Revelation 1:4-6.
John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Many people struggle with sin without clearly understanding what sin is. The essence of sin is separation from God—original sin. It is the fallen state of humanity, completely cut off from the glory of God: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Sin entered the world through one man, Adam. Deceived by Satan, he broke the covenant with God (Genesis 2:16–17). As a result, death entered through sin, and death spread to all people (Romans 5:12). From that moment, every person has been born spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), enslaved under the curse of sin and the power of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” the devil (Ephesians 2:2–3), with their body and nature corrupted by sin (Colossians 3:5).
No amount of religion, morality, or good works can undo or heal this fallen condition. The human problem is spiritual, and therefore, only God Himself can solve it. That is why mere repentance for one’s wrongdoings is not enough. The only way to break the curse of sin is through the blood of a sinless person:
“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
Jesus was not a descendant of Adam like the rest of us. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25), free from original sin. By His death on the cross, He set us free from our sins by His blood (Revelation 1:5). Our sins were so serious that only God’s own death could save us.
He did not have to come—but He did, out of infinite love. He did not have to die—but He chose to, because there was no other way to give us life. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus crushed the power of death, hell, and Satan once for all:
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14–15).
He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit. Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God. He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form. He humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross (Philippians 2:6–8).
He did this simply because He loved us beyond measure. We did not deserve His mercy, yet He poured out His grace in full. On the cross, Jesus completely resolved every problem of the past, present, and future. This was to fulfill the Scriptures—the Word of God—concerning the coming Messiah, the Anointed One.
The moment humanity fell into sin, God had already planned redemption through His Son:
“And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [the Christ] will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
This covenant promise fulfilled in Jesus was God’s plan to destroy the works of the devil and to restore His people:
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
The reason Jesus came into the world was only one:
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
All religions attempt repentance, but that alone cannot save. A sinner trying to live a upright life without Christ is like a pirate doing good deeds aboard a pirate ship—his every act still contributes to the same evil cause. No matter how much he repents, nothing changes until he leaves the ship. The only way to change one’s destiny is to board the “Salvation Ship” through faith in the blood of Christ.
The baptism of repentance cannot cleanse sin. Only the blood of Jesus purifies us completely:
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3).
The blood of Jesus, your True Priest, is living and powerful. On the cross, He removed all disasters brought by original sin, ancestral sin, and personal sin. When Jesus cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30), it truly was finished—once and for all. So, consider it finished.
Stop trying to undo what has already been accomplished. You cannot fix sin by effort; you can only believe and receive what Christ has done. Make the event of Calvary your own. See yourself at the cross of your True Priest who loved you and died for you (Galatians 2:20).
When you believe and confess that Jesus is the Christ, you are instantly liberated from the power of sin, as Jesus declared,
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Be assured—you possess eternal life. You have already passed from death to life and will not come under judgment (John 5:24). Jesus brought irreversible change to your life. You cannot go back to the fallen state of sin, the background of hell, and the family of Satan.
When you believe that your True Priest lives in you, you no longer have to be trapped in guilt or shame. His finished work destroyed the power of sin forever. Declare your freedom in Christ in every situation. Do not rely on your emotions; cling to the cross of Jesus Christ (Romans 7:14–25; Romans 8:1). Fix your eyes on Jesus, your True Priest, and you will not grow weary or lose heart (Hebrews 12:3).
Rejoice and proclaim the good news—that Jesus is the Christ, your True Priest—the One who has made you a kingdom and a priest to serve our God and Father (Revelation 1:6).
Prayer. Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Christ, my True Priest, who entered the Most Holy Place once for all by Your own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for me. I declare that there is now no condemnation for me because I am in You. I declare that I have been set free from the law of sin and death. I declare that I am a child of God, and sin will not have dominion over me. I declare that as far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed my sins from me, and You remember them no more. I declare that You, Lord Jesus, my True Priest. live in me now and forever. In Your mighty name, Amen.