THE POWER OF THE BLOOD
1 Peter 1:19
1 Peter 1:19-21
but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
The world focuses on the celebration of Jesus on two occasions, Christmas and Easter.
These two Holy Days have become robbers' dens. Shopping centers are filled with
gifts for Christmas and new outfits for Easter. We spend weeks getting prepared
for the holidays which loses their excitement when the days have passed.
What if we could maintain that excitement throughout the year. Would Christ be
lost in gifts and Easter outfits?
This year we celebrated Easter, the resurrection of Christ on April 19th. Do you
realize that there is one more important day that the Christian world fails to
celebrate? The day of Pentecost, the day the Church received its power. It was
50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus the Holy Spirit was given. The
power that works in all believers. It was the day the preaching of the Gospel
began. It was the day when the Power of the Blood Of Jesus began to take its
everlasting effect (Acts 2:1-4) Pentecost would occur the first week in June
Looking back at the cross, we must remember the blood. There were 3 nails,
one cross and one perfect sacrifice, and blood streaming down on Jesus.
Standing at the foot of the cross, we see hands, feet, and sides, all distilling crimson streams of precious blood. It is "precious" because of its redeeming and atoning efficacy.
Looking up at the cross; If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me
We need to see ourselves as low and Him as high
We need to see ourselves as humble and weak servants.
We need to see ourselves as sin-sick men and women
We came humbly and bowed to His feet
Jesus was where the Father wanted Him to Be
Jesus was where He volunteered to be
We are where we were designed to be, at His feet with uplifted hearts.
We see a body, bloody, twisted, torn but wholly readied for the glorious resurrection
We see the blood of Jesus streaming down, for our salvation
The flow of the blood
From His Head with a crown of thorns Our King, His glory
From His Hands for our love
From His Sides For our cleaning and redemption
From His Feet For wisdom, strength, and courage
By His blood, the sins of Christ's people are atoned for. We are redeemed from under the law and reconciled to God, made one with Him. The Old Testament has 613 commands given by the Lord. We are not under the Law. We are under grace.
Why the law?
Galatians 3:24
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
The blood of Jesus is the power that works in our lives.
CLEANING POWER
Christ's blood is also "precious" in its cleansing power;
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
The blood prepares us to serve according to God’s will.
The blood"cleans from all sin." It removes the stain of sin. It removes the judgment of
sin. It removes the evidence of sin
Blood is the evidence of infinite love.
It is Christ's blood. It's the blood of our elder brother. It is the blood that never participated in
sin. The only blood that was qualified for salvation
The blood is working on you and me at this moment.
ATONING POWER.
Romans 3:25-26
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.
It has the power to release us from the guilty verdict of our sins. It the continuous
release of sin for now and forever. It is the constant communication between the
Father and the Son concerning the dissolving of our sin debt.
PRESERVING POWER
The blood of Christ is likewise "precious" in its preserving power. We are safe from the destroying angel under the sprinkled blood. Remember it is God's seeing the blood which is the true reason for our being spared. Here is comfort for us when the eye of faith is dim, for God's eye is still the same.
Can you remember the first Passover in Egypt? It was the blood on the doorpost
of Israelites that was the sign for the death angel to pass by.
It is our faith in the blood of Jesus that signaled the death angel to pass by you today.
SANCTIFYING POWER
Sanctify means to make holy, purify
The blood of Christ is "precious" also in its sanctifying influence. The same blood which justifies by taking away sin, does in its after-action, quicken the new nature and lead it onward to subdue sin and to follow out the commands of God. There is no motive for holiness so great as that which streams from the veins of Jesus.
John 17:17-19
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
OVERCOMING POWER
And "precious," unspeakably precious, is this blood because it has an overcoming power. It is written, "They overcame through the blood of the Lamb."
Revelation 12:11
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
You and I do not have the power to overcome sin. We cannot fight Satan but
with the power of the blood
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
The Blood of Jesus is precious because its efficacy. It produced the desired results
It made perfect all His chosen
Hebrews 10:13-14
Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Joy made complete
John 15:11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete
Peace in the hearts of believers
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
SAVING POWER
Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Look again at the cross
Grace and Mercy working
Faith on display
Love covered the world
Obedience mastered
Forgiveness flowing
Eternity glorified
Death defeated
Look at the Cross one more time
See the Finish Line and Victory Displayed for all to See
Look Again and hear THIS IS MY SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED
Look again at the cross. There is no Body
Go to the tomb, there is nobody
Where is He? Seated at the right hand of the Father
1 Peter 2:6-7
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious
ARE YOU STILL EXCITED?
WILL YOU RUN TO THE CHURCH TO SEE JESUS?
ARE YOU HOPEFUL, JOYFUL, AND CONFIDENT?
THE BLOOD IS STILL WORKING
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