If You Do Not Like Blood

Blood is important to us. Without it, our bodies could not function. Thousands of years ago, God told us, "The life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11a).

God made blood the most important part of His plan to save and cleanse men. In the Old Testament, He told the Israelites, "I have given [the blood] to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Leviticus 17:11b).

God was preparing them for the time when He would reveal His ultimate solution for your sin and mine: the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Why did Jesus need to shed His blood?

Everyone has sinned.

The Bible clearly tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). Every one of us has taken his own way and rejected God.

All sinners are condemned.

God's punishment for sin is eternal death eternity in the awfulness of hell. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). Every one of us, because we have sinned, will die eternally, if some way is not found to save us. God is righteous and holy, and will have no sin enter His presence and we are sinners.

We cannot save ourselves.

Men have tried. They have tried denying themselves pleasures; lying on boards filled with nails; retreating into monasteries; keeping the ten commandments; being moral and upright; joining the church there is no end to what men have done to try to find God and gain heaven. None of those things though some of them are good to do can save anyone.

As for being good enough to get to heaven, the Bible tells us that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6). On several occasions God told His people that he hated the things they were doing even though they were good, right things. We cannot work our way into heaven.

God loves us.

God created mankind for His own glory, and to have communion with Him. God was not willing to let man be condemned to hell. He knew we could not save ourselves. He loved us so much that He made a way to save us from that condemnation.

The way God made clearly shows us His great love for us. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). God sent His only Son to die as a sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus shed His blood for us.

Jesus, because He was God's Son God Himself, in human flesh lived a perfect, sinless life. Even Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea, said of Him at His trial, "I find no fault in him" (John 19:6).

Jesus' death was a bloody affair. His back was lacerated by a cruel whipping. Mocking at the idea of His being a king, they put a crown of thorns on His head. They drove nails through His hands and His feet, fastening Him to a cross. As His body hung there on the cross, a Roman soldier ran his spear into His side. It was a bloody, gory scene.

But it was all part of God's plan for Him. He did it for us. Because He shed His blood, we can be saved. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Yes, it was bloody. It was gory. But God soon changed the scene. To show that it was a part of His plan; to show that Jesus was His Son; to show that we can now come to God through Him God raised Jesus from the dead. Now, men and women can be "redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18, 19).

Jesus shed His precious blood for you. Have you thanked Him? Have you received the salvation that cost Him so much but which He so freely offers you?

IF YOU WOULD ESCAPE GOD'S JUDGMENT

CONFESS

your sinfulness to God.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

BELIEVE

in Jesus. He will forgive and pardon you.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

"In whom we have redemption through [Jesus'] blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14).

"Much more then, being now justified by [Jesus'] blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9).

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off [from God] are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13).

LIVE IN OBEDIENCE

and have victory over sin and the devil.

"And hereby we do know that we know [God], if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3).

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

"And they overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Revelation 12:11).

© Copyright, Christian Light Publications

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