By His blood He paid the price!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
(Revelation 1:5 (NIV))

By His blood!

We take so much for granted. We, as the Body of Christ, have a habit of glossing over exactly what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross. We trivialize the price that He paid for us. It was not a pretty picture!

Have we become so accustom to the story of the crucifixion and resurrection that we take it for granted? Do we even begin to realize the excruciating pain that Jesus endured so that we, in all of our sinful nature, could know grace and mercy?

Think about the worst physical pain that you have ever experienced. What was it? How does that compare to being flogged and having the flesh torn off of your back? How does that compare to having nails driven through your hands and feet? How does that compare to having to decide whether the pain of not being able to breathe is greater than the pain it takes to lift yourself up to take a breath? When was the last time that you bled so profusely that almost all of your blood left your body?

Jesus endured all of this and much more than our humanity can imagine. Jesus endured all of this because He loves us. Jesus did all of this because it was God’s plan to offer Himself as a living sacrifice to atone for our sins. Jesus did all of this just as John 3:16 says.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

What Jesus endured on the cross was endured willingly. What Jesus offers through the cross is offered freely.

By His blood He paid the price and by His blood we are saved!

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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True life is through His blood

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

`Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood–I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.”
(Leviticus 17:10-12 (NIV))

Life is in the blood, and Jesus freely gave His blood (His life) for us. We partake of this life through the symbolic blood of communion. But, this is not the true symbol of our redemption. It is possible to partake of the symbolic blood of communion without having taken part in the spilled blood of Jesus’ gift of His life for our sins.

Perhaps it is communion that makes many people, including those of the Jewish faith, to shy away from belief in Jesus. After all, the thought of drinking blood is repulsive to most people even if it is only symbolic.

Just what is it that Jesus has given us? Life IS in the blood. Jesus freely shed His blood for us so that we may have eternal life. Jesus often set the traditions upside down. Perhaps it is for this reason that He chose to use the symbol of blood as the outward symbol of salvation. Accepting Jesus requires accepting all of