“Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:9).
Blood has its massive theme in the scriptures. The scripture spends much time on the symbolism of the blood shed under the Old Covenant pointing to Jesus and his bloodstained old rugged cross on Golgotha’s hill. That is why the Blood of Jesus is always in the vocabulary of the Christian. The Cross and what happened on Calvary is central to their faith and the basis of their salvation.
Why do Christians talk so much about the blood of Jesus? Because the gracious act of his death on the cross is etched with laser heat in our minds and we are moved beyond expression as we read about the violence of the bloodshed of Jesus on Calvary.
People ask, “Should we not phrase it another way? People will not understand.” God’s language is alien to ours but we should learn to speak it. People should not come into the foreign country of Christianity just to be saved. But they need to learn its language and Bible words and concepts. They should become biblically literate not in, “the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Cor. 2:13). We should teach them and explain it to them and not apologize to them for its truth.
Once a person starts reading the Bible as soon as they come into John chapter 6 they see how people misunderstood the blood and they still do not understand it now. yet, the scripture is insistent upon its wording concerning the blood of Jesus (Mt. 26:28; John 6:53; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 11:24-30; Col. 1:14, 20: Eph. 1:7; 2:13; Heb. 9:14; 10:19, 29; 13:20; 1 Pet. 1:2; 19; 1 John 1:7; 5:8; Rev. 1:5; 5:9; 7:14: Rev. 12:11: 22:14). Blood is the scarlet thread (Joshua 2: 18-19) woven through its pages. It is so important to God that blood is mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible, 447 times in 375 verses.
I first learned the centrality of the Cross and the phrase, “I plead the blood of Jesus!”
I heard people say it when they were praying for people to get the Holy Ghost. I saw them “plead the blood of Jesus” when they laid hands on the sick and saw them recover. I saw them “plead the blood of Jesus” when they were casting out devils. This taught me the importance of the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins for all time and that His blood washed not just covered my sins. I ate the Lord’s supper in awe of the blood covenant. I learned that it was the blood of Jesus that was the ransom paid to buy us back from Satan’s power and paid our sin debt and brought us in favor and closeness to God. The blood is the plea or legal grounds of our justification (Romans 5:9). We are justified by his blood. We are no longer helpless victims of the guilt, penalty and power of sin because of the blood of Jesus Cross!
People take issue with the phrase, “I plead the blood of Jesus” or “Satan, the blood of Jesus is against you!” In their efforts to be theological sophisticates they rant that we should not treat the blood of Jesus as if it were “magical” or this phrase as if it were a magical formula. Let me assure you, this is no magic or anything magical. Why because the mystery of Christ’s blood short circuits our understanding so we should stop using it? The Bible teaches that there is a mystery in and with and under the blood of Jesus that I do not think anyone will ever come to understand. But I do know that the blood of Christ must be treated with tearful gratefulness and fearful reverence. The blood of the new and everlasting covenant is God’s own blood and the blood of the Lamb of God (Acts 20:28).
The devil hates the blood of Christ and will stop at nothing to prevent people from preaching and applying it! At Calvary, Satan was defeated by the blood of Jesus (Rev 12:11). He is defeated in its application over and over and over again. We have rights as God’s adopted children (John 1:12) and should not let Satan take advantage of us. Christ gave us authority over all the works of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Satan is the greatest thief around and constantly engages in identity theft making people who are truly saved feel like they are losers, filling them with guilt and shame. But when the child of God looks to Calvary and sees what their Lord and Savior has done they begin to walk in the Spirit and say, “Satan, the blood of Jesus is against you!”
The children of Israel in Exodus 12 slaughtered a spotless lamb, drained its blood into a basin and took a hyssop branch and applied it to the top and sides of the door of their homes. God promised, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt…the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” (Exodus 12:13, 23). When I read this scripture what comes out to me is the protection the blood of Jesus gives. the blood keeps us safe, the blood shelters us and the blood defends us. HIS BLOOD GIVES US THE VICTORY! Glory to God!
We “plead the blood of Jesus” by declaring with our words the power of the blood of Christ (Mk. 11:23). We see it in the Lord’s supper and water baptism speaking to us of the forgiveness of sins! Many people wonder how they could apply the blood of Jesus to their body, home and family. Through the preached word-yes! Through worship both in and out church service? Yes! The Bible says when we speak it is like an offering or, “the calves of our lips.” (Hosea 14:12). Paul taught, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (Heb 13:15). In the New Covenant the words of our mouths in prayer in worship should agree with God’s Word. Declaring the truth of the gospel not only takes the place of all the liturgy and ceremony of the Old Covenant but declares the blood of the Lamb of God poured out on the cross for protection, healing, deliverance and salvation.
© 2013 Soul Health Care Ministries. I wrote this, not you-but feel free to share it and give credit where credit is due.
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