Articles
The Blood of Christ Redeems
The night that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, the Lord spoke of His death. Matthew records, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28). Jesus Christ a few hours later, shed His precious blood on the cross for the sins of the world. The great love of God was shown to mankind, "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).
Why did Jesus have to shed His blood? The writer of Hebrews answers our question. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). ONLY the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect spotless Lamb of God, could cleanse man of his sins.
We learn two very important lessons from the shedding of the blood of Christ: 1) We see how terrible sin really is – it cost the blood of Jesus Christ on the cruel cross. 2) We learn how powerful the blood of Christ is - for Christ's blood was shed for forgiveness of sins for all men, for all time. Let's notice a little closer the power of the blood of Christ.
The blood of Christ REDEEMS. Paul said that in Christ "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7). The term redeem means "to release on receipt of ransom; liberate by payment of ransom; to deliver" Thayer. The blood of Jesus Christ frees us from sin. Paul wrote, "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Romans 6:17-18). Here we see the great power of the blood of Jesus Christ: it frees us from sin; we are rescued from the bondage of sin; payment has been made for the sins of the world.
The blood of Christ is so powerful, that it even forgave the sins of those faithful ones under the first covenant. "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15). The blood of Christ is so powerful, that "we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" and "for sins for ever" (Hebrews 10:10, 12).
My friend, we all need the blood of Christ, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Only the pure blood of Jesus Christ can forgive those sins. Why not obey Jesus Christ today and have your sins forgiven (Mark 16:15-16; Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:26-27; I Peter 3:21)?
