Living Under The Blood - part 1

When we think of the blood of Jesus what is the first thing that comes to mind for most Christians? Is it something we just say to cover ourselves when we are sick, or something that we use to cover our children as we pray over them before the start of every day? Most people even some Christians don't really understand what the Blood of Jesus really means. The death of Jesus did way more for us than most people or Christians even think. What does His death mean to you? For most it means that their sins can be forgiven and they can get a fresh start.

In the Old Testament God would say that blood would have to be put upon the Mercy Seat:

(Leviticus 16:13) "And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, 

and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward;

 and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.".....

(Leviticus 16:16)..."And he shall make an Atonement for the holy place, 

because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, 

and because of their Transgressions in all their Sins 

and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, 

that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness"

What was this a description of? They were sprinkling the blood of goats to atone for their Sins and Transgressions that they had committed against the Lord a midst their uncleanness. We no longer have to do this! I know I have not been sprinkling any blood on the mercy seat in the holy of holies in my church, have you? So then if we do not atone for our sins in the same way as the Old Testament then why would God look at our sins in the same way as the Old Testament? We can’t just pick and choose our way to live according to the bible, God said that in the new testament the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ.

(John 14:6)"Jesus answered, 'I am the way 

and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".

So where is our Mercy Seat and what do we do to atone for our sins then? We do not have to atone for our sins anymore! Jesus Christ is the Mercy seat for us!

(Romans 3:25) "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, 

through the shedding of his blood “to be received by faith.

 He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he 

had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished"

Lets look at a few words in Romans 3:25. The first one is atonement, what does that word mean? According to The World English Dictionary it means:

Atonement:
A. satisfaction, reparation, or expiation given for an injury or wrong
 b. the sufferings and death of Christ

Basically it is saying that Christ was given as a sacrifice of satisfaction to God! Jesus Christ's bloodshed was a satisfaction for God's Wrath! Because the sins before Christ had gone unpunished, God was withholding his punishment from us! Look at the word "forbearance" and you will see what I mean.

Forbearance according to Dictionary.com means:
1.self-control; patience
2.Law -abstention from or postponement of the enforcement of a legal right,
3.The act of forbearing; a refraining from something.

The word Forbearance alone means a whole lot doesn't it! God had to show self control and patience with us, he refrained from his wrath upon us. Now let’s look at the other part of the definition and see what was really going on. Definition number two says flat out LAW! Abstention from the enforcement of a legal right!! You don't think that according to God's Law we should have all felt his wrath and punishment? Of course we should have, but the bible says it right there plain as day according to Romans 3:25 Jesus Christ's Blood was enough to keep God from punishing us according to his LAW! God can no longer enforce his Law on us because of Christ's sacrifice, that is why we are all still here today, that is why God has not completely wiped us all from the face of the earth! Not because of our own good deeds or what we have done on our own, but because Jesus died for US so that we would not be punished anymore according to God's LAWS.

At the end of the scripture it clearly says that God had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished! Why would he all of a sudden decide to start punishing us now if he left the sins beforehand unpunished? Jesus Christ was all the punishment needed to atone for all our sins! That is what the Good news is all about, the fact that no matter how hard we try to live a good life or how much we try to be perfect we are always going to fall short. He knew that we would not be able to uphold his Laws anymore, so in his final effort to save us from his much deserving wrath, he sent his son Jesus, who had no sin at all to become sin for us so that we could remain in God's love. Jesus became our new Mercy Seat; his blood is what is on the Mercy Seat now that is why he is the only way for us to get to the Father. God also said that he would forget all of our sins and our Lawless acts. If God is willing to forgive and forget our sins when we ask him to because of Jesus’ Bloodshed, then why do we still remind ourselves of our own sins?  Why do we let the Devil tell us we are not worthy or not good enough to receive God’s blessings?  

There is a reason for this thinking and tomorrow I will talk about it more in my next blog. I leave you with this scripture to remind you that God will remember your sins no more, so you don’t have to either:

(2 Corinthians 5:20) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,

 so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(Hebrews 10:17-18)  “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (emphasis on all scriptures are my own)

Click here for Part 2

Be sure to read my series : The Fear of The Lord