Gospel

---

Where is the Blood?

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Remember that old song? We sang it in church just a couple weeks ago, but I hadn’t heard it for a while. We don’t hear much about the blood anymore, do we? Why is that? Is it too hard for us to hear?

I think of Jesus with His followers when He told them in John chapter 6 :53 “Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” People were offended at this and started leaving. They thought Him mad to say such a thing. But look at that verse again - He said YE HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU unless you drink of His blood.

I listen to Christian radio a lot on my long commute to and from work. Most sermons preached are focused on us - how we can be better Christians, better parents, and better people. But without the blood of Jesus we can’t be better at anything! We can do nothing of ourselves. Where is the blood?

When I was a small child I sometimes used to be terrified in church services. We had preachers that preached of fire and brimstone. (Yes, I am Baptist). They stood up there and screamed about the wages of sin and then were reduced to tears as they explained the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ. Through them, the Holy Spirit showed me my sin, my broken-ness, my helplessness without the blood of Jesus. Had it not been for that kind of preaching, I don’t know if I would have ever come to know the Lord. But where is the blood nowadays? Are people in Joel Osteen's church being convicted of their sin?

The bible says man comes forth from his mother’s womb in sin. Most people when asked will not agree with that. Most people when asked if they think they are a good person will say “yes.” The bible says there is NONE righteous, no not one. If we say we believe the bible is the infallible, inerrant word of God, then we have to agree with ALL of it.

I have been reading through the Old Testament and I have to admit some of it is hard to read. All the killings and bloodshed….I have to stop sometimes and ask God to help me understand why it had to be that way. The only thing He has shown me is simply that….He is a Holy God. He cannot tolerate sin. The people who refused to worship Him were destroyed; men, women, children and sometimes even their next generations, as well.

And as I thought about all the slaughters and the demise of those people who worshipped other gods in the Old Testament, I wondered; might this also be a picture of the utter destruction and desolation we will face without the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus? I think it could be a symbol of God’s Holy wrath on Judgment Day. Those who cannot plead the blood of Jesus will be destroyed - forever separated from God.

God is just and He is Holy. This is the very thing that makes Him good. He loves each and every one of us and love in the truest form will also demand justice. Think about it like this - Someone does a heinous crime and is brought before a judge for sentencing. Imagine this judge tells the criminal since he is a good judge, he is going to let him go free. Has justice been done? No! Is this judge good? No! He is just as bad as the criminal!

In the same way God, being the Holy and good God He is, demands justice be done with us. Without justice for our sins, He wouldn’t be a good God. But here is the best part; He knew we could never do enough good works to save ourselves from our sin. In Jonah 2:9 it says But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

The last sentence says ‘Salvation is of the LORD.’ All caps - that means Jehovah God. But wait - wasn’t it Jesus who came down from heaven and shed His blood for our sins? Yes. This is yet more proof that Jesus, who shed His Holy blood for me and you on that cross is the same God of the Old Testament. God Himself had to come to earth in human form as a sacrifice so we might have eternal life. That was the only way salvation could be ours. We cannot save ourselves. Salvation is of the LORD. Unless we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, we have no life in us. It’s all about the blood.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE