Friday, February 7, 2014

The Precious blood of Jesus Christ Part 2








2. We are cleansed by the blood.


Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood 
1 John 1:7...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanest us from all sin.



Contrary to tradition and misunderstanding of the New Covenant we aren't simply covered by the blood. We are cleansed by blood. We aren't filthy sinners who are simply "covered" by Jesus blood. That is exactly what the Old Covenant accomplished. In fact that is the only thing it could do for sinful humanity. The blood of bulls and goats could only "cover". It could never cleanse. It could never remove the guilt and stain of sin. All the Old offered was to cover sinful beings for a single year. The New however brought the eternal cleansing needed. We aren't covered sinners any longer. We've been washed in His blood. We've been cleansed. We are not filthy sinners in God's eyes. We are cleansed righteous sons who always have access to His presence. Let's not diminish the finished work by assigning our present condition to the same standard and position as those under the Old Covenant.

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,  how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:11-14

Again holding onto the idea that the blood simply covers creates a sin conscience within. It produces and perpetuates a failure mentality. The blood has cleansed us. We have been made a new creation in Him. Now our conscience is cleansed. We no longer need to continually focus on all our misdeeds, shortcomings and failures. We know we are clean and accepted by Him! 



 A good illustration for this cleansing versus covering can be found in any laundry service. If you had a musty old shirt would you want them to simply spray a sweet smelling fragrance over it? What if they sprayed some wonderful perfume or odor removing aroma on your shirt? Would you want to wear it? Of course not! You would demand that they clean it! So it is with us! Jesus blood didn't cover our sin with some wonderful aroma, so Father could sit on the throne and say what a wonderful smell in spite of all these stains. No, the blood of Jesus completely cleansed us. We are forever cleansed! He cleansed us of our past and present and future sins and placed us in right standing with the Father! Thank God for His goodness and love! 






"photo contributed by EA courtesy freedigitalphotos.net"

No comments: