Power of the Blood of Jesus – Volume 05
Message Summary by AFT Team
You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. – 1 Peter 18,19.
The blood of Jesus is ‘precious’ because it does what nothing else can do; it offers atonement for the sins of mankind. Not only does it offer atonement, it also offers a remedy for failure, sickness, bondage and everything else that has come as a result of sin.
Pleading the Blood of Jesus
We are used to hearing this phrase “plead the blood of Jesus”. What does this mean? ‘Pleading’ is usually understood as ‘asking’, ‘beseeching’ or ‘entreating’. But what it refers to here is ‘pleading as in a court of law’. It does not mean ‘begging’. The whole of point of salvation through the blood of Jesus is to enter ‘boldly’ into the presence of God, not ‘begging’ and ‘crying’. In legal terminology, ‘plead’ means ‘to put forward or urge in defence, in legal declaration’. When a lawyer pleads your case, he knows the law, he knows the rights given to you by law, he knows the finer points of the law, he cites precedents of similar cases, and he urges the judge to decide in your favour, because he is claiming it by law. Similarly, when we plead the blood, we go to God our judge, on the basis of what the blood of Jesus has done for us. When Jesus shed His blood and died, He purchased and obtained our redemption. When we plead the blood, we go to God on the basis of that action of Jesus and by the promises of His word. In a court of law, the judge decides the sentence based on the just pleading, not on the begging or crying of the lawyer. Similarly, when we go before God, He answers us based on what Jesus has done and how we ask for it ‘boldly’, not in favour of our tears.
In order to ‘plead’ meaningfully, you have to understand what the blood of Jesus has done.
Not a magic word
We’ve also often heard the phrase “Victory in the blood of Jesus”. While it is absolutely true, it’s not meant to be used as a magic word, as an incantation. Just repeating it without understanding what it means won’t get you very far. People who don’t understand really what it means, turn around and say, “I’m worthless, I’m just dirt and filth – a rotten sinner”. Now, these are contradictory statements. If you believe that there is victory in the blood of Jesus, the main purpose of which is to wash our sins and make us white as snow, how could you say the opposite of it? If it has victory and you are a believer, it has washed your sins and made you clean; why call yourself a sinner?
See, that’s the problem with not understanding what the blood has really done; people use it like a magic word. When you understand it properly, know it in your heart and confess it with your mouth, it will help you in times of danger. You are like a lawyer who knows what has been guaranteed to you by the blood of Jesus.
A theme through the Bible
The blood of Jesus is of central importance in the Bible. There is much teaching in the Old Testament about the blood of Jesus through ordinances about blood sacrifices that were based on the sacrifice of the lamb at the Passover. We learnt from the Passover that there is deliverance, protection and a new future through the blood of sacrifice. In the New Testament, we see that Jesus started His ministry with John the Baptist baptising Him saying “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. The Jews would have clearly understood what that meant, because they were used sacrificing lambs for the atonement of their sins. (What they did not understand was that He was the Messiah, whom they mistakenly expected would deliver them from political bondage to the Roman empire.) A few years later, we see Jesus shedding His blood and hanging on the Cross. Jesus, in every way, fulfilled what the Passover lamb depicted in the Old Testament. The epistles further reinforce to us that the we have remission of sin through Jesus’ blood, that we draw near to Him through His blood, and that we boldly enter the presence of God only through the blood of Jesus. And in the book of Revelation, we see that songs will be sung about the lamb of God. Jesus, after being raised from the dead, exalted, glorified and seated at the right hand of the Father is referred to as the “Lamb of God”.
Paul himself refers says in 1 Corinthians 7 that Christ is our Passover. In order to understand the blood of Jesus, we have to learn about the Passover. The benefits that were available to the people of Israel in the Old Testament times, is available to us as New Testament believers. And if we are to receive those benefits, we must understand the Passover well.
Let us look at four more lessons that we can learn from the Passover about the blood of Jesus.
God had promised Abraham land and descendants. When he asked for confirmation, God made a blood covenant with him. He comes to deliver the Israelites based on that covenant. The passover, deliverance, exodus and the land of Canaan – all these things happened on the basis of that blood covenant. We go to God boldly, like the lawyer, on the basis of the New Covenant.
The Israelites were instructed to keep the lamb for four days in their house. The children of the house would have played with it; they would have grown to love it. And yet they would have to kill it. How it would have pained them! That is to show how much more it would have pained God to send His only beloved Son to die for us.
