This is a perfect time to expand on the Blood of Jesus and what it means to each and every Believer! I've written an article about 3 years ago that I will partially use but expand on as things have certainly changed quite a bit since then in this fallen world. The "fluff" is being taught and preached from the pulpits all across the world more than the meat, sin and repentance. It's time. Now. My prayer is for those who are reading this who aren't born again Believers in Jesus Christ, be touched and convicted so each one will know the meaning, the TRUE meaning, of the Blood of Jesus Christ and how amazing it is for His children! My prayer is this article remind the believers OF the Power of His Blood so they can walk fully, and unapologetically, in His way!
What does Christ's blood mean to us?
God's number, His perfect number is 7, and throughout the Scripture, all of the important events were in the sequence of 7. It's His perfection, His completion. And in the shed blood of His Son it was no difference. Jesus' blood is 7 things to us: 1) sacred, 2) sinless, 3) sacrificial, 4) substitutionary, 5) shielding, 6) slighted and 7) SUFFICIENT!
The Old Testament portrays this through pictures and figures, and the New Testament presents this in person and fact. Paul, in his inspired epistle (Rom. 3:24-25), Peter, in his infallible writing (I Peter 1:2), and John, in his inerrant script (I John 1:7), all present the importance of the Blood of Christ. The final book of the Bible emphasizes the same theme: Rev. 1:5, "washed us from our sins in his own blood,' 5:9, "redeemed us to God by thy blood," and 12:11, "overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."
1.) His blood redeems us. There was a price against us that we could not pay, but the blood of Jesus redeemed us. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
2.) His blood brings us into fellowship with God. According to Ephesians 2:13, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ." Without the blood of Christ, man is a long way from God.
3.) His blood makes peace with God. Man, by nature, is at war with God. We can only come to God on His peace terms - the blood atonement. The Bible says in Colossians 1:20, "and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."
4.) His blood cleanses. Not only does it remove the punishment of sin, it removes the pollution. I don't care what sin you've committed, it says very clearly in 1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
His blood gives power over the devil. People give way too much credit to the devil because, although he is the god of this world, and roams around seeking whom he can devour, he has been defeated! Even Satan has to obey to God! It's the blood that Satan fears. Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." The devil doesn't want you to learn about the blood. He hates it! He wants you to stay in the dark about it's power because it is exactly what Satan FEARS the most!
Charles Spurgeon spoke these comforting words:
"I know what the devil will say to you. He will say to you, 'You are a sinner!' Tell him you know you are, but that for all that you are justified. He will tell you of the greatness of your sin. Tell him of the greatness of Christ’s righteousness. He will tell you of all your mishaps and your backslidings, of your offences and your wanderings. Tell him, and tell your own conscience, that you know all that, but that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and that, although your sin be great, Christ is quite able to put it all away."
There are many examples of Blood Sacrifices in the Old Testament. They were specifically done to cover the sins of the people. There was even one instance where the blood was applied at the doorpost so the judgment of God would pass over them. Matthew 26:28, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." And look what it says in Act 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."
There are 4 occasions where Jesus shed His Blood (but is useful to God's people in a thousand ways over!) All of these occasions have significant meanings and speak to us about the Power of Jesus' Blood. Let's take a look at some of them for a moment.
A) Praying with Sweat and Blood - Luke 22:42-44, "saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." v43) Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. v44) And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." See, Jesus, as a human being, is showing us and teaching TO us that God’s Will is above His human Will. Our Flesh follows our old human will, which is our old nature, the nature of the unregenerate man, the old person and the old nature before we came to know God. Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find."
Hebrews 10:6-7, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, You had no pleasure. v7) Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come - In the volume of the book it is written of Me - To do Your will, O God." God doesn't take much pleasure in us if we want to do our own will instead of God’s Will. Jesus shed His Blood to deal with our will because it's against the Will of God. So we need to surrender our will, totally surrendering ourselves to Him and take HIS WILL for our lives!
