There is power in the precious blood Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:5-10: This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is
no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we
have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (AKJV).
Napoleon Bonaparte, considered as one of the greatest military leaders in history, was once inside his war room with his officers around him. While spreading a large map of the world on a table, he pointed to one red spot on the world map and told his officers that if it were not for that red spot, he could have conquered the world. That red spot was in the British Isles at a place called Waterloo in Belgium. The Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.
In the war room of the enemy of Jesus Christ, Satan is pointing at the red spot on the Cross and tells his demons that he could have conquered the world and could have held people captive to sin, death, and hell forever.
What has the blood of Jesus Christ done for you and me?
We read in 1 John 1:7, “but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” This is a very powerful verse that proclaims the newness of life by virtue of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Imagine playing in the mud and coming inside your house. Your Mother would be screaming to see the dirt on the floor. Your Mother would be crazy to see you super dirty. She then sends you to the bathroom. After a few minutes, presto, you are as fresh as the morning dew. One quick bath would do wonder to your filthy, greasy, grimy, muddy self. But one’s sin cannot be cleansed by mere taking a bath. Human sin cannot be removed by a disinfectant. One’s sin cannot be removed by an antiseptic. Our sin cannot be removed by a hygienic, bactericidal, sterilizing agent. Only the blood of the Jesus Christ can cleanse humans of sin.
Our God is not only sovereign and mighty. Our God is also a holy God. Our God is also a just God. Our God is also a righteous God. In the eyes of God, sin is sin. Romans 3:23 teaches that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Humans are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. And having this glory lost, there is a need for redemption. But the gospel of salvation did not stop at Romans 3:23. Romans 3:24-26 proclaims that humans are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Jesus Christ through His blood is a propitiatory sacrifice for redemption. Propitiation means an offering of atonement. Propitiation is offering something to correct what was wrong. Propitiation is giving something to repair what was injured or severed. Jesus Christ was God’s own offering to correct what has become wrong in the human situation. Being human is having a sinful nature. But God offered something to repair the issue of human sin and human sinful nature.
2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.
Jesus Christ is God’s offering to change our human state of being sinful to being righteous. There is no other way.
Hebrews 9:1-5: Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances
of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a
tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick and the
table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3 And
after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest
of all; 4 which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant
overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that
had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant; 5 and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the
mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Jesus Christ is the propitiation to declare us acceptable to God. In this sense, Jesus Christ is considered the mercy seat as described in Hebrews 9:5.
Let us read Exodus 25:22: And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 25 describes the tabernacle and the need for sacrifice. Hebrews 9 describes the sacrifice in the tabernacle. God meets His people above the mercy seat. At this very place, at the mercy seat, God meets His people. Notice the mercy seat is flanked by two cherubim, angels. Notice also in John 20:12: “and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” Exodus 25 describes the mercy seat as being flanked by two cherubim. John 20 describes the number of angels the guarded the body place where Jesus had lain. Again, we read in Exodus 25 that God said. “I will meet you there.”
Where does God meet His people? Hebrews 9:19-22 reads: “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Can we connect the dots? Jesus Christ is the mercy seat of God. God desires to meet His people. The blood of Jesus Christ is the only means for that meeting to be possible.
Yes, there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:17-19).
The power of the blood of Jesus Christ changes our life, our perspective and our status in the sight of God.
There are ways the power of the blood of Jesus Christ is made manifest in our lives as believers.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to forgive.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to save.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to protect.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to restore.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to secure our spiritual inheritance.
The power to forgive
The blood of Jesus has the power to forgive. If we say that we forgive someone, we do so because there is a wrongdoing. There is a debt to be paid. The debt is not just ignored, but someone must bear the cost.
Romans 3:23 proclaims that “all [humans] have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We all fall short of the glory, the righteousness of God. In the standard of God, we fall short. We are wanting. We were weighed in the scale of God, and we are found wanting. If the payment is wanting, we need to pay the debt in full. Romans 6:23 furthermore explains that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
How did Jesus Christ pay the penalty for sin? Hebrews 9:12 explains that Jesus Christ did not enter the Most Holy Place by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
Scriptures proclaim that the blood of Jesus Christ has the power to forgive our sins. In fact, nothing has the power to forgive our sins, except the power of the blood of Jesus (Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 10:16-19).
The power to save
The blood of Jesus has the power to save us from sin. In Hebrews 9:15, we can read: “And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
The blood of Jesus Christ never loses its power to save for our God is mighty to save. Do we doubt this power? Both the Old and New Testament scriptures proclaim this power (Zephaniah 3:17; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:11-12).
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have been saved, redeemed, repaired, restored, repossessed by God. There are 3 ways that the blood of Jesus Christ saves us.
1. The blood of Jesus saves us from the penalty of sin.
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (AKJV)
John 11:25-26: Jesus said unto her (Martha), I am the resurrection,
and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live: 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall
never die. Believest thou this? (AKJV)
Jesus Christ is having this conversation with Martha, the sister of his beloved friend Lazarus, whom he later resurrected from the dead. Jesus Christ plainly and clearly explains that there is physical death and spiritual death in the same way as there is physical life and spiritual life.
Paul even proclaims the truth of spiritual life in Romans 8:1 when he wrote that is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, to those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Spiritual death is the penalty of sin. The wages of sin is paid, death is conquered, sin is removed, condemnation is replaced by eternal life. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us from this penalty of death.
2. The blood of Jesus Christ saves us from the chains of sin.
Romans 6:4-11: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6
knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 knowing that
Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no
more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin
once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As believers, we are always confronted with the issue of sin or living in sin. More often, we are asked the question, “Can Christians commit sin?” Several scriptures can shed understanding on this question.
1 John 5:16: If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not
unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them
that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say
that he shall pray for it.
1 John 1:8-10: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 5:18: We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth
not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not.
As believers, we are not immune to sin. As believers, we do not continue in sin, we do not keep on sinning, we do not live in sin (Titus 2:11-13).
The chain of sin has been broken by the power of the blood. There is no reason for believers to be chained in sin. Believers can commit sin, mistake, fault, or violation for they have flaws, weaknesses, defects, pitfalls, glitches. Believers are far from perfect. But the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ saves us from the chains of sin.
3. The blood of Jesus Christ saves us from the accusations of sin.
Earth is not our eternal abode for believers who are heaven-bound. In Jesus Christ, furthermore, believers have a future that is free from sin. But while believers are here on Earth, we see sin around us. There is unrighteousness in our society, thus we see trouble, strife, sorrow, suffering, and weaknesses. While we live on Earth, sin abounds. We are in fact, not immune to sin. We cannot even turn a blind eye to sin.
Even now and then, we are confronted by our previous and past sins. Have you experienced, waking up in the middle of the night by the thought of your former life, your previous sin, or the sin that even your spouse does not know?
Someone has one time or another accused us of our former sin (Revelations 12:9) but we have overcome (Rev 12:10-11). While we are on Earth, the enemy of our soul constantly accuses us of our past sins and deceives us of our rightful gift of salvation and forgiveness.
Our eternal abode is in Heaven, where there are no more accusations of sin from the enemy of our soul.
The power to protect
In the first passover event in the history of the people of God, God demonstrated His power to protect His people.
Exodus 12:12-14: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this
night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both
man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgment: I am the Lord. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a
token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood,
I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to
destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day
shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to
the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance for ever.
Exodus 12: 23-24: For the Lord will pass through to smite the
Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on
the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not
suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to
thy sons forever.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ does not only have the power to forgive and save, it also has the power to protect. When God smote Egypt during the Passover, God designated the blood on the doorpost to be the sign of protection. This has become a memorial for God’s people to celebrate (Exodus 12:14) and a promise for His children to keep.
As God Almighty has proven His divine protection throughthe blood of the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, we can claim this protection even unto this day. We can plead the blood of Jesus Christ to protect us. We plead daily for covering of our family members. We pray over our children for divine protection through the blood of Jesus.
