02/02/2019
You asked Jesus Christ to come into your life, and you know that He gave Himself on the cross so that you would be redeemed, saved from sin, but it was not merely the act of dying that purified you... it was His blood. Death alone does not wash us clean, no, it is the blood of Christ... the very life that flowed within Him.
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
Hebrews 9:22 ESV
Every so often the call goes out from the Red Cross asking for people to give blood at once. Blood... the infusion of life into a dying body, and without it none of the other systems that were so amazingly, and intricately, created are able to function. There is no overstating the life that is transmitted by the blood within a body.
I attended the Virginia Military Institute and a couple of times a year the Red Cross would hold a blood drive there. We were a small all male college in those days with approximately 1400 students, but almost every one of us gave blood when the call went out. There is something about military men and blood... we knew that every bag of blood might save a life, and particularly the life of a soldier whose body had been ripped apart by the horrors of war. The thought that we too might one day need the life force of another in order to survive was very real to us. Donating blood is a reflection of Christ... we give our blood to save others, but unlike Jesus we don’t have to die in the process. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He laid His life down for us, and He understood the power contained in the blood that He was about to shed... this was the return of life to a dying world... and beyond.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7 ESV
I really like this particular verse because it speaks of a fellowship, a relationship, in which the blood of one cleanses all to perfection. Jesus didn’t wash us clean for a day, or a year, but for all eternity, and in this knowledge, and by His sacrifice, we gather together to sing His name, and worship the Holy Father that made Him to be sin for us.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
The blood of Jesus, given to us by Him in fulfillment of God’s will. God’s grace flowing through Him to quench the wrath of the Father once and for all... not just for mankind, but those things in heaven as well. Have you missed that important fact... that man is not simply a physical creature, but tied by his spirit and soul directly to all spirituality in heaven... things as yet unseen... the essence of our Faith? The cleansing blood of Jesus is a mystery to us as it cleanses both heaven and earth. Its life is the fulfillment and redemption of all life.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV
When I donated blood I never knew the recipient. I knew of them... the men in Vietnam who were being transfused, the husband of a woman I worked with that needed platelets, the trauma patients that were brought to the hospital while I slept, and bled out almost as fast as the bags of blood were given. In Jesus we have faith that His blood redeems us, gives us life; we can’t see it directly, but we feel it, and we know it is happening. His blood becomes our salvation and we are quickened by it. It seals the chasm of sin that once existed between man and God... the wound that infected heaven and earth with its pestilence. The life blood of Christ, who could heal by just a touch, now washes over us, and brings forgiveness to those once lost.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:13 ESV
The life within our blood is not enough. Sometimes we suffer from illnesses born by it, but Jesus heals even the life force of our own blood within us. His healing touch, and His cleansing blood... it is enough, and He is worthy.
“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.”
Luke 8:43-44 ESV
So we sing to Him, and call His name, we take His blood in communion, we are immersed in it, and our sins are relieved. His life becomes ours and brings us once again into the presence of God... pure in His righteousness. The healing of all creation complete.
“And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."”
Luke 8:48 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who obeyed, and was perfect in your will. I thank you Holy Father for your unyielding love that caused such pain and suffering to your Son... a shedding of His blood that we could not earn or warrant ourselves, nor hope or dream to receive by our actions. His goodness, his humility, His perfection now heals us by His blood that runs over us, is consumed by us, and by its coursing through us as He abides in us, and we in Him. Eternity does not afford the time it would take to thank you for your love, mercy, and grace. No offering, no sacrifice of lambs or doves, nor goats , has ever been so complete and unblemished that it could compare. Merciful Father, we fall at your feet, and worship you as we wash them with our tears... yet even the tears of our blood, and the breaking of our hearts is not enough to completely demonstrate our sorrow, our contrition. Only by the sacrifice of Christ are we able to come before you, and only by His blood, and His prayers, are we made whole before you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God; my father who sacrificed His only begotten Son, His everything, to reunite me by perfect Holy blood with Himself. Praised be your name always and forever Lord, and all glory be yours forevermore.
“And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
Luke 22:20 ESV
Rich Forbes