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| He Loves You THIS Much! |
C) Wearing the Thorns until Blood Flows - Mark 15:17, " And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head...." They put a crown of thorns on His head, thorns that were shoved between His scalp and skull and were ripping and tearing at His skin. Imagine the great pain Jesus suffered for our sins! His blood was shed for US! Thorns represent a curse. Genesis 3:17-18, "Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. v18) Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field." Some of the types of curses spoken about are:
a) Generational Curses which are curses passed down from one generation to another because of judgment. Found in Exodus 20:5
b) Self Curses which are curses that you consciously or unconsciously speak over yourself. Found in Genesis 27:13
c) Other curses which have been placed on you by other people, knowingly or unknowingly. Found in Numbers 22:6
d) Objects of a curse, which are objects that are abominations in the sight of God. Found in Deuteronomy 7:26. The good news is that Jesus can take away all our curses! Galatians 3:13, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree)” We need to reject ALL curses against us, even those we unknowingly speak over ourselves from time to time. Luke 6:28 tells us, "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you." This is the antidote for all types of curses that are put upon us. To live the victorious life that Jesus Christ has promised us, we need to start blessing people and especially those who curse us.
D) Crucified with the Shedding of Blood - Mark 15:15, "Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he set Barabbas free. Then he ordered his soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and nail him to a cross." The Cross is a representation of Discipleship as taught in Matthew 10:38, "And he who does not take up your cross and come with me, you are not fit to be my disciples." A Disciple is one who loves God above everything, and everyone, else - your family, your job, your life, your children. Jesus called us to become disciples and He called us to make disciples. He went to the cross so we could do just that! Luke 14:26 says, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." We really need to make a commitment to become a disciple for Jesus. He gave His ALL for us, I think we can give Him all of US!
The Blood of Christ!
Here are six things from the Bible that help us to see why the blood of Jesus holds such a special place in the hearts of believers and why the Christians celebrate His shed Blood!
1) We gain bold access to God in worship and prayer. The Bible clearly and lovingly tells Christians to come boldly into God’s presence, as told to us in Hebrews 10:19, "We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus." It's because of the blood of Jesus Christ that we have the great privilege and honor given to us to pour our hearts out to God, found in Psalm 62:8, "trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah." In 1 Peter 5:7, we're to cast our cares on Him, "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." and finally, praying any time and any place in the power of the Spirit found in Ephesians 6:18, "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"
2) We are progressively cleansed from more and more sin. Once we're forgiven of our sins and are able to enter into a new relationship with God the Father, then it would make perfect sense that God wants us to be in a new relationship with the sin that previously condemned us as well. That's why He gives us the power, through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, to be cleansed from our sinful behaviors. Our new relationship with the previous sins in our past that condemned us have now been forgiven so we should now be convicted of those as we desire to turn from our old ways and temptations.
3) We are able to conquer the accuser of the brethren. It's because of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and the pouring out of His blood on our behalf, paying our sin-debt in full, that we are able to trust in the righteousness of Christ and not trust in our own righteousness when we are accused by our enemy. Revelation 12:11 says, "And they have conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." We know, as believers, that we can't stand on our own merit nor because of our own deeds. We know that our "good deeds" are nothing more than filthy rags before God Almighty. Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. and that the Christ’s righteousness attributed to us is how we are able to stand up against accusations."
4) Rescued out of a sinful way of life. 1 Peter 1:18-19, "...you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." Being ransomed from our futile ways is just another benefit Christians have through the blood of Jesus. We're rescued from a life lived that's devoid of all meaning and we are brought into a relationship with God and the ability to live in His will and with purpose. Compared to the Blood of Jesus, every other valuable thing is reduced to meaningless, perishable things because the blood of Jesus gives Christians Salvation of their souls, forgiveness from their sins, 100% access to God, amazing victory over the enemy, and the power to live with a clear conscience.
5) Forgiveness of sin. Ephesians 1:7 says that, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Because of Christ’s shed blood, God is able to forgive us for our sins and give the punishment that we deserved to Christ." Christ had a very special way of explaining this to His disciples during the Last Supper, which was also the Passover meal celebration. He said, in Matthew 26:28, "For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." He was telling His disciples that just as the blood of the lamb delivered the Hebrews from the night of terrors in Egypt, so too does Christ’s own blood deliver the people who were covered by it from the judgment of God on the last day.
