Power in the blood of Jesus (I)

What the scriptures teach about the Blood

• After man sinned and fell, he went into hiding because he was naked. An animal or animals had to lose their lives in order to cover them so they could stand before God. It was not without blood.
• Abel, the first mentioned to please God in the Bible offered blood to the Lord. He brought of “the firstlings of his lock” to the Lord as a sacrifice, and there, in connection with the first act of worship recorded in the Bible, blood was shed. We learn from Hebrews (11: 4) that it was “by faith” Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice, and his name stands first in the record of those whom the Bible calls “believers.” He had this witness borne to him “that he pleased God.” His faith, and God’s good pleasure in him, are closely connected with the sacrificial blood. In the light of later revelation, this testimony, given at the very beginning of human history, is of deep significance. It shows that there can be no approach to God; no fellowship with Him by faith; no enjoyment of His favour, apart from THE BLOOD.
• The first recorded act of Noah, after he had left the ark, was the offering of a burnt sacrifice to God. As with Abel, so with Noah at a new beginning, it was “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD.”
• Abraham was asked to offer Isaac to seal his covenant relationship with God. The blood of his only son was required. But The great lesson of substitution is here clearly taught as God had to provide a lamb thus sparing the life of Isaac. Death would have held Isaac so he had to be substituted. “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD.”
• Four hundred years pass, and Isaac has become, in Egypt, the people of Israel. Through her deliverance from Egyptian bondage Israel was to be recognized as God’s first-born among the nations. Here, also, it is “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD.” Neither the electing grace of God, nor His covenant with Abraham, nor the exercise of His omnipotence, which could so easily have destroyed their oppressors, could dispense with the necessity of THE BLOOD.
• When Israel reached Sinai, God gave them His Law as the foundation of His covenant. That covenant must now be established, but as it is expressly stated in Hebrews 9:7, “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD.” The Sacrificial BLOOD must be sprinkled, first on the altar, and then on the book of the Covenant, representing God’s side of that Covenant; then on the people, with the declaration, “This is THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT” (Exodus 24). It was in that BLOOD the Covenant had its foundation and power. It is by THE BLOOD alone, that God and man can be brought into covenant fellowship. That which bad been foreshadowed at the Gate of Eden, on Mount Ararat, on Moriah, and in Egypt was now confirmed at the foot of Sinai, in a most solemn manner. Without BLOOD there could be no access by sinful man to a Holy God.
• There is, however, a marked difference between the manner of applying the blood in the former cases as compared with the latter. On Moriah the life was redeemed by the shedding of the blood. In Egypt it was sprinkled on the door posts of the houses; but at Sinai, it was sprinkled on the persons themselves. The contact was closer, the application more powerful.
• Immediately after the establishment of the covenant the command was given, “Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Exod. 25:8). They were to enjoy the full blessedness of having the God of the Covenant abiding among them. Through His grace they may find Him, and serve Him in His house.
• He Himself gave, with the minutest care, directions for the arrangement and service of that house. But notice that THE BLOOD is the centre and reason of all this. Draw near to the vestibule of the earthly temple of the Heavenly King, and the first thing visible is the ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING, where the sprinkling of blood continues, without ceasing, from morning till evening. Enter the Holy Place, and the most conspicuous thing is the golden altar of incense, which also, together with the veil, is constantly sprinkled with the BLOOD. Ask what lies beyond the Holy Place, and you will be told that it is the MOST HOLY PLACE where God dwells. If you ask how He dwells there, and how He is approached, you will be told “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD.” The golden throne where His glory shines, is itself sprinkled with THE BLOOD, once every year, when the High Priest alone enters to bring in THE BLOOD, and to worship God. The highest act in that worship is the sprinkling of THE BLOOD.
• If you inquire further, you will be told that always, and for everything, THE BLOOD is the one thing needful. At the consecration of the House, or of the Priests; at the birth of a child; in the deepest penitence on account of sin; in the highest festival; always, and in everything, the way to fellowship with God is through THE BLOOD alone.
• This continued for 1500 years. At Sinai, in the desert, at Shiloh, in the Temple on Mount Moriah it continued till our Lord came to make an end of all shadows by bringing in the substance, and try establishing a fellowship with the Holy One, in spirit and truth.

What our Lord Jesus Himself teaches about the Blood

With His coming old things passed away, and all things became new.

He came from the Father in Heaven, and can tell us in divine words the way to the Father.

It is sometimes said that the words “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD” belong to the Old Testament. But what does our Lord Jesus Christ say?

• Notice, first, that when John the Baptist announced His coming, he spoke of Him as filling a dual office, as “THE LAMB OF GOD that taketh away the sin of the world”; and then as “the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.” The outpouring of the BLOOD of the Lamb of God must take place, before the outpouring of the Spirit could be bestowed. Only when all that the Old Testament taught about THE BLOOD has been fulfilled, can the Dispensation of the Spirit begin.
• Four times over He said most emphatically, “Except ye . . . drink his BLOOD ye have no life in you.” “He that drinketh my BLOOD hath everlasting life.” “My BLOOD is drink indeed.” “He that drinketh my BLOOD dwelleth in me and I in him” (John 6.). Our Lord thus declared the fundamental fact that He Himself, as the Son of the Father, who came to restore to us our lost life, can do this in no other way than by dying for us; by shedding His blood for us; and then making us partakers of its power.

Our Lord confirmed the teaching of the Old Testament Offerings-that man can live only through the death of another, and thus obtain a life that through Resurrection has become eternal.

But Christ Himself cannot make us partakers of that eternal life which He has procured for us, save by the shedding of His blood, and causing us to drink it. Marvelous fact! “NOT WITHOUT BLOOD “ can eternal life be ours.

The natural Blood

The life of the flesh is in the blood. The natural blood keeps us alive by doing 5 things: transportation, cleansing, defense and protection and sustenance.

(a) Carries Oxygen necessary to sustain life.

(b) Carries food to where it’s needed.

(c) White blood cells destroy invading foreign germs.

(To be continued…)

Bishop Dr. Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l.

Website: www.dayspringcmi.org

e-mail: [email protected]

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