By The Blood

Last night I had a dream and in it, I was told last minute that I was going to preach. As I sat with others, they asked what we should preach about, and I looked and at the center of the table were the elements of communion. I said I am going preach about the blood. The starting place is the blood. It is all about the blood of Christ. 

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.  Jesus alone is worthy. He is worthy of our lives, our devotion, our hearts. He washed us as white as snow by his blood. Let us rejoice and praise the one who is worthy and has saved us by His sacrifice. 

“What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.” They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed...The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?...Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering...Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight...Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” 1 Samuel 6:1-14, 19-20 

The Philistine's knew that they had done wrong by taking the ark of God and they experience the pain of their choice choices. They asked the priest what to do and they said to make things right you need to offer a sacrifice for your guilt. So the people offered a sacrifice of gold for each ruler and town. You see there is a cost to send and a penalty owed. 

There is a shadow of something greater coming. The sacrificial system required repeated sacrifice to make atonement. Imperfect people cannot simply approach a holy, perfect God however it wants. Blood, sacrifice, and atonement are required to make things right. Have you considered the cost of your sin? Have you considered the penalty owed? 

The beautiful part of the story is the response. When the presence of the Lord returned to the people and the sacrifice was made they all rejoiced. The people rejoiced because of how grateful they were, but how can we be grateful if we don't consider all that God has done for us? Is your heart full of joy? If not, have you ignored what God has done for you?

“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. But you, Lord, are forever exalted. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,”

Psalms 92:1-2, 4, 8, 12-14 

Something amazing happens when we shift our eyes and our thoughts from what we are doing to what God has done for us. So much of our discontentment comes from what we do not have rather than rejoicing in what God has already done. David says it's good to praise God in the morning before you even see how he moves in that day and then to proclaim all the ways in which he was faithful in the day you just lived. Is this your pattern? Do you start your day with faith and finish with giving thanks for how faithful God has been?

David says the righteous flourish like a palm tree as they dwell in the house of God. But we know the only reason we get to dwell with God is because we have been made right by Jesus. He is the one who makes away for us to be in right standing and declared righteous.  

“A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”” Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

The day of death is better than the day of birth. The day we learned to die to our old self and learn to live for Jesus Christ is the day that we become a new creation. It is the day we receive the Holy Spirit and begin to live triumphantly as we are transformed. 

Solomon says that all fall short of the glory of God. All people sin. No one is perfect. He says that God made us to be in right standing with him, but we have gone off in search of many schemes. How are you relate to that statement? Are you searching or seeking your own fortune or are you seeking God? 

Solomon says consider what God has done. What would happen if our focus each day on God and thinking about what he has done for us? How would that change how we live? The statement that the day of death is better than the day of birth makes no sense until you consider the cross. 

Many people have a hard time believing in God because of the suffering they see in the world. Christianity does not deny suffering; it transforms it. We live in a broken world with broken people. We need God's grace and mercy. We love the idea of salvation, but do we recognize the sacrifice that was required? 

The blood of Christ tells us both how serious sin is and how great God’s love is. Ecclesiastes strips away illusions of self-sufficiency. The idea that we can do it on our own or that life can be found apart from God. The cross destroys pride and says cannot save ourselves. We are redeemed entirely by grace through faith. It is a gift from God by the blood of Christ. 

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, and the Lord Almighty will shield them. The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.”

Zechariah 9:9-16

About a month ago, this passage was widely quoted on Palm Sunday as this was what the people referenced as they saw Jesus coming to Jerusalem, not understanding that he was coming to lay down his life for them. This passage was written long before Christ ever came, but was God's way of giving Hope and a promise that He would make things right with us because we could not do it on our own.  

How incredible is it that all the passages connect today? And when you consider the dream I had about the blood. God tells us that it is because of the blood that we are free and become prisoners of Hope rather than slaves to sin. He says like a shepherd he will come to save us. Jesus says I am the good Shepherd and I have come to give you life and life abundantly. 

At the last supper, Jesus said I pour out my blood for you. It is the blood of the new covenant. He is the fulfillment of all scriptures and He paid the price for us to be saved. Yet how quickly do we forget what he has done for us? How quickly do we go about our days as though there are more important things to think about than the love of Christ? 

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll...I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll...I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:1-13

We live in a world vying for your devotion and attention. Every pop-up advertisement, email, text or notification wants something from you. The question to ask is what is worthy of your life? Who is worthy of your life. We trade our lives for money our time for money, and often spend it on the temporary rather than the eternal.  Heaven asks, “Who is worthy?” and the Bible resoundingly answer is the slain Lamb alone is worthy. 

The call is to change what we value and how we live. The cross changes what we value. The world chases appearance, power, possessions, and pride but Jesus shows us that true victory comes through surrender, sacrifice, humility, and the pursuit of holiness that is only found in our Holy Christ. What will you pursue today? 

The text says that Jesus came to make us a kingdom of priests. It says that Jesus was the prince of peace and that when he came, peace would reign. Living in the world with a lot of conflict and peace begins in each of our hearts.  Jesus came to make us peacemakers.  Through the blood of Christ we have peace with God and we become peace. How could you bring peace to the world today? 

The blood of Christ is the central point of all history and the beginning of new life for us. Jesus cleanses guilty consciences, restores relationship with God, frees prisoners from the pit, and gives us confidence to enter God’s presence as God not only came to be with us but dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. 

The message across these passages is the blood. His blood is the beginning and the end. The beginning of our journey where we walk in right standing having peace with God and the end of our old life as we pick up our cross daily.  Jesus showed us the way. He is both the promised King and was the sacrificial Lamb. He comes humbly, offers Himself willingly, and redeems eternally. His blood sets us free fear, striving, guilt, and bondage and through Him we are empowered to live with gratitude, worship, humility, courage, and hope. Give thanks to Jesus for all that he has done, all he is doing, and all he is going to do. Worthy is the lamb who is slain and precious is the blood of Christ through which we have peace with God. This new life is more than a dream. It is our promised inheritance and the gift of God to all who believe.