6) Consciences cleansed. Through the magnificent blood of Christ, Christians receive the cleansing of their consciences. Hebrews 9:14 says, "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Even though all of our earthly, fleshly minds have been fully corrupted by sin and seared as with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2), Christ can, and will, cleanse our consciences. We're then, able to live right lives and think right thoughts once again in Christ. This is great news for those who are burdened by a sinful past and corrupted consciences.This is an amazing promise! Christ cleansing our consciences from acts that lead to death! How? By the blood of Christ! You see, it was on the cross that He offered Himself unblemished to God! He offered Himself, His unblemished, perfect life, as an unselfish sacrifice to God, the Father, for us on account of our sins.
In my personal opinion, we don't hear enough about the blood of Jesus! It's not being taught in the majority of the sound churches. He had to pay a debt of sin that He didn't owe! Why? Because WE owed a debt of SIN that we couldn't PAY! Our sins were so atrocious that they had to be paid for with Jesus' BLOOD! What a wonderful Savior is HE! The Bible is very plain that Jesus entered into the heavenly holy place after He arose from the dead. He ascended into Heaven with His blood. The blood had to be applied as it is said in Hebrews 9:12, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." It's ALL about the blood of Jesus! That's why I feel the churches need to teach, preach and speak on the Blood more often! It's ALL about the BLOOD, from the blood of Abel's slain lamb in Genesis, to the saints robes that were washed in the blood of the Lamb in Revelation, the whole Word of God centers around the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:22, "...without shedding of blood is no remission." Jesus' death was just as important as His blood sacrifice, and equally important was the burial and resurrection. BUT everything concerning the events of Jesus' life were leading up to the blood being applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven. Hebrews 9:24-26 state, "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us..." (that is, God the Father). Jesus took His shed blood to Heaven to present unto the Father, by applying it to the Mercy Seat. This is why Jesus said to Mary in John 20:17, "Jesus saith unto her, TOUCH ME NOT; for I am not yet ascended to my Father..." The blood couldn't be tainted.
I found a very good statement from one of the many great bible teachers by the name of M.R. DeHaan, M.D. that I will share here in it's entirety:
SOURCE: The TABERNACLE, by M.R. DeHaan, M.D., ISBN 0-310-23491-3, page 129.
"The blood was to be sprinkled, remember, on the mercy seat right after the death of the substitutionary animal of sacrifice, Now Christ is, of course, our substitute. He was slain for us upon the Cross, and entered into death for us, and when He arose, He immediately went to heaven, entered into the holy of holies in heaven, sprinkled His precious blood upon the mercy seat before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin questions, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New testament. Hebrews 9:12 is very definite on this: "But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." The Bible also makes plain when He accomplished this. On the morning of the resurrection He meets Mary at the tomb. As soon as Mary recognized Him, she prostrated herself upon Him, and would have kissed His feet, but with shocking suddenness, Jesus emphatically says to her: "Touch me not"; and then He proceeds immediately to give the reason why Mary is not permitted to touch Him at all. "For I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17) Literally the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Touch me not; for I now am about to ascend unto my Father." We can understand this action when we remember the the high priest after he had offered the sacrifice, was to enter the holy of holies, before he did anything else, with the precious blood. No one was allowed to approach him. Everyone was shut out until this was completely done. And here in the record of the meeting with Mary we have the fulfillment of this type. Here Mary meets her great High Priest, just arisen from the tomb, but before He had entered the holy of holies with the reconciling blood. And so He says to her, "TOUCH ME NOT."
What a wonderful truth! The Bible is so clear when you accept it as it's written. Thank God for the precious redeeming literal blood of Christ Jesus!
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| The POWER in His BLOOD |
One of the reasons that I support and continue to pray about the churches preaching the "Blood of Jesus" more often then they do, is because of the culture we do live in! It's full of the gory fascination with blood, violence and death. Since it's so blatantly common, and honest discussion of it is so rare, it's extremely easy to misread and/or misinterpret the Bible, with only looking at the blood of Jesus only as a symbol of His death, rather than as a symbol of His Life and Truth. For new believers, or for non-believers who are feeling the call of the Lord knocking at their heart's door, this can be a problem! And it's because of this reason that I am writing this post! The focus needs to be on LIFE not DEATH! There are some "religions" out there in this fallen world that are saying the Blood is symbolic ONLY. If that is being taught in the church you attend, then you need to pack up and leave that congregation immediately! Jesus' blood is NOT symbolic. It is LITERAL! He LITERALLY shed His blood on the cross for our sins, to be paid in full!
