Teaching

Blood of Jesus – I   Joy of the Salvation:
The Facts
Blood has a very short life span. The average person has about ten pints of blood in his or her body. Over half of it is liquid, called plasma and most of the rest of it is made up of red cells, which die after 120 days and are constantly being replaced. In contrast, the most durable thing on earth is probably gold. Not even salt water affects it – even if it lies in it for centuries.
These facts make a comment by Peter, the leading Christian apostle, seem very strange:
“It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed … but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19, NIV)
Gold is not perishable, whereas, blood certainly is. But, Peter knew what he was talking about and meant to startle us into seeing a tremendous truth. The world thinks money is everything, but Peter intended us to see that it has no spiritual value what-so-ever. There are no spiritual cash payment bargains. In real terms, only the Blood of Jesus has lasting value. When heaven and earth vanish, the redeeming power of Christ’s Blood will continue.
“The Blood does what Money cannot do”
We talk about “precious metals” such as silver and gold, but Peter would rather talk about “the precious blood of Christ.” It does what money cannot do – it cleanses sinners. The greatest sin is to say we have no sin. That is plain self-deception. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). The first Christian witnesses all talked about Christ’s Blood as unique and vital.
Someone has counted 290 references to the love of God in the New Testament, but 1,300 allusions to salvation through the Blood of Christ. The word “blood” occurs some 450 times in the Bible, of which 99 are in the New Testament. Usually, the word is connected with people’s violent deaths. However, the death of Jesus was an “atonement” for all such evil.
Redeeming Blood
Gold is precious, only because it is rare. Yet, there is wonder-working power in the Blood of Jesus Christ. The apostle John was as close to Jesus as anybody and He said, “The blood of Jesus Christ [God's] son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Matthew records Christ’s own words: “He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’” (Matthew 26:27-28). The Book of Revelation depicts millions upon millions all singing to Christ as Lord, “You were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God … You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10, NIV).
Long ago, drop by drop, the gold of Christ’s life ebbed out of His heart. It stained Calvary’s hill, spelling out in crimson letters the story of the love that surpasses all love. Today, hundreds of millions around the whole world – the simple and the wise, those who live in jungles and those who live in concrete apartment blocks, factory workers and academics – take that message as the truth above all truths. It shows us the concerns of God’s heart and a wisdom, which soars far above our cloud-hopping minds. Great intellects have bowed to it. Saul of Tarsus, once full of biting hatred, came to see the Cross as the logic of God. He said it was a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks but the power of God to all that believe (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).
Logo of Love
Christ’s death was His greatest achievement and God’s greatest act. The power of love conquered the love of power. It was no mistake, no misfortune, and no accident. Christ was not a martyred victim, but a mighty victor, our champion and God’s hero. The Father in Heaven sent Him to hunt out and destroy the devil and evil. A greater David faced a greater Goliath. The Son of God overthrew our greatest enemy, sin, and our final foe, death.
The world ran true to form when it crucified Christ. God also ran true to form in what He did about it. He turned red blood into royal redemption. Men took a lovely tree, stripped it, and twisted it into the stark beams of the cross. It was their logo of hate. Christ picked it up, stained it with His life’s blood, and gave it back to us – His logo of love. He invested that tree with a glory it never had before. Its wood became a door of hope and made us worth all that we cost.
to be continued…