Blood is the life principle. Without it we would die. For centuries little was known about the part it played in the human body. Yet all the time the answer lay in the Bible – ‘The life of the flesh is in the blood.’1
Right throughout the Bible blood is mentioned. In the first book, Genesis, we find that shed blood is the ground on which sinners are accepted by God. Then in the last book, Revelation, blood is acknowledged as the ground on which sinners have arrived in heaven.
The most important blood is that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because of its unique character, it is able to do for us what nothing else can.
It is PERTINENT. Without shedding of blood is, no remission.2 Forgiveness of sin cannot be obtained unless blood is shed. Regardless of what we think of this method of forgiving sin, God will not pardon on any other ground. Therefore, the shedding of the Saviour’s blood was necessary because of our sin.
It is PRECIOUS. The blood of Christ has great value. Judas, who betrayed Him, called it innocent blood. God values it more highly. He says it is ‘precious blood … as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.’3
The value of blood lies in the worth of the person giving it. God’s Son was without blemish. There was no mark or flaw in Him. What He did was perfect. What He said was perfect. God, who looked on the heart, said He was well pleased with Him.4
Pilate the judge, who looked at His life, said he found no fault in Him,5
What is your estimate of Him and His blood.?
It is the PRICE OF REDEMPTION. The fact that we sin shows that we are the servants of sin.6 Nothing we can do will ever alter that, nor set us free. But Christ can do this for us by redemption through His Blood – even the forgiveness of sins.7 God accepts nothing less than blood. We can offer nothing more.
There is POWER in the blood of Christ. It is so completely effective and far reaching in its coverage that it justifies the sinner. The person who is covered by blood is declared right by God. Are you now justified by His blood?8
The blood PURIFIES. It does what nothing else in the world can do. It can wash us from our sins.9 Sin leaves a mark and nothing we can do will remove it. Only the blood of Christ can do it. Anything else is completely useless.
It brings PEACE. Sin is that which alienates us from God. But Christ has made peace by the blood of His cross10 and therefore we can be reconciled to Him. Not just a temporary truce but real lasting peace.
It gives us a PLACE. ‘It is your iniquities that have separated between us and our God.’11 But once these iniquities are forgiven and our sin covered,12 the distance between us and God is gone. We are made nigh by the blood of Christ.13
Finally, there is something PERSONAL. We must have faith in the blood.14 We must put all our confidence in it and apply it for ourselves. In the Bible God tells exactly us what this means.
His way of redemption for the Israelites was to take a perfect lamb. Kill it. Catch the blood in a basin. Apply it to the door posts and the lintel. Only then could the first born of the house be safe from the judgement of God.15
The lesson God teaches us is this. The blood in the living lamb would not save. Blood in the basin could not give safety. It was only the blood applied to the door posts that saved from death. Remember, that the blood of a living Christ could never save us. Even the fact His blood was shed on Calvary will not in itself, do us any good. We must take the final step and apply it to ourselves, relying upon it to wash away our sin.
1 Leviticus 17:11 2. Hebrews 9:22 3. 1 Peter 1:19
4. Matthew 3:17 5. John 19:4 6. John 8:34
7. Colossians 1:14 8. Romans 5:9 9. Revelation 1:5
10. Colossians 1:20 11. Isaiah 59:2 12. Psalm 32:1
13. Ephesians 2:13 14. Romans 3:25 15. Exodus 12:21-23
Originally a leaflet for distribution
With permission from family of Bruce W Allen
Hastings, New Zealand.
