

- Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because He was sinless. He was also born God and from God as His Son. In short, He was prepared and acceptable as the sacrifice in exchange for us. He offered himself because He wants us all to be reconciled with God.

- It's mentioned that various people are the ones Jesus redeemed. It meant that salvation was not exclusive to a certain race, country, group of people and etc.

- We will be Kings and Priests to God. Kings back then in Biblical times were chosen and anointed carefully. Like us, we were chosen to be loved and even adopted by God! There were so many kings in the Bible with different character and background. They were chosen as leaders of people too. And we are called to lead people to Christ.

- The priests are mediators and they prayed to God on behalf of the sinners back then too. In a way, like the kings, they lead lost people back to God.

- Both the Kings and Priests (us) are to reign on earth. How do we do that? We really are to lead other people back to God!

- We can become like the Kings and Priests God wanted us to be. We can ask for his grace to allow us to fulfill it.

- We don't need to think we "can't do it." Why? Because Jesus was able to sacrifice himself for us and found us worth it. This is even before we knew him! He already knew about us and is aware of our sinfulness. He knew everything about us but still obeyed God's will to die on the cross for us. That shows how much He loved us. He washed us clean from our past, present and future sins! That's why we can be accepted as a Priest and a King.   

From Journal entry Nov. 30, 2020