THE BLOOD OF JESUS HIS OWN BLOOD

THE BLOOD OF JESUS HIS OWN BLOOD Heb. 9:12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own ...
Author: Neal Ross
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THE BLOOD OF JESUS

HIS OWN BLOOD

Heb. 9:12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. Have you noticed the more modern and 'relevant' church becomes, the more it loses it's power and its relevance in our lives. For example, have you heard a sermon recently on the power of the blood of Jesus? Do you understand the significance of the communion table and the power that resides there? The blood of Jesus is at the heart of this struggle. Without the blood we have lost our power. The mysteries of God are all connected to the precious blood of Jesus. His blood speaks to us today; what is it saying. First, that God became a man. He took upon Himself flesh and bones to redeem a fallen race. Secondly, it speaks of forgiveness. It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from our sin. It also speaks of the justice of God. It pleased the Father to bruise the Son because in His suffering God's judgement on sin was complete, justice was satisfied. The blood speaks to us about the wickedness of man as man poured out his anger on the precious Son of God. The blood also speaks about redemption and how we can all have a brand new start. The list is endless; the blood speaks about the healing of our bodies, deliverance from the curse of poverty, and reconciliation between man and man. It also points us to the best benefit of all, access into intimacy and fellowship with God. Here are some thoughts from Andrew Murray on the blood of Jesus. “His own blood. I know of no word in the Bible or in human speech that contains such mysteries! In it are concentrated the mysteries of the incarnation, in which our God took flesh and blood; of the obedience unto death, in which the blood was shed; of the love that passeth knowledge, that purchased us with His own blood; of the victory over every enemy, and the everlasting redemption; of the resurrection and the entrance into heaven; of the atonement and the reconciliation and the justification that came through it; of the cleansing and perfecting of the conscience, of the sprinkling of the heart and the sanctifying the people. Through that blood Christ entered once for all into heaven; through that blood we enter too, and have our home in the Holiest of All.” So just call me old fashioned. I still like my Bible (the one with real leather and paper), I love the cross on the wall in church, preaching from a pulpit, altar calls, and worshipping until the glory falls. I especially like to hear about the precious blood of Jesus.

THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS

I.

GOD BECAME A MAN

John 1:14 ¶ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

II. FORGIVENESS/CLEANSING OF SIN Eph. 1:7 ¶ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace Clarke In whom we have redemption. God has glorified his grace by giving us redemption by the blood of his Son, and this redemption consists in forgiving and delivering us from our sins; so then Christ’s blood was the redemption price paid down for our salvation: and this was according to the riches of his grace; as his grace is rich or abundant in benevolence, so it was manifested in beneficence to mankind, in their redemption by the sacrifice of Christ, the measure of redeeming grace being the measure of God’s own eternal goodness.

III. THE CLEANSING OF OUR CONSCIENCE

CLEANSE YOUR CONSCIENCE Heb. 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Have you ever wondered why Christianity claims an exclusive access to God? Many religions are more accepting of one another but not true Christianity. Actually, religious observations all have one ultimate goal, to sooth the conscience. All of mankind are sinners at our basic core and religion is man's attempt at soothing that nagging, guilty conscience. Everything from the chanting with the gopi beads of the Hindus to the rigid prayers and rules of the Muslims and the many religions that offer food and incense before their graven images; all of it speaks of a guilty conscience. Ancient judaism pointed to the final solution with its animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of man. As the New Testament teaches, the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats can never take away sin. These Old Testament offerings only spoke of a coming sacrifice that would finally take away sin and cleanse our sin stained conscience. Of course that offering is the blood of God's only Son who died for all of us on the cross. Here are some thoughts from John Owen on the guilty conscience of man. "Sin affects all the faculties of the soul, and it defiles the conscience in a special way, so that “consciences are corrupted”. The conscience alone brings a sense of guilt, which leads to fear and a dread about approaching God’s presence. It was Adam’s conscience that reduced Adam to hiding himself from God as his eyes were opened through a sense of the guilt of sin....So the cleansing of consciences from acts that lead to death removes the guilt of sin through the blood of Christ. Conscience is used to represent our whole spirits, souls, and bodies that are all to be cleansed and sanctified. To cleanse our consciences is to cleanse our whole being."

This is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is faith in the sacrificial blood of Jesus that cleanses our conscience. With the guilt gone, we can now approach our God with confidence. Rather than going through a system of religious observances we can come into God's presence by faith. Our righteousness is not based on what we have done, it is based on the righteous life of Jesus Christ. Not only can we approach God, we can serve Him now with a different motivation. Rather than doing religious activities to please God, we see that He is already pleased because of the righteousness of His Son. We serve Him not out of duty but purely because of a love for Him birthed in us by the power of redemption.

IV. JUSTIFICATION - JUSTIFIED AND SINLESS BEFORE GOD Rom. 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

V. SANCTIFICATION - HOLINESS OF LIFE IMPARTED INTO OUR VERY NATURE 1Cor. 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

VI. THE JUSTICE OF GOD Is. 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. The Father saw mankind being judged in Christ's sacrificial death

VII. THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN

Acts 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

VIII. REDEMPTION AND NEW BEGINNINGS

Eph. 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

IX. HEALING OF OUR BODIES

1Pet. 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

X. DELIVERANCE FROM THE CURSE OF POVERTY Gal. 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

XI. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN MAN AND MAN Eph. 2:12,13 - that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

XII. RESTORATION OF INTIMACY WITH GOD Heb. 10:19-22 ¶ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.