One reason Jesus died was to overcome the power of hell. Jesus worked against evil spirits throughout His life, and His suffering was the final struggle against evil, and His resurrection the final victory over evil. For every person, overcoming evil involves temptation or struggle against evil, and "dying to sin and the world." As we struggle against evil individually, Christ struggled against evil on a GRAND scale, and His death was the conclusion of that struggle. So the Bible says that God took on flesh and blood so that "through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:14,15) Still, in Romans 5:10, "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Another reason that Bible gives for Jesus’ death was that He might make His human nature completely one with His Divine nature, so that He were "to make in Himself of two one new man," (Ephesians 2:14-16, cf. John 17:11,21; 10:30), so that He could "go to the Father" (John 13:3; 14:2,28; 16:10), or be "glorified" (John 17:1,5) or "enter into His glory" (Luke 24:26), that is, "be perfected" (Luke 13:32), or "sanctified" (John 17:19).
The blood of Christ is the ultimate proof of God's love. Romans 5:8-9, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. v9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." He "loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood" (Revelation 1:5). In 1 Peter 1:17- 19, "And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; v18) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, v19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." God proves His love by the price He was willing to pay for our salvation. In Acts 20:28, it tells us that the church was purchased by the blood of Christ! The grace of God is demonstrated by the blood of Christ. We are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith" (Romans 3:24,25). "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). The blood of Christ frees us from Satan and places us in the kingdom of God and allows us to stand in white before the throne of God.
Much more than anything, and the greatest of all, is SALVATION! Romans 5:9, " Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." And in Ephesians 1:7, we read, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" With the Blood of Jesus, salvation is sure. It's a free gift of our Loving God! Our Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood for the salvation of our souls. What a price to pay! His blood gives us full access to GOD. Foolishly, people believe their own self righteousness can save them....their good deeds. They're so mistaken! Our own self righteousness can't save us. We are sinners. We NEED a Savior! And a Savior was given unto us! It's ONLY through His blood that we are saved. It saves is from sin and we should ALL want to be saved from sin because it saves us from eternal death. The blood justifies and saves us from condemnation. It rescues us when we're in trouble.
Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Justified is another powerful word used in the Bible to describe the forgiveness of our sins and the beautiful restoration of our relationship with God. If we take the word justified in this verse, and look it up, we are given the Greek word dikaioo, which means, "to render (to show or regard as) just or innocent: - free, justify (-ier), be righteous." When a person is justified, it makes them innocent, just as though they'd never sinned! That, my dear readers, is exceptionally great news for us! This is the very reason that we can live a new life in Christ, as a new creation, because when we've repented of our sins, we're made right with God and have the righteousness of God upon us! Romans 3:22, "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe..." This is often referred to as part of the divine exchange. Christ was punished for our sins, so that we can receive forgiveness, He was given our shame so that we can receive His righteousness.
So, in conclusion, why is the blood of Jesus so precious? Through it, we have Salvation, redemption, justification, reconciliation, sanctification, access to God, and daily forgiveness. Nothing else in this life has the power to do any of these things!!! Apart from the blood of Christ, you and I would be destined to an eternity separated from almighty God.
For those seeking freedom from the burden of sin, there is truly "power in the blood of the Lamb." When asked the question "What can wash away my sin?," the believer can confidently reply, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." If you haven't accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, I encourage you to do so now! It's never too late and it will change your life forever! Your life will never be the same!
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I my prayer, I will always mention the blood of Jesus Christ. I have learnt how powerful the Blood of Jesus Christ is.
ReplyDeleteYES Elizabeth, there is SO MUCH POWER in the blood of Jesus and just speaking His precious name out loud is enough to stop the demons from proceeding! Luke 10:19! The blood of Jesus Christ covers each of His children, cleansing our sins and making us adopted into His kingdom! It's a beautiful thing and extends our family out by great numbers! I pray that you continue mentioning His name and the blood of Jesus as our days seem to be getting darker all over the world!!
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