The Power of the Blood Covenant
Matthew 26:27-28, “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’.” The blood of Jesus represents the new covenant (Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). Blood covenants can be found throughout the Bible. Exodus 24:8 says, “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words’.”
When Abraham needed hope that what God had promised would in fact come to pass, God cut a blood covenant with him (Genesis 15:9, 10, 17, 18). This covenant established two things, (a) it confirmed that God would fulfil His promises, and (b) it gave Abraham hope. Note, it takes a covenant from God to give you real hope; without such a covenant you are living in hopelessness (Ephesians 2:12).
The blood of Jesus was shed to eradicate the curse and release the blessing of Abraham on the Gentiles. His precious blood removed sin and destroyed the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). He was made a curse so the blessing of Abraham could come upon the Gentiles. You were once alienated from the prosperity that was common to Israel, but now, you're no longer strangers – you've been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12, 13, 19). If you're in Christ, you're Abraham's seed and heirs according the promise.
Therefore, we must believe in the blood of Jesus and by faith receive what it has accomplished. We're not made righteous by the law, which simply exposes sin. Righteousness is received by faith in Jesus and in believing that His blood has purchased our righteousness. Sin was available to all, and likewise, righteousness is also available to all. We're saved, spared from wrath, and reconciled to God through the blood of Christ (Romans 5:8-11). We overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony about what the blood has done for us (Revelations 12:11). We must learn how to appropriate the blood of Christ in every situation.
When Jesus gathered His disciples together for the Last Supper, He held up the cup and began to explain that His blood is the New Covenant and that His blood is sufficient. Whereas the blood of goats and bulls (for 4000 years) had not met the requirements for fulfilling of the law, His blood is SUFFICIENT. This is what Christ was talking about when He said that He had come to fulfil the law not do away with it. Matthew 5:17 – “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Jesus Christ, in one selfless loving act, would do what no other sacrifice had been able to do - He would begin a new and better covenant with the God of all Creation. An eternal covenant that would allow anyone to receive Redemption, Atonement, Healing, Protection, Deliverance, Strength and Transformation simply because they believe in the power of the blood.
There is ‘wonder-working’ power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Here is a list of what the powerful blood of Jesus does:
1. His Blood has the power to Redeem
Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.” The law was hard; It was almost a curse upon mankind. No one could be pure enough, good enough, holy enough to obey the entire law. The law held men in bondage, and exposed every imperfection in humanity. But the blood of Jesus freed us from the curse and gave us direct access to God the Father.
Romans 8:15, “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Notice, the law had no completion (it could only ‘cover’ for a season) – today a lamb, tomorrow a dove, next week a goat, and the next a bull. It never stopped trying to cover the sins of a nation. The priest had to enter the Holy of Hollies once a year (every year) to sprinkle blood upon the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the sins of the nation of Israel. God was never accessible to His people because they were separated from Him by a veil.
1 Peter 1:18, 19, “Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Yet, one cry from Jesus and God was no longer separated from man by a veil. As He cried out “It is finished” the veil was torn from top to bottom and man could finally be redeemed by the New Covenant written in His Blood. And now mankind is no longer separated from the presence of God because we can enter through the veil that is Christ’s flesh.
Hebrews 10:16-20, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”
2. His Blood has the Power to Transform
It is the blood of Jesus that (when applied to our lives) takes the vilest of sinners and transforms him body, soul and spirit into a new creature – formed in the image of God’s Holiness. Hebrews 9:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Saul, a murderer, when he tried to destroy the church of the living God, had an encounter with the power of that blood and was forever transformed. He became “Paul, an apostle of Christ” The thief on the cross had an encounter with the power of the blood of Jesus, and was transformed into a saint dwelling in Paradise.
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” There is no soul so lost that the power of the blood of Jesus cannot transform his sinful nature into the desire for the holiness of God. Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
3. His Blood has The Power To Give Life
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). “...For it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life” (Leviticus 17:14). Blood is our source of life; without it flowing through our veins life will cease in this physical body. You cannot survive without blood. Likewise, without the blood of Christ applied to your spirit & soul you are in the state of decay, and bound for the certainty of the “second death”. Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Life, “more abundant” can only be found in the power of His blood. John 10:10, “The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
4. His Blood Has The Power To Heal & Protect
Whenever a virus attacks your physical body and begins to make you sick, your blood begins to fight with all that it has, attacking this virus with your white blood cells. When the enemy of your soul rises up against you, the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covers you like a shield, and that enemy that wishes would destroy your soul is repealed. Why? Because there is “wonder working power” in the blood of the Lamb. When your body suffers an injury, a cut, your blood does this wonderful thing to protect you from infection – it forms a scab. Many times in life you will probably suffer from different kinds of attacks upon your spirit:
- A word that was said which cuts like a knife into the heart
- A selfish act that almost destroys you emotionally
- An attack of condemnation from Satan upon your thought life
This is when the blood of Jesus wraps around your Spirit and Soul to protect and bring healing to the discouragements and hurts of your life. The wound may be deep for a while and may leave a scar, but the blood of Jesus is always at work in the middle of the storms of life bringing protection and healing. “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still” (Psalm 127:29). “And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain” (Isaiah 4:6). “For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm” (Isaiah 25:4).
5. His Blood has the Power To Deliver
It is the power of the blood of Jesus that breaks the yoke of bondage of sin from our lives. He does not just forgive us and leave us in the grip of Satan, but by the power of the blood of Christ we experience true freedom and liberty. Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Whatever Satan has wrapped around your life; what ever seems to be choking the very life out of you; the Blood of Christ can set you free. Yet, not just to deliver you from it, but to cause you to overcome. Colossians 1:13, 14, “Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Revelation 12:11, ”And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
6. His Blood is Still Powerful Today
His Blood is still saving sinners and setting the captive free today! His Blood is still sufficient – more than enough! His Blood is still able in accomplishing God’s plans and purposes on this earth! Revelation 19:13 provides us with an incredible insight into the power of Christ and His precious blood... “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” His Blood can never loose its power! Like God’s Word – it will stand forever! And Jesus shed His Blood for you and for me.
This reminds me of a story I heard....
A family was involved in a serious accident. Mike, the younger of two brothers involved, was badly injured and needed a blood transfusion. Mike’s big brother, Danny, who was almost eight, was the perfect blood type. His father sat down with him and explained that his little brother was going to die but if Danny would give his little brother some blood that mike would be just fine. Danny sat and thought for a minute and then said, “ok Dad I will do this for my brother.” They took Danny into the operating room and hooked up the needle to his arm and the blood from his body began to flow to his little brother. Everything had gone wonderfully and the nurse removed the needle from little Danny’s arm. Danny with a tear in his eye looked at his father and said, “When do I die?” The father suddenly realised with a shock that Danny had misunderstood his explanation of giving blood. Danny thought he was giving all of his blood to save the life of his little brother! He thought that he would die after the transfusion was over. Yet he still had agreed to help his little brother.
What love – what sacrifice – what a gift of life! What blood! How much more did Jesus Christ give up when He was prepared to die for you? Have you experienced the wonder working power of the blood of the Lamb? The astounding benefits of the New Blood Covenant? If you haven’t, then today is your day. And if you have, maybe it’s time to experience it once more.
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