A Word From Father Jim
I have just finished a marvelous book by H.A. Maxwell Whyte called “The Power of the Blood”. I say marvelous because I believe that through this book the Lord has given me a greater revelation of the power that is in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And I think that it is a power that has been overlooked by most of the Church for centuries. Lent is a particularly good time for us to meditate on the blood of Jesus shed for you and me at Calvary.
We’re all familiar with the old hymn, “There’s Power in the Blood” and it’s true. But that power is much greater than what the hymn describes. So what does the blood of Jesus do for us?
It was the blood of Jesus that redeemed us, (Eph 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19) - (it has already been accomplished), and saved us from our sin (Col 1:14). It was the blood of Jesus that defeated satan. It was the blood of Jesus that provided for our physical, emotional and spiritual wholeness. It was the blood of Jesus sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven that redeemed us for all eternity. It is the blood of Jesus that gives us life (John 6:53) (...the life is in the blood (Lev 17:11)). It is the means by which Jesus becomes our atonement through faith (Rom 3:25). It causes us to dwell Christ and He in us (John 6:56). The blood of Jesus justifies us and saves us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9). The blood of Jesus in the Eucharist renews our eternal covenant with him. It is the blood of Jesus by which we overcome satan (Rev. 12:11). And finally, the blood of Jesus brings us peace and reconciles us to God (Col 1:20).
In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews we read, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, …. he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb 9:11-14).
Shalom!
Jim+