The Blood of Jesus
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (NKJV).
What is Easter about? It’s 2,000 plus years since Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem and yet He’s still the centre point of history – a fact that’s easily buried under a pile of brightly wrapped chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs. To many people, Easter means nothing more than a long weekend.
But what is it about? One thing that is focal to the Easter story is The Blood of Jesus. It is a powerful subject – one of my favourites and one of the main themes in the Bible.
Medical Doctor and theologian, M.R. DeHaan said, “The Bible is a book of blood … wholly distinct from all other books for just one reason, namely, that it contains blood circulating through every page and in every verse. From Genesis to Revelation we see the stream of blood.”
Dr. DeHaan was absolutely right; the Bible is a book of blood! From the first verse of the Bible to the very end, there is a trail of blood that snakes its way through the pages, revealing a portrait of the redemption that is available to all who will come to God by faith.
Being brought up on a farm, the sight of blood was not unusual. Whether it was my father killing a sheep to feed the family, or shooting rabbits and possums, blood was never far away. Yet at the sight of MY blood (or a needle), I’m a goner!
The devil fears the proclamation of the Cross of Jesus and the Blood of Christ. The Blood of Jesus applied to areas of our life can bring deliverance. The Blood applied by faith can bring healing to wounds, be they emotional, spiritual, or physical, it can bring release to captives and freedom to the oppressed.
With Easter around the corner, here’s a couple of things about the Blood of Jesus.
The Blood of Jesus Redeems us.
1 Peter 1:18-19 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (NKJV).
What a wonderful thought to know we are redeemed! Set free, from the clutches of sin and the Devil. The Blood of Jesus is the purchase price of the Church. We are not our own. Our freedom has been bought at a very great price. Acts 20:28 … the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. (NKJV).
The Blood of Jesus Cleanses us.
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. (NKJV).
“There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, where sinners, plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see, that fountain in his day, and there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away”. (From a Hymn written by William Cooper).
Robert Bruce of Scotland was leading his men in a battle to gain independence from England. Near the end of the conflict, the English wanted to capture the Bruce to keep him from assuming his position as next in line for the Scottish crown.
So they put his own bloodhounds on his trail. When they got close, Bruce could hear them baying loudly. His attendant said, “We are done for. They are on your trail, and they will reveal your hiding place.” Bruce replied, “It’s all right.”
Then he headed for a stream that flowed through the forest. He plunged in and waded upstream a short distance. When he came out on the other bank, he was in the depths of the forest. Within minutes, the hounds, tracing their master’s steps, came to the bank. But they went no farther. The English soldiers urged them on, but the trail was broken. The stream had carried the scent away.
A short time later, the crown of Scotland rested on the head of Robert Bruce.
The memory of our sins, prodded on by Satan, can be like those baying dogs. But a stream flows, red with the blood of God’s own Son. By grace through faith we are safe. No sin-hound can touch us. The trail is broken by the precious blood of Christ. Our past may rise up to hunt and to haunt us, but it cannot overtake us! Sin’s trail has been broken and we are free from its demands and from its power! (From www.sermonnotebook.org).
There is no need to be hunted and haunted by the memories of past sins. There is cleansing by faith through the Blood of Jesus.
Jesus gave His blood so that we may have life. The death due us, He took; He gave His blood, so that we may have His life! It’s true; we’ve been saved by a Blood Donor!
These are some of the things we can reflect on as we celebrate Easter. It is about The Cross of Calvary. It is about The Blood Of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:18-18 For Christ did not send me to baptise but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (RSV).
This Easter let’s not be afraid to present the whole message of the Cross which includes the truth about the Blood of Jesus. Because as Hymn writer L E Jones says, “There is power, power, wonder working power, in the Blood, of the Lamb, there is power, power, wonder working power in the precious Blood of the Lamb”.
