The Wonderful, Powerful Blood of Jesus
Hebrews 9:11-14 NKJV
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 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. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 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?
I can remember back during the rise of the seeker-friendly movement in churches. Initially, it was a genuine move for churches to get back to reaching the lost. However, it, as many movements do, migrated into something that was ineffective. In an effort to reach people who were "seeking" key tenets of the good news of Jesus were omitted. One was an appreciation for the blood of Jesus. Churches did not want to sing about the blood or talk about the blood.
Thankfully, I have noticed a significant shift back to a reverence and appreciation for the blood of Christ. We won't win the lost world trying to be like them. Our power is in our differences that stem from a relationship with Jesus and an adherence to the things of the Kingdom of God.
In our verses for today, we get a peek behind the veil in seeing what took place in heaven after Jesus was raised from the dead. The author had been describing what earthly priests would follow as they carried out ordinances and rites of worship according to the Law of Moses. But what the priests on earth did was only a shadow, a copy of what was true.
Earthly priests used the blood of goats and calves, which would ceremonially provide cleansing for the flesh. The blood of animals could only cover the sin problem. But Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in heaven. And not with the blood of animals but with His own spotless pure blood. His blood cleansed our conscience from trying to work our way to God and made us clean and whole in God's sight. And Jesus' blood only had to be presented once. The eternal redemption means that the price for our freedom and cleansing was paid forever. There will never be another bill come due regarding where we stand with God.
That had to be an amazing day in heaven. When Jesus showed up with His own blood in the Most Holy place that was made by God, not human hands. Jesus' blood was the price paid to redeem, buy back, mankind. The payment has been made. Now it's on us to tell others of what Jesus has done. Because of His blood, we are freed from the domination of sin and free to enter into the presence of God knowing we are cleansed and whole and made right in God's sight.
We could have never done this on our own. Jesus paid for us to come to God. And the price paid was and is His wonderful, powerful blood.
Prayer
Lord, I don't know what more I can say but to thank You for paying the price for me to be free, whole, and cleansed by giving of Your blood. Thank You for Your blood. Thank You for paying the price for me!