PROTECTION
Protection in eternity
The blood of the Passover lamb offered protection for them from the angel of death. Anyone who stayed inside the house that was marked with the blood of the lamb on the doorway was safe; death would not touch them. Death entered every house that did not have the mark of the blood. Every first male child and animal would die all over the land, but not in the Israelite household. What does this mean for us?
The blood of Jesus offers us protection from the eternal judgement of God. It saves us from the worst kind of death – a horrible eternity without God.
Protection on this earth
For the Israelites, the blood offered protection all through the way to the Promised Land. Because they were blood-marked, God did not allow anyone to lay their hands on them. He protected them from Pharaoh even as he chased them upto the Red sea, which let them go through but swallowed up the Egyptians. It prevented Balaam from cursing them. It offered them total protection. Similarly, for us, the blood of Jesus offers protection from all dangers of this life. We may have often heard these phrases in prayer, “We sprinkle your blood Lord, we cover ourselves with the blood”. This is what it means – that God who has redeemed us by His precious blood, is with us in our times of trouble, He is a shield around us, He raises a wall around us, He guards and protects us from all evil and from the dangers of the enemy.
DELIVERANCE
Freedom is not an easily imaginable concept for a people who had been in slavery and oppression for nearly 400 years. Having been under subjection, generation after generation, for such a long time, they felt completely demoralised; they had no hope. They knew that Egypt was a superpower; Pharaoh was a might ruler with great military strength – soldiers, horses and chariots. And the Israelites who had been shepherds were now mere weak slaves. To them, deliverance was impossible. But behold, look at how God delivered them. The strong, arrogant pharaoh who ruled them all their lives and even dared to challenge God was now defeated. His backbone was broken – when the blood of the passover lamb was shed and smeared.
Similarly, mankind has been under Satan ever since the fall of Adam. 1 John 5:19 says that the whole world is in the tight grip of the wicked one, the devil. Every single human being born in this world is born in sin and therefore is a slave of satan. But that day, when Jesus shed His blood on the Cross, satan’s backbone was broken. When we believe in the shed blood of Jesus and confess Him as our Lord and saviour, we are freed from the grip of satan, his hold over our lives is no more. The moment we put our faith in Jesus, we are set free from the power of satan. Jesus triumphed over the forces of hell through the Cross.
The Israelites walked out free. But Pharaoh changed his mind yet again and chased them. But because they had the mark of the blood upon them, the Read sea opened up and delivered the Israelites. God said to them “The enemy you see now, you will never see again.” They received total deliverance. That is a picture of our deliverance too. The dominion of the devil over our lives is completely gone when we accept what the blood of Jesus has done. Nothing can harm us.
BRAND NEW FUTURE
The Israelites were in living in such fear and terror that they had no hope for a future. All they saw was darkness; they did not see any light at the end of the tunnel. But now, they were delivered through the blood. They were going to a new land, the Promised Land; they had a new life, a brand new future. Sometimes, people face so much failure and defeat that they come to a conclusion that there is no hope for them.
No matter what the past is, no matter what you have gone through, no matter how messed up your life is right now, no matter whether you’ve done something wrong or others have done something wrong against you, there is always hope in Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus is like a fountain that flows always. It is ever ready to wash and cleanse you. No matter how bleak your circumstance may look, there is a brand new future, beyond your wildest dreams. When God blesses a person, he will be so blessed and filled with joy, that he will have no time to remember the hardships of the past. Your new future will be so wonderful that your past will soon be forgotten.
TESTIMONY
The blood of Jesus was applied on their doorposts and lintels. It was right at the entrance of their houses. It was openly visible. The Egyptians and the other people who had seen the previous nine plagues knew that the God of Israel was almighty and powerful. And now seeing the blood on the doorways, they knew that death would surely visit the land and that anyone who stayed behind these blood-marked doors would be safe. The Israelites were a testimony to the saving power of the blood.
This shows us that we too should be a testimony. The way we live our lives, the way we live out the promises of God should let others know that we are distinct, we are blood-marked. Our lives should be such that people desire to posses the joy and peace that we have even if we are in the midst of trouble. They should desire our confidence, our faith, and our victory. The way we live our lives should be a testimony to God.
Other links
- Watch the video of the whole message
- Start here with blog post of Volume 01
