Christianity gives a lot of attention to blood. In fact, God gives a lot of attention to blood. God links blood to life and also to our salvation.
The Children of Israel were commanded never to eat blood because the life of the animal is ‘in the blood’.
“The life of a creature is in the blood” Leviticus 17:11
“Be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.” Deuteronomy 12:23
God’s people could only be made right from their sins by the blood of an animal. Since the life of the animal is in the blood, blood was used to get forgiveness for people. If there was no blood there would be no forgiveness and no removal of sin.
“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make an atonement for your souls upon the altar, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.” Leviticus 17:11
“According to the Law nearly everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22
There are two specific ways we can apply blood to our lives today, and neither of them involve us killing an animal. We don’t have to make sacrifices like the Israelites did, because Jesus became the sacrifice for us.
“It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.” 1Peter 1:19
Jesus became God’s Lamb, to pay the price for our sin with His own blood, which Jesus gave for us when He was crucified on the Cross two thousand years ago.
“We have now been justified by his blood” Romans 5:9
“In Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are brought close by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13
The first way we apply Christ’s blood to our lives is to put our faith in Christ as our Saviour.
“God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People become right with God by believing that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.” Romans 3:25
By putting our faith in Christ as our Saviour we become sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus, even though we don’t see it. God sees us cleansed and forgiven from our sins because Jesus’ blood has paid the price for our sins.
“Our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22
These things are spiritual, so we can’t see them with our human eyes, but they are very real and powerful nonetheless. In fact, that unseen sprinkling of Jesus’ blood is vitally important to allow us into God’s presence.
Imagine a line of people being inspected at heaven’s gate. Most of the people are spattered with the blood of Jesus, making them fit to enter God’s presence. So imagine what it would be like for someone to arrive with a bunch of references to prove how good they are. They present all kinds of proof that they were an ideal student, kind and thoughtful, volunteering for community causes, and doing good wherever they could.
The inspector, however, only looks to see if the man has been sprinkled with blood. Sadly there is no sign of blood. Despite all the references and all his good deeds, the man is not made righteous by those things and is unfit for God’s presence.
So that’s the first application of Jesus’ blood in our lives. We don’t see the blood, but God does. And it’s the only thing that makes us right with God. Each of us needs to put our faith in Jesus and ask God to forgive us, through the blood of Jesus.
The other way we can apply blood is revealed in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. We learn there that God’s people overcame the devil by using Jesus’ blood.
“They triumphed over him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” Revelation 12:11
When the enemy tries to mess with us we can call on the Blood of Jesus as protection. Christians often pray something like, “I claim the Blood of Jesus over me.” Just as the blood of a lamb protected the Israelites from the Angel of Death in Egypt, the Blood of Jesus on our lives protects us from evil.
“The blood will be a sign for you, on your houses. When I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:13
The only way to be right with God is with the Blood of Jesus. And that blood also protects us from the enemy’s attempts to mess with our lives. So the most important thing you can learn to do in life is to become good at Applying the Blood.
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