The Blood of Jesus

Proverbs 16:9 NLT ”We can make our plans, but the lord determines our steps.”

• This past Friday, I was involved in an accident, where I didn’t take the correct safety precautions and the result was that my truck rolled of the ramps they were own and the rear axle landed on my chest. After being taken to the ER, by ambulance, and many tests and procedures, I was informed that, other than a gash in my left forearm and some deep scratches on my chest, I had no broken bones and no internal bleeding. I do, however feel like I’ve been kicked in the chest or like someone dropped a truck on me.

• Soon after I was in the ambulance, my wife called those closest to me. The call for prayer went out by phone and facebook. I very little time, there was a prayer network interceding on my behalf. After I was home, I began to think about this and this is what the Holy Spirit dropped into my mind:

• I am a part of “The Body Of Christ” also known as “The Body of Believers.”

• It performs much like our own bodies do.

• When we are injured, our bodies send blood rushing to that area to push out impurities.

• White blood cells are alerted and go to the scene of the accident when our bodies are injured, to protect against infection.

• The body of Christ rushes toward the injured member in a combined effort to aide in healing.

• The blood of Christ is what contains the elements of healing for the trama of sin in our lives.

Horace Smith, a clinical hematologist as well as the pastor of Chicago’s Apostolic Faith Church and a former World Vision board member, took up those themes inBlood Works. It’s clear that both physicians are as absolutely enthralled with blood as I am horrified by it.

“The wonders within us … showcase God’s masterpiece of creation and redemption,” Smith writes. “Our blood is one of the most powerful examples of common grace in our lives, and it tells volumes about God’s tender, tenacious care [as it also serves] as a metaphor of the second kind of grace God gives us: special or saving grace.… Far from being barbaric, blood is truly beautiful.”

Blood nourishes. Blood eliminates toxins. Blood protects us from pathogens. White blood cells sacrifice themselves. Blood heals our wounds. Blood identifies us. Blood unites us.

The body that does not work, in this manner, is a dead body.

This prompted me to speak, this morning, on the subject The Blood of Christ. French philosopher Voltaire and American President John Adams are famous for their criticisms of Christianity because they thought it was a “bloody religion,” with all its wars, its frequent mention of blood, and the bloody death of its founder, Jesus Christ.

• What is it about blood, which we normally think of as grotesque, that has caused Christians in every generation to actually celebrate it?

• Here are a few hymns and songs that I remember, from my childhood:

• Nothing But the Blood

• Are You Washed in the Blood?

• Oh, the Blood of Jesus

• Power In the Blood

• 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…

• We gain bold access to God in Worship and Prayer

• The Bible is clear that every person is alienated and separated from God because of our sin (Colossians 1:21). That means even the best of us are actually unable to approach God to offer worship or prayer. Because of our sins, we remain at a distance from Him.

• I spoke, a few weeks ago, about how the veil of the tabernacle was torn, allowing us access to the presence of God. Sin is the only veil that now stands between us and the presence of God.

• But the Bible tells Christians to come boldly into God’s presence, “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).

• As a Christian today, you can have boldness and confidence as you approach God with your prayers and your worship, because you are no longer far away from God, “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

• It is because of the blood of Jesus Christ that we have the great privilege of pouring our hearts out to God (Psalm 62:8) casting our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7) and praying any time and any place in the power of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). Does your prayer life reflect the kind of relationship you have with God through the blood of His Son?

• Forgiveness of Sin

• In addition to being able to enter into God’s presence through the blood of Christ, we are also forgiven of our sins. 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 special way of explaining this to his disciples during the Last Supper, which also was the Passover meal celebration.

• The Passover meal commemorated The plague of Egypt, when the death angel “Passed over” the homes that were marked with the blood of the lamb.

• In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, “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 Christ’s own blood would deliver the people who were covered by it from the judgment of God on the last day.

• This truth is expressed beautifully in the hymn, “Nothing But the Blood”

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! Precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus…

• Christians can be happy that Christ has cleansed us from sin with his blood!

• Consciences cleansed

• Through the blood of Christ, Christians receive the cleansing of their consciences. Hebrews 9:14 says, “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

• The lamb, in Exodus 11 &12, is an example of Christ, in the New Testament.

• Christ cleanses our consciences from acts that lead to death! How does He do it? By the blood of Christ, because on the cross He offered Himself unblemished to God! He offered Himself—His unblemished, perfect life—as a sacrifice to God for us on account of our sins. Therefore, He alone is able to cleanse our consciences through His blood.

• Even though all of our minds have been corrupted by sin and seared as with a hot iron (which means “made dead” or not able to function) (1 Timothy 4:2), Christ can cleanse our consciences. We are able to live right lives and think right thoughts once again in Christ.

• This is great news for those who struggle to forgive themselves for a sinful past and corrupted consciences.

• We are progressively cleansed from more and more sin.

• Not only are we forgiven from sin, but we are also sanctified (cleansed and set apart) through the blood of Christ. Hebrews 13:12 tells us that “Jesus also suffered … in order to sanctify the people through his own blood”.

• God is calling his people to be holy as He is Holy, which is one of the reasons Jesus suffered. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

• We are able to conquer the accuser of the brethren

• Because of Christ’s sacrifice and spilling his blood on our behalf, we can trust in the righteousness of Christ and not 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.”

• As believers, we know that we cannot stand on our own merit or because of what we have accomplished. We know that our good deeds are as filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6) and that Christ’s righteousness, attributed to us, is how we are able to stand up against accusations.

• The Lord’s prayer teaches us to pray, to stand against the enemy.

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

• 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.”

• Rescued out of a sinful way of life

• 1 Peter 1:18-19 says “…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 futile ways is another benefit Christians have through the blood of Jesus. We are rescued from a life lived devoid of meaning and are brought into a relationship with God and the ability to live in his will and with purpose.

• Compared to the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the most valuable things of this earth (like silver and gold) are reduced to meaningless, perishable things.

• That is because the blood of Jesus gives Christians:

• salvation of their souls

• forgiveness from sins

• access to God

• victory over the enemy

• and the power to live with a clear conscience

These things cannot be purchased with money.

The blood of Jesus does something that the gold and silver items in the Old Testament temple could never do. .