The blood of Jesus has always been one of the major cornerstones of Christianity. As Christians, we’ll never be able to fully comprehend with our finite mind the eternal value of that blood that was shed on our behalf. It’s mind blowing when thinking about the kind of unmerited privileges that we’re enjoying in Christ. Along with what God has prepared for those who love Him by placing their faith in Him on the ground of the finished work of His only begotten Son.
But one thing we know for sure is that we wouldn’t be where we are today without that precious blood being shed. The death of Jesus on the cross is certainly the very event through which the grace of God is dispensed to humanity in such a way that had never occurred before. In short, we’ve become acceptable, holy, worthy, righteous, and reconciled to God by the power of that blood.
We Receive The Life Christ.
Life is found in the blood according to (Leviticus 17:11). Thereby, blood is symbolic of life. Evidently, when a body part is deprived of blood, it withers away gradually and dies as a result. When an individual is bleeding excessively due to a serious injury, if there is no quick intervention in order to save that individual’s life, death will immediately ensue. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, His blood then flows through us and purifies us from all impurities, filthiness, wickedness, and the cancerous effects inflicted on our soul by sin that causes spiritual death.
Having said, this clearly demonstrates that sin is just a poison for our own soul. Not only the blood of Jesus has power to completely wash away sins, but it has tremendous power to give life by fully removing and restoring the deep damages that our soul has sustained due to sins. Something powerful and marvelous also transpires upon receiving salvation through Christ. Our soul that was dead because of the penalty of sin has become alive. Amazingly, our soul has become whiter than snow at that very moment.
The Problems With Animal Sacrifices And Why Christ is The Real Deal.
Before get into this teaching, let’s take a thorough look at why the shedding of blood is necessary in order for forgiveness to come about.
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).
In the Old Covenant people were required by the law to offer animal sacrifices to God for forgiveness of sins (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). And this was merely a temporary covering for sins. Additionally, the sacrifice of animals was to indicate beforehand the ultimate and all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus that was to come. There were certain conditions that were laid out by God in order for an animal to be qualified for sacrifice. Among these are the animal has to be spotless, the person’s has to associate himself with the animal, and death has to be executed by that person.
Unfortunately, there was a number of serious issues with animal sacrifices because they were inadequate to deal with sin permanently. The idea is that our sins are committed against an eternal God, which in turn make us deserve eternal punishment in order for God’s justice to be satisfied fully. Keep in mind, the actual penalty of sin is eternal separation from God. Because animals are just finite creatures, so the efficacy of the atonement they provide is dependent completely on their very being.
As mentioned above, there was a multitude of deficiencies in animal sacrifices. Surprisingly, since the penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23); therefore, the way that God’s forgiveness works is that a death must occur in a person’s place who needs forgiveness. This is known as substitution. In the case of animal sacrifices, an individual is responsible to offer sacrifice on a yearly basis due to the fact that person’s sins are only covered temporarily. To put that within perspective, animals have an expiration date on them with respect to their life span, so are the types of atonement they provide.
Furthermore, the number of people animal sacrifices can provide forgiveness for at once was very limited, unlike Christ. It was also a very long process because the high priest had to intercede on people’s behalf individually. Another key fact that plainly highlights the inadequacy of animal sacrifices implies the idea that even the high priests themselves had to offer sacrifices for their sins (Hebrews 7:27). Since they were imperfect, they had the responsibility and duty to ensure that they get right with God prior to offering sacrifices on behalf of other people, so that they don’t get in deep trouble with a holy God.
Amazingly, the complete and perfect sacrifice of Christ as the blameless, and spotless Lamb of God on the cross is invariably a game changer. By the way, Jesus Christ is God Himself in every way, and He has existed forever. One critical aspect of that blood in dealing with people’s sins is due to the fact that it comes from a Being who is both God and eternal.
Therefore, the power and the efficacy of the atonement His shedding blood provides is rested solely on whom Christ is. Moreover, another key aspect that really sets apart Christ’s ultimate sacrifice is that He is well alive using His sacrifice in order to advocate our case in front of God the Father.
Scripture tells us that Christ with His own blood enters the Most holy place of the eternal temple located in heaven and offers Himself to God for us (Hebrews 9:24-26). Since His sacrifice was sufficient, He did it only once contrary to animal sacrifices. As a result, He gives us unlimited access to the Father simultaneously; something only a divine Entity can do.
We’ve become heirs of God through His blood. Not only that, we can enter God’s holy presence whenever we want to as long we’re willing to do it according to what’s prescribed in His Word. We also become God’s children by the blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus has provided us with so many wonderful benefits; we’ll just cover a handful of them.
Deliverance from Sin And Death.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 6:23)
Let’s start off with these two scriptures listed above. Deliverance from sin was the main issue. If that wasn’t so, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross would not have been needed. Consequently, sin is the main problem all throughout humankind’s history that has always kept men from obeying God. The awesome news is that God is willing to be there for us because of His unconditional and sacrificial love. Besides, He is willing to save us, bless us, take care of us, protect us, and so forth.
Nevertheless, the only thing that can serve as a barrier in order to keep us from ever receiving these things is our sins. Sin is a prime obstacle that we must overcome in order for us to be able to receive what God has promised to anyone who places their trust in Him through Christ.
The blood of Jesus has made it absolutely possible for us to be delivered from sin, its due penalty, and its controlling power that had compelled us to sin in the first place. Once that problem is dealt with through the means of accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior, then everything about who we used to be will be changed to whom God has always wanted us to be. We’re saved, forgiven, justified, and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus.
The Blood Sets us Free From The World And Satan.
Evidently, we all had been living under the influence of Satan who is known as the god of this world prior to being saved (2 Corinthians 4:4). Shockingly, many unsaved people cannot seem to grasp the idea that Satan is their current master. In fact, it would be highly offensive to even tell an unsaved individual that he/she belongs to Satan. Oftentimes, it’s due to the fact that they somehow think since they’re not doing anything knowingly or consciously that can be regarded as demonic; therefore, they can’t be classified as his people.
But the hard truth is that there is no middle or neutral ground in regards to dealing with God. Christ Himself states that whoever is not for me is against me (Matthew 12:30). If you’re not in Christ, you already belong to Satan. It does not matter what you believe in, or what you want to believe in.
You may not want to believe that, however Satan is well aware that you belong to him. By the way, he is the very reason as to why you don’t believe that he is your master. The blood of Jesus has provided us a powerful means of overcoming him (Revelation 12:11). The blood of Christ is powerful enough to break all strongholds and chains of the enemy in people’s lives.
We can’t fight such a powerful enemy on our own because he knows how to conquer us in a multitude of ways because he’s been around before us. He’s quite an excellent expert in that field, but all we should do is to run to the Person who has already defeated him hand down on the cross to empower us to overcome him.
The Blood Sets us Free From Ourselves.
It’s true that we’re fighting a very powerful and deceptive enemy, but that alone does not take away our responsibilities to God. Because Satan can’t force us to do anything that we’re not willing to do. Keep in mind, our God-given free will is far more powerful than the temptations he is constantly unleashing at us. All he can do is to tempt us by provoking our flesh in order to indulge in whatever sin that he wants us to commit.
After that, what do we do? Do we yield to those temptations? Or do we deal with them wisely by submitting ourselves completely to God for empowerment? We have a crucial personal responsibility that we must assume. Most importantly, God is expecting us to take that responsibility. Consequently, we can’t just place all the blame on Satan for bad choices what we’ve made.
The Bible is quite clear about the fact that we have a sinful nature that we must bring under subjection, if we’re serious about aiming at the glory of God. That sinful or rebellious nature must be put to death by ceasing to feed it. The blood of Jesus has transformed us from the inside out.
It changes our whole attitudes and tendencies toward God, along with the things of God. Our desires that were misguided at one point are now directed only on pleasing God. Thus, we’ve become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), meaning that we’ve received a brand new nature to dominate the old one.
Most Importantly, Eternal Life
God has used a famous principle known as “All or Nothing Principle” with respect to dealing with men. Consequently, we have a choice to make regarding eternal life and eternal separation from God. The main purpose of Christ’s death is to save us from our sins that carry the penalty of eternal death, so that we may have eternal life. This gift of eternal life that gives us the opportunity to be with God forever far exceeds in importance and value any things this wicked world could have ever offered us.
Conclusion
In short, Christ has purchased us with His own precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19). We’re now His own property. As a result, He is our new master. Our job is to strive to please Him in every way in order to make our Master feels that He has made such a great investment into us. To put it differently, we have to make Him feel that His precious blood that was shed for us was not in vain. He gave His life for us for the purpose of not only saving us from our sins but for us to be able to serve Him through the means of living our lives for Him alone.