The Blood of Jesus
In the first article we saw that the blood of Jesus did what the Old Covenant animal blood sacrifices could not do.
We saw the difference between ‘atonement’ for sin and ‘cleansing’ from sin.
In the Old Testament, sins was only ‘atoned’ for. The word translated ‘Atonement’ means ‘to cover’. Sin was only covered by the Old Testament sacrifices.
However, Christ’s blood was far more powerful than that and did not just atone for sin. Christ’s blood washed sin away. The sin was not just covered, it was removed.
What else does the New Testament say about the Blood of Jesus?
1 Peter 1:18-19
:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The Blood of Jesus is called ‘Precious’ and it certainly is very precious to every one of us!
The word precious here speaks of something that is very costly and valuable.
We must not minimise what Jesus did! Just because the work of the cross is given to us freely, at no cost, we can forget how much it cost Jesus! Salvation is free for us, but it cost Jesus His blood and His life!
Salvation itself was not free, it cost Jesus. It is just given to YOU for free.
Jesus paid a very high price for your salvation, the price of His blood.
We see in here 1 Peter that we were not REDEEMED by corruptible things but by this precious blood of Jesus. The word ‘redeemed’ is a term that denotes ‘purchase’.
We are purchased or bought by the blood.
The word redeemed or redemption is used a lot in the New Testament, and is worth studying in an of itself. It is very worth while to see what the New Testament says about your Redemption.
To redeem simply means to buy back from slavery. When the freedom of a slave was bought the term ‘redeemed’ was used – they were purchased back from slavery.
We were slaves to sin, slaves to death, to darkness and the devil. The Blood BOUGHT us back so we no longer have to be slaves anymore.
The price for buying your freedom from sin and death was the blood of Jesus.
Jesus redeemed us with His blood
He purchased us back from slavery to sin and death.
Acts 20:28
:28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s
The price you were bought with was the Blood of Jesus. God PURCHASED you!
Now this may come as a shock to many people who think, ‘Hold on, I was not for sale!’ because we like to think we are our own possession – ‘I don’t belong to anyone!’
The Jews that Jesus talked to faced this issue, because Jesus spoke of them being set free:
John 8:33-36
:33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
:34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
:35 “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
If offended these Jews to hear Jesus talk about them ‘being set free’. They knew the history of their nation. They fully understood that there had been times when their nation had been sold into slavery to other nations, but they were very proud of the fact that THEY were no longer slaves.
The Jews also knew that the reason their descendants went into slavery was because of things like their idolatry and rebellion against God. So when they declared that they had never been in bondage to anyone, they were actually speaking out in PRIDE. They were saying they had never missed it, so there was no reason for them to be sold into slavery.
However when Jesus spoke to them of being set free, they protested, not realising that He was not referring to natural slavery, but to spiritual slavery.
Spiritual slavery
Many people have not realised that mankind was in slavery to the devil, to sin and to death. You may have been raised in a country that is regarded as ‘free’. You may be proud of your liberties in the nation you were raised in, knowing that no one has ever oppressed you, but don’t get fooled.
Just because you are free in the natural does not mean you have never been in spiritual slavery.
Even people who have never been oppressed in the natural world by another person or country HAVE been slaves to sin.
Sin is an oppressive master, and it brings with it suffering, sickness, poverty, pain etc. All the things that most human beings take for granted as ‘normal’ to life! They are not normal, they are the symptoms of spiritual slavery to sin.
God never created man to be a slave to sin and death. God told Adam and Eve to NOT sin. They thought God was trying to be nasty and withhold things from them, they had no idea that God was trying to protect them from enslaving themselves to the cruelty and suffering of sin. But Adam and Eve decided they knew better and they chose the path of sin, and every human being since then has sinned and yielded to the slavery of sin.
Jesus came to set us free.
Many in Jesus’ day were expecting a ‘natural Messiah’ who would free them from the oppression and tyranny of people like the Romans. However they never realised that they were under a far worse tyranny than any natural ruler could bring.
The tyrannical rule of sin was the worst oppression man has ever known, It has resulted in millions of deaths as well as mass suffering for thousands of years.
Jesus came, not just as natural Messiah (Saviour) to set people free from a natural nation, but He came as Saviour to set people free from slavery to sin.
He paid the necessary price to purchase our freedom. No matter what any human being thinks, we all need what Jesus did for us.
We were helpless to set ourselves free. It seems like the more effort people put into finding cures for sicknesses, the more new sicknesses arise.
No amount of political lobbying and civil war can set you free from sin’s tyranny. Those things may work in the natural, but they have no impact on spiritual forces.
Only Jesus Could Redeem Us
All our efforts to get free from slavery to sin are fruitless outside of Jesus, who redeemed us with His blood, the purchase price! What He did, ONLY He could do. You could never have done for yourself what He did to set you free from sin.
When He redeemed you, He paid the purchase price, and bought you back from slavery to sin, and everything sin brings with it!
When you receive Jesus, the devil has no rights over you anymore because you are no longer his!
He can no longer treat you as his slave! When you receive Jesus you no longer belong to sin, death and the devil. You are set free by the Son.
That is why the following statement Jesus made is so powerful:
John 8:36
:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
When He set you free, He set you free for real. The freedom He brings is a spiritual freedom, which means far more than just being set free from any natural tyranny. When you are free inside from sin and death, you are free indeed!
Ephesians 1:7
:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Here we see that connected to having redemption through His blood, we also have forgiveness.
What else does the blood of Jesus do?
1) The BLOOD justifies us and saves us from wrath!
Romans 5:9
:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
2) We are no longer afar off but brought near to God by the blood of Jesus.
Ephesians 2:13
:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
We were far from God and far from covenant relationship with God, but now we have been brought near, BY THE BLOOD
3) The Blood brings us to a place where we are at peace with God
Colossians 1:20
:20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
4) We overcome by the blood
Revelation 12:10 – 11
:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Overcome the Accuser by the blood! There is victory in the blood of Jesus. Victory over sin and victory over the devil! The blood puts you in an overcoming position over the enemy. Our COVENANT Blood puts us over the devil!
5) Covenant with God in the blood
Luke 22:20
:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Jesus said His Blood is COVENANT Blood. That is one MAJOR thing that sets the shedding of the Blood of Jesus apart from any other blood shed in History. Many people have died and shed blood BUT Covenants were not cut when their blood was shed!
Jesus Blood actually DID something for us when it was shed, bringing us into covenant relationship with God
6) The blood gives us boldness to enter the Holiest – God’s presence
Hebrews 10:19
:19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Because we are redeemed, washed, cleansed and brought near to God, into covenant relationship, we are at peace with Him and now we have no need to feel guilty in His presence, or have a sense that we don’t deserve to be there.
We can have boldness to come to Him and into His presence!
A revelation of the blood of Jesus and what it has done for you will enable you to be free in your relationship with God, boldly coming to Him and enjoying His presence without any sense of guilt, inferiority or condemnation!
Thank God for the Precious blood of Jesus shed for us! It has accomplished so much for us and we can be eternally grateful to Jesus for the cleansing power of His blood in our lives!
His blood truly is Precious!
I trust that as you have read these two articles, your own faith in the blood of Jesus Christ has been stirred. I pray that you will come to a fresh revelation of what it means to be washed, cleansed and purchased by His blood.
Further Studies
- Bible Questions and Answers
- Bible Quiz
- Character of God
- Faith
- Finances
- FromTheseShores Vision
- Gifts and Manifestations of the Spirit
- Healing
- High Legh Church
- In Christ Realities
- Jesus Christ
- Miracles and The Power of God
- Praise and Worship
- Prayer
- Revival & Awakening
- Spiritual Growth
- The Holy Spirit
- The Word of God
- Victory in Christ
