Blood! Many of us do not like to think about blood. This is a grotesque subject for many. Yet, blood is important. Without blood we could not physically live. This is a proven medical and Biblical fact.“But flesh with the life thereof, (which is) the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:4, ASV). The inspired scripture calls the blood the life of the flesh.
Just as blood is needed in the physical aspect of our lives, even so it is needed in the spiritual condition of our lives. Not just any blood, but the blood of God’s own Son. Without the blood of Christ we cannot spiritually live.
There are many benefits that a child of God has under the blood of Christ. Let’s take a look at what the inspired word of God has to say concerning those benefits and how we receive them.
“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 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” (Hebrews 9:12-14, NKJ)?
We see several benefits in these verses: 1) eternal redemption, or paying a price for our freedom of sin, and 2) Christ’s blood purifies our conscience from past sins, so we can serve the living God.
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28, NKJ).
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9, NKJ). “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13, NKJ). We have been brought near to God through the blood of Christ. With our sins washed away, we are free from the punishment of God’s wrath. Jesus took God’s wrath with Him to the cross, thus making it possible for us to draw close to the Father, which we could not do while we were filthy in sin. “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You” (Ps 5:4, NKJ).
By removing God’s wrath and anger, Christ made it possible for us to have peace with God. For God hates sin, and can not stand to be near it. With our sins cleansed in His blood, we can enjoy a peace with God, with others, and with ourselves: “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” (Colossians 1:20, NKJ).
“Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood...” (Hebrews 13:12, NKJ). The word sanctify means to purify, consecrate. When one is purified by the blood of Christ, then that soul is set apart from his/her old life to be a vessel and tool that the Lord can use, belonging to Him.
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"” (Galatians 4:4-6, NKJ).
We have already proven by the scriptures that redemption is found in the blood of Christ. Here we find those who have been redeemed receive the adoption as first born sons. First born sons under the Patriarchal and Mosaical dispensations of time received the greater portion of the inheritance. To prove this, God has given us the Holy Spirit as a seal of guarantee until Christ comes back for His own. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14, NKJ). Being heirs, we have an inheritance.
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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.” (I John 1:6-7, NKJ). We find in these verses that God’s truth is the light. If we walk or follow God’s truths, then the blood of Jesus Christ will continue to cleanse us from our sins. Note the word “if”, such a big little word. It denotes the terms or conditions that must be met to receive the benefit or blessing. One might ask, “What is truth” as Pilate did.
“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20, NKJ)
Psalm 119:105 - “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (NKJ).
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17, NKJ).
“In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it” (Colosians 2:11-14, NKJ).
1) Christ’s blood again provides redemption, and 2) the forgiveness of our sins.
“And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6, NKJ).
These scriptures tell us that our sins are washed away in Christ’s blood. Once we have His blood applied he makes us kings and priests. When do we come in contact with His blood? According to this scripture, when our sins are washed away. When are our sins washed away?
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16, NKJ).
The apostle Paul said his sins were washed away in baptism. If it was good enough for the apostle Paul, then it must be good enough for you and I.
If you would like to know more about the great and precious benefits of the blood of Jesus Christ, please call, e-mail or write me. I would consider it an honor if we could study the word of God together.
As the apostle Paul said, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5, NKJ).
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or e-mail me, Dan