Hebrews 9:11-14 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 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?”
Hebrews 10:1-6 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Hebrews 10:19-23 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
From its storied and cryptic past, the mere mention of the word blood unleashes a floodtide of images, thoughts, feelings and concepts. Blood holds a place in the culture of mankind unlike no other. Our literature reeks with references to blood. We hear of violent murders, ritualistic mutilation of bodies, slaughter and genocide. We hear of vampires myths, of blood sacrifices—both animals and humans—and satanic ceremonies involving bloodshed.
All of this, whether intended for shock value or to hand down tribal legends, has its basis in truth. The blood covenant has been used for centuries as a means by which any two people, families, tribes, villages or towns could enter into a binding unending agreement. Covenant between two persons could end with the death of a participant on either side.
The American Indians would cut the thumb and join thumbs together to make blood brothers. In the east most often the cut would be somewhere on the forearm, in all cases the cut would be in place where at a casual glance anyone could see a scar that indicated the bearer was in covenant.
Ancient weddings were considered covenant ceremonies. The cut made during the covenant ceremony would be treated in such a way as to produce a scar when healed. The modern day wedding rings are replacements for the scars that would have been part of the ceremony.
The word “covenant” in Hebrew means literally means a cut-where-blood-flows. It created a binding agreement, more powerful than a contract or agreement, and was to be forever - the life span of the participants. The Blood Covenant was holy, sacred—to violate the covenant would mean death. It represented the ultimate insurance of loyalty and fidelity.
There were variances of rituals but the common base was a cut-where-blood-flows and the mingling of these two bloods by the cuts being rubbed against each other. A cup of wine would be held under the cuts to catch the dripping blood which was stirred into the wine by an officiating priest, then each participant would drink from the cup. In many cases the witnesses to the covenant would also drink from the cup of the blood and wine. In the minds of the covenant participants they had became one blood and one identity with each other. They would give each other their children to raise in utter confidence that the covenant partner would raise the child as their own.
Grasping and understanding the relationship between Jesus Christ and the individual believer can only be achieved by a firm understanding of covenant. The Bible is divided into two covenants the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. If the very subject matter of the two books is covenant, then the believer needs a clear understanding of just what a covenant is and what a covenant is not. A covenant is a permanent lifelong agreement with no escape clause. Covenant is used to join people, families and tribes to each other with terms that can not be altered or nullified.
Now, it begins to dawn on us what really happened at the cross as described in Hebrews 10:19-23 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”
The shed blood of Jesus Christ, with full power to implement and total desire to execute, sealed the Almighty God to the redemption of lost mankind. He did not leave his most sacred and solemn vow to the shifting sands of verbiage, or artwork, or promises. He did not commit his eternal purpose to paper and ink which could be shredded, burned or altered.
Colossians 1:12-14 says, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
And so, we sing:
Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you over evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.
The “power in the blood” means the absolute authority that a covenant has over the circumstances and the personalities of life. When you speak of the blood of Jesus, you speak of authority. When you speak of the blood of Jesus, you speak of an eternal covenant that cannot be reversed by Satan. It is our rock, our wedding ring, our sacrifice forever.
But the covenant aspect of the blood of Jesus is only part of the story. There is something else that happens when the blood is applied, something that deals with the mind, the heart and the conscience. Along with the power of the blood to forge a new relationship with God, there is also a cleansing, washing and sin-remitting quality of the blood. This feature of the blood is spelled out in Colossians 1:14: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Even the forgiveness of sins!
The full impact of the blood, then, is this: You have entered into a covenant relationship with the God of the universe and you have been absolved of all your sin, your moral debt, your shame and your guilt.
The first thing Jesus does by his blood is secure you to himself. He gives you the assurance that he is in charge of your life and that you are protected from your enemies. No one can break through the barrier of his blood. No one can destroy the covenant that he established with you through the cross.
Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The second thing the blood of Jesus does for you after he secures you is to cleanse you from sin. The closest I can come to explaining is this: It is like calling 911 and being admitted to the hospital, knowing that the bill will be completely covered by insurance. Now that you’re there, you can submit to any test, any procedure, any surgery and any treatment that will fix your problem. God is not interested in taking you to heaven in all your sin and shame. His intention is to bind you to him and then use all of his power and authority to cleanse you and set you free.
Hebrews 9:13-14 says, “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 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?”
Not only do we need security, we need healing. Our need goes beyond salvation from sin; we need to be cleansed from sin. We not only need our downward slide to be stopped, we need it to be reversed. We need the blood of Jesus to reach into our souls and begin to wash away the dirt, the grime and the stains of a misspent life. We need him to correct the disfigurement and distortion of our transgressions.
Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.
It’s all in the blood of Jesus.
It’s no where else but in the blood of Jesus.
You will not find this kind of security and cleansing from any other source.
You will not find it in medication or drugs.
You will not find it in a bottle.
You will not find it on the psychiatrist’s couch.
You will not find it in self-help and will power.
You will not find it in more sin and more sin.
You will not find it by running away.
You will not find it by entering into yet another relationship.
You will not find it in suicide.
You will only find it in the blood of Jesus.
That blood. That sinless blood.
Not the blood of bulls and goats.
Not the blood of murder and mayhem.
Not the 50,000 deaths of the American Revolutionary War.
Not that blood.
Not the 646,000 casualties of the Civil War.
Not that blood.
Not the 320,000 death and wounded of WWI or the 1.1 million casualties of WWII.
Not that blood.
Not the 211,000 American soldiers who died in Vietnam.
Not that blood.
Not the 4,221 casualties of the war in Iraq.
Not that blood.
None of those deaths will suffice to remove the penalty of your sins.
1 Peter 1:18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
One blood. One man. One death. One cross.
For whom?
For one man, one person. If you had been the only sinner in the world, he would have died for you.
Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
And did my Sov’reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
At the cross, at the cross
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
2. Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!
3. Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man, the creature’s sin.
5. But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
‘Tis all that I can do.