The Our Daily Bread story dated August 13, 1990, is about Lorrie Anderson, who is a missionary to the head-shrinking Candoshi Shapra Indians of Peru. The story goes: One morning, she was looking for a quiet place for her daily time of Bible reading and prayer, so she went down by the edge of the river. After reading the Bible, she took up her prayer list. Eyes closed, she did not see the deadly anaconda weaving through the water until it struck, burying its fangs into her flesh. It withdrew to strike, hitting her arm again and again as it held her, screaming, in its coils. It reared up for the death blows. Then suddenly the giant snake, never known to release its prey, relaxed its grip and slithered off through the water. While Lorrie was being treated, a witch doctor from a nearby village burst into the hut and stared at her. She couldn't believe Lorrie had survived. She said her son-in-law, also a witch doctor, had chanted to the spirit of the anaconda that morning and sent it to kill the young missionary. "I'm certain," Lorrie said, "that except for the protection of God, it would have worked."
We are constantly exposed to dangers in our work, in going to school, in our daily endeavors. Let us always plead the blood of Jesus Christ to protect us.
The power to restore
Jesus Christ knew from the very start that He was to suffer and die. The prophet Isaiah had prophesied this before His birth:
Isaiah 53:5: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He
was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace
was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.
The blood of Jesus Christ needs to be shed (Hebrews 9:22) because without it, there is no forgiveness of sin. The shedding of the blood of the very Son of God is required for salvation and for the forgiveness of sin. The same blood needs to be shed in order to bring healing to our physical body (Isaiah 53:5) for just as the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from all sin, it can also cleanse us from all sickness.
This healing is a two-fold atonement. There is cleansing through forgiveness of sin and there is cleansing through physical healing. These two are miracles in the blood of Jesus. Just as humanity can be delivered from sins, humanity can also be delivered from sickness and afflictions. The blood delivers people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. The blood delivers people from sickness, and pain, and afflictions.
If you have an affliction, put it under the blood. Put deformities under the blood. The blood is sufficient. It has not lost its power; the blood has all power.
Somebody shared an observation during the time he donated blood . A nurse gave him a card to read while a pint of the vital red fluid was flowing out of his vein. The card showed the percentages of people who have different blood types. Here are some of them: 37.4% of the population are blood type O-Positive, 35.7% are A-Positive, 6.3% are A-Negative, only 1.5% are B-Negative, and the rarest blood type, AB-Negative, is found in only 1 in 167 people, or 0.6% of the population. What caught his attention though is what was printed at the bottom of the card: “The rarest blood type is the one that’s not there when you need it.”
The blood of Jesus Christ is available when you need it. It never loses its availability, never loses its supply, and never loses its power.
The power to secure our spiritual inheritance
Romans 8 teaches us that God knows His children who are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. God does not only foreknow us, He also justifies us. And not only does He justify us, He also glorifies us.
Romans 8:29-30: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined,
these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified;
and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Yet God also called us. God did not only call us unto salvation; God called us unto eternal inheritance as well. And what is this eternal inheritance?
Hebrews 9:27:28: And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to
bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He
will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
John 1:12: But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name:
Romans 8:16-17: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God: 17 and if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Our inheritance is in heaven, not here on Earth. If we understand this, we can
pursue what is eternal and not the earthly, the corruptible, the useless. How does this spiritual truth define our lives? How does this define our priorities in life? Is life defined by our eternal inheritance? Or is life defined by earthly possessions or worldly pursuits?
The blood of Jesus Christ secures our inheritance in heaven (Ephesians 1:7-11).
We should not waste such inheritance by pursuit worldly pleasures and earthly desires.
Matt Carter, speaking at the Austin Stone Community Church said: “I read an article written in 2008. It's a true story about a college kid in Germany named Sergey Sudev. He was a normal college kid working to put himself through college living on around $240 a month. He got a knock on the door by a man in a suit with a briefcase. Sergey let him in to talk. The guy brought him some bad news about his uncle dying. Sergey though this was weird, because he had only met his uncle one time. The man was a lawyer and informed Sergey his uncle had no heirs. Back when Sergey was a child, he had met his uncle at a family reunion and left such an impression his uncle decided to leave his entire fortune of $975 million dollars to Sergey. Sergey went from having nothing to having almost a billion dollars in the bank. I don't know what happened to Sergey after that. However, we do know two things from the story. First, be nice to your uncle at family reunions. Second, you have to believe an inheritance like that would change everything. Your life would be radically different.”
If we are followers of Jesus Christ and believers in His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, then we are going to receive an inheritance one day. If God promises to give us a heavenly and eternal inheritance. By believing this promise, that $975 million dollars would look a little insignificant.
What would this eternal inheritance going to be? No one can ever begin to imagine what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). This inheritance is incorruptible, imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Peter 1:3-5). In fact, it is reserved in heaven for us.
Charles Spurgeon described our inheritance when he was preaching on 1 Peter 1 when he said, “We have obtained an inheritance and the man who can truly say that the Lord is mine has an inheritance which death cannot wither, which space cannot contain, which time cannot limit and which eternity cannot explore.”
There is power in the blood of Jesus. It has the power to forgive. The blood of Jesus has the power to save. It is mighty to save. The blood of Jesus has the power to protect. It has the power to restores. It has the power to secure our eternal inheritance.
There is power in the precious blood Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:5-10: This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is
no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we
have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (AKJV).
Napoleon Bonaparte, considered as one of the greatest military leaders in history, was once inside his war room with his officers around him. While spreading a large map of the world on a table, he pointed to one red spot on the world map and told his officers that if it were not for that red spot, he could have conquered the world. That red spot was in the British Isles at a place called Waterloo in Belgium. The Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.
In the war room of the enemy of Jesus Christ, Satan is pointing at the red spot on the Cross and tells his demons that he could have conquered the world and could have held people captive to sin, death, and hell forever.
What has the blood of Jesus Christ done for you and me?
We read in 1 John 1:7, “but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” This is a very powerful verse that proclaims the newness of life by virtue of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Imagine playing in the mud and coming inside your house. Your Mother would be screaming to see the dirt on the floor. Your Mother would be crazy to see you super dirty. She then sends you to the bathroom. After a few minutes, presto, you are as fresh as the morning dew. One quick bath would do wonder to your filthy, greasy, grimy, muddy self. But one’s sin cannot be cleansed by mere taking a bath. Human sin cannot be removed by a disinfectant. One’s sin cannot be removed by an antiseptic. Our sin cannot be removed by a hygienic, bactericidal, sterilizing agent. Only the blood of the Jesus Christ can cleanse humans of sin.
Our God is not only sovereign and mighty. Our God is also a holy God. Our God is also a just God. Our God is also a righteous God. In the eyes of God, sin is sin. Romans 3:23 teaches that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Humans are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. And having this glory lost, there is a need for redemption. But the gospel of salvation did not stop at Romans 3:23. Romans 3:24-26 proclaims that humans are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Jesus Christ through His blood is a propitiatory sacrifice for redemption. Propitiation means an offering of atonement. Propitiation is offering something to correct what was wrong. Propitiation is giving something to repair what was injured or severed. Jesus Christ was God’s own offering to correct what has become wrong in the human situation. Being human is having a sinful nature. But God offered something to repair the issue of human sin and human sinful nature.
2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.
Jesus Christ is God’s offering to change our human state of being sinful to being righteous. There is no other way.
Hebrews 9:1-5: Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances
of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a
tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick and the
table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3 And
after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest
of all; 4 which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant
overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that
had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant; 5 and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the
mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Jesus Christ is the propitiation to declare us acceptable to God. In this sense, Jesus Christ is considered the mercy seat as described in Hebrews 9:5.
Let us read Exodus 25:22: And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 25 describes the tabernacle and the need for sacrifice. Hebrews 9 describes the sacrifice in the tabernacle. God meets His people above the mercy seat. At this very place, at the mercy seat, God meets His people. Notice the mercy seat is flanked by two cherubim, angels. Notice also in John 20:12: “and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” Exodus 25 describes the mercy seat as being flanked by two cherubim. John 20 describes the number of angels the guarded the body place where Jesus had lain. Again, we read in Exodus 25 that God said. “I will meet you there.”
Where does God meet His people? Hebrews 9:19-22 reads: “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Can we connect the dots? Jesus Christ is the mercy seat of God. God desires to meet His people. The blood of Jesus Christ is the only means for that meeting to be possible.
Yes, there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:17-19).
The power of the blood of Jesus Christ changes our life, our perspective and our status in the sight of God.
There are ways the power of the blood of Jesus Christ is made manifest in our lives as believers.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to forgive.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to save.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to protect.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to restore.
The blood of Jesus Christ has the power to secure our spiritual inheritance.
The power to forgive
The blood of Jesus has the power to forgive. If we say that we forgive someone, we do so because there is a wrongdoing. There is a debt to be paid. The debt is not just ignored, but someone must bear the cost.
Romans 3:23 proclaims that “all [humans] have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We all fall short of the glory, the righteousness of God. In the standard of God, we fall short. We are wanting. We were weighed in the scale of God, and we are found wanting. If the payment is wanting, we need to pay the debt in full. Romans 6:23 furthermore explains that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
How did Jesus Christ pay the penalty for sin? Hebrews 9:12 explains that Jesus Christ did not enter the Most Holy Place by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
Scriptures proclaim that the blood of Jesus Christ has the power to forgive our sins. In fact, nothing has the power to forgive our sins, except the power of the blood of Jesus (Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 10:16-19).
The power to save
The blood of Jesus has the power to save us from sin. In Hebrews 9:15, we can read: “And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
The blood of Jesus Christ never loses its power to save for our God is mighty to save. Do we doubt this power? Both the Old and New Testament scriptures proclaim this power (Zephaniah 3:17; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:11-12).
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have been saved, redeemed, repaired, restored, repossessed by God. There are 3 ways that the blood of Jesus Christ saves us.
1. The blood of Jesus saves us from the penalty of sin.
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (AKJV)
John 11:25-26: Jesus said unto her (Martha), I am the resurrection,
and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live: 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall
never die. Believest thou this? (AKJV)
Jesus Christ is having this conversation with Martha, the sister of his beloved friend Lazarus, whom he later resurrected from the dead. Jesus Christ plainly and clearly explains that there is physical death and spiritual death in the same way as there is physical life and spiritual life.
Paul even proclaims the truth of spiritual life in Romans 8:1 when he wrote that is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, to those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Spiritual death is the penalty of sin. The wages of sin is paid, death is conquered, sin is removed, condemnation is replaced by eternal life. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us from this penalty of death.
2. The blood of Jesus Christ saves us from the chains of sin.
Romans 6:4-11: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6
knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 knowing that
Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no
more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin
once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As believers, we are always confronted with the issue of sin or living in sin. More often, we are asked the question, “Can Christians commit sin?” Several scriptures can shed understanding on this question.
1 John 5:16: If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not
unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them
that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say
that he shall pray for it.
1 John 1:8-10: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 5:18: We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth
not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not.
As believers, we are not immune to sin. As believers, we do not continue in sin, we do not keep on sinning, we do not live in sin (Titus 2:11-13).
The chain of sin has been broken by the power of the blood. There is no reason for believers to be chained in sin. Believers can commit sin, mistake, fault, or violation for they have flaws, weaknesses, defects, pitfalls, glitches. Believers are far from perfect. But the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ saves us from the chains of sin.
3. The blood of Jesus Christ saves us from the accusations of sin.
Earth is not our eternal abode for believers who are heaven-bound. In Jesus Christ, furthermore, believers have a future that is free from sin. But while believers are here on Earth, we see sin around us. There is unrighteousness in our society, thus we see trouble, strife, sorrow, suffering, and weaknesses. While we live on Earth, sin abounds. We are in fact, not immune to sin. We cannot even turn a blind eye to sin.
Even now and then, we are confronted by our previous and past sins. Have you experienced, waking up in the middle of the night by the thought of your former life, your previous sin, or the sin that even your spouse does not know?
Someone has one time or another accused us of our former sin (Revelations 12:9) but we have overcome (Rev 12:10-11). While we are on Earth, the enemy of our soul constantly accuses us of our past sins and deceives us of our rightful gift of salvation and forgiveness.
Our eternal abode is in Heaven, where there are no more accusations of sin from the enemy of our soul.
The power to protect
In the first passover event in the history of the people of God, God demonstrated His power to protect His people.
Exodus 12:12-14: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this
night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both
man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgment: I am the Lord. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a
token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood,
I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to
destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day
shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to
the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance for ever.
Exodus 12: 23-24: For the Lord will pass through to smite the
Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on
the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not
suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to
thy sons forever.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ does not only have the power to forgive and save, it also has the power to protect. When God smote Egypt during the Passover, God designated the blood on the doorpost to be the sign of protection. This has become a memorial for God’s people to celebrate (Exodus 12:14) and a promise for His children to keep.
As God Almighty has proven His divine protection throughthe blood of the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, we can claim this protection even unto this day. We can plead the blood of Jesus Christ to protect us. We plead daily for covering of our family members. We pray over our children for divine protection through the blood of Jesus.
The Our Daily Bread story dated August 13, 1990, is about Lorrie Anderson, who is a missionary to the head-shrinking Candoshi Shapra Indians of Peru. The story goes: One morning, she was looking for a quiet place for her daily time of Bible reading and prayer, so she went down by the edge of the river. After reading the Bible, she took up her prayer list. Eyes closed, she did not see the deadly anaconda weaving through the water until it struck, burying its fangs into her flesh. It withdrew to strike, hitting her arm again and again as it held her, screaming, in its coils. It reared up for the death blows. Then suddenly the giant snake, never known to release its prey, relaxed its grip and slithered off through the water. While Lorrie was being treated, a witch doctor from a nearby village burst into the hut and stared at her. She couldn't believe Lorrie had survived. She said her son-in-law, also a witch doctor, had chanted to the spirit of the anaconda that morning and sent it to kill the young missionary. "I'm certain," Lorrie said, "that except for the protection of God, it would have worked."
We are constantly exposed to dangers in our work, in going to school, in our daily endeavors. Let us always plead the blood of Jesus Christ to protect us.
The power to restore
Jesus Christ knew from the very start that He was to suffer and die. The prophet Isaiah had prophesied this before His birth:
Isaiah 53:5: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He
was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace
was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.
The blood of Jesus Christ needs to be shed (Hebrews 9:22) because without it, there is no forgiveness of sin. The shedding of the blood of the very Son of God is required for salvation and for the forgiveness of sin. The same blood needs to be shed in order to bring healing to our physical body (Isaiah 53:5) for just as the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from all sin, it can also cleanse us from all sickness.
This healing is a two-fold atonement. There is cleansing through forgiveness of sin and there is cleansing through physical healing. These two are miracles in the blood of Jesus. Just as humanity can be delivered from sins, humanity can also be delivered from sickness and afflictions. The blood delivers people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. The blood delivers people from sickness, and pain, and afflictions.
If you have an affliction, put it under the blood. Put deformities under the blood. The blood is sufficient. It has not lost its power; the blood has all power.
Somebody shared an observation during the time he donated blood . A nurse gave him a card to read while a pint of the vital red fluid was flowing out of his vein. The card showed the percentages of people who have different blood types. Here are some of them: 37.4% of the population are blood type O-Positive, 35.7% are A-Positive, 6.3% are A-Negative, only 1.5% are B-Negative, and the rarest blood type, AB-Negative, is found in only 1 in 167 people, or 0.6% of the population. What caught his attention though is what was printed at the bottom of the card: “The rarest blood type is the one that’s not there when you need it.”
The blood of Jesus Christ is available when you need it. It never loses its availability, never loses its supply, and never loses its power.
The power to secure our spiritual inheritance
Romans 8 teaches us that God knows His children who are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. God does not only foreknow us, He also justifies us. And not only does He justify us, He also glorifies us.
Romans 8:29-30: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined,
these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified;
and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Yet God also called us. God did not only call us unto salvation; God called us unto eternal inheritance as well. And what is this eternal inheritance?
Hebrews 9:27:28: And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to
bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He
will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
John 1:12: But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name:
Romans 8:16-17: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God: 17 and if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Our inheritance is in heaven, not here on Earth. If we understand this, we can
pursue what is eternal and not the earthly, the corruptible, the useless. How does this spiritual truth define our lives? How does this define our priorities in life? Is life defined by our eternal inheritance? Or is life defined by earthly possessions or worldly pursuits?
The blood of Jesus Christ secures our inheritance in heaven (Ephesians 1:7-11).
We should not waste such inheritance by pursuit worldly pleasures and earthly desires.
Matt Carter, speaking at the Austin Stone Community Church said: “I read an article written in 2008. It's a true story about a college kid in Germany named Sergey Sudev. He was a normal college kid working to put himself through college living on around $240 a month. He got a knock on the door by a man in a suit with a briefcase. Sergey let him in to talk. The guy brought him some bad news about his uncle dying. Sergey though this was weird, because he had only met his uncle one time. The man was a lawyer and informed Sergey his uncle had no heirs. Back when Sergey was a child, he had met his uncle at a family reunion and left such an impression his uncle decided to leave his entire fortune of $975 million dollars to Sergey. Sergey went from having nothing to having almost a billion dollars in the bank. I don't know what happened to Sergey after that. However, we do know two things from the story. First, be nice to your uncle at family reunions. Second, you have to believe an inheritance like that would change everything. Your life would be radically different.”
If we are followers of Jesus Christ and believers in His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, then we are going to receive an inheritance one day. If God promises to give us a heavenly and eternal inheritance. By believing this promise, that $975 million dollars would look a little insignificant.
What would this eternal inheritance going to be? No one can ever begin to imagine what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). This inheritance is incorruptible, imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Peter 1:3-5). In fact, it is reserved in heaven for us.
Charles Spurgeon described our inheritance when he was preaching on 1 Peter 1 when he said, “We have obtained an inheritance and the man who can truly say that the Lord is mine has an inheritance which death cannot wither, which space cannot contain, which time cannot limit and which eternity cannot explore.”
There is power in the blood of Jesus. It has the power to forgive. The blood of Jesus has the power to save. It is mighty to save. The blood of Jesus has the power to protect. It has the power to restores. It has the power to secure our eternal inheritance.
All these are accomplished because of the divine power in the blood of Jesus.
Naturally and physically, Jesus Christ was born a human being. Science explains that the biological father furnishes all the blood to the child, and not the biological mother.
As Luke 1:35 describes it, the Holy Ghost shall come upon Mary and the power of the Highest shall overshadow her. As Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, there was no human blood that flowed through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ therefore, was human with divine blood! Not one drop of that divine blood was contaminated by the human race.
An unknown source provided this story so poignant that it cuts the heart of believers and reminds them of the power in the blood of Jesus Christ: One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This was when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be. He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does the blood of Jesus Christ wash away sin or not?" The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
All these are accomplished because of the divine power in the blood of Jesus.
Naturally and physically, Jesus Christ was born a human being. Science explains that the biological father furnishes all the blood to the child, and not the biological mother.
As Luke 1:35 describes it, the Holy Ghost shall come upon Mary and the power of the Highest shall overshadow her. As Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, there was no human blood that flowed through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ therefore, was human with divine blood! Not one drop of that divine blood was contaminated by the human race.
An unknown source provided this story so poignant that it cuts the heart of believers and reminds them of the power in the blood of Jesus Christ: One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This was when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be. He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does the blood of Jesus Christ wash away sin or not?" The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
