Revelation 1:6

My Notes

What Does Revelation 1:6 Mean?

Revelation 1:6 describes what Christ has already done for believers — and both titles He bestows would have been revolutionary to first-century ears. "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father" — kai epoiēsen hēmas basileian hiereis tō theō kai patri autou. The verb epoiēsen is aorist — He made us, past tense, accomplished, done. Not will make. Has made. The status is already conferred.

Basileian — a kingdom, or kings (the manuscripts vary between "a kingdom" and "kings"). Either reading produces the same theological reality: believers participate in Christ's royal authority. They aren't subjects only. They're rulers — sharing in the reign of the One who sits on the throne. Hiereis — priests, mediators, people with direct access to God's presence who offer worship and intercession. Every believer is a priest — not through a human ordination but through Christ's making.

The combination — kings and priests — echoes Exodus 19:6, where God told Israel: "ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests." What was promised to the nation at Sinai is fulfilled in the church through Christ. The royal priesthood that Israel was supposed to be is now the identity of every person Christ has redeemed.

"To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." The doxology follows immediately — because the appropriate response to being made kings and priests isn't self-congratulation. It's worship. The glory belongs to the One who made you what you couldn't have made yourself.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Do you live as a king and priest — or have you been operating with a lesser identity?
• 2.What does it mean practically to carry royal authority and priestly access in your daily life?
• 3.How does knowing these titles are already conferred (past tense) change your sense of spiritual standing?
• 4.If the immediate response to being made kings and priests is worship, what does that say about the relationship between identity and doxology?

Devotional

He made you a king. He made you a priest. And He did it before you did anything to earn either title.

The verbs are past tense. Epoiēsen — He made, He produced, He constructed. The status wasn't pending. It wasn't conditional on your performance. It was created by Christ and conferred on you at the moment of redemption. You are, right now, a king — sharing in Christ's authority, participating in His reign, carrying royal identity in a world that doesn't recognize it. And you are, right now, a priest — with direct access to God, authorized to enter His presence, equipped to offer worship and intercession without needing a human intermediary.

Both titles would have been shocking in the first century. Kings were the elite — born, not made. Priests were a hereditary class — Levites only, no exceptions. And here, a crucified and risen Messiah takes fishermen, tax collectors, former prostitutes, and Gentile converts and makes them both. Not someday. Already. The former identities — slave, outcast, nobody — are overwritten by new titles: king. Priest. Given by the One who had the authority to give them.

The doxology follows without a breath: to Him be glory and dominion forever. Because the moment you understand what you've been made, the only appropriate response is to redirect the glory back to the maker. The king doesn't boast about the crown. The priest doesn't take credit for the access. Both point to the One who did the making — and the making is what makes the worship possible.

You carry a title you didn't earn. What are you doing with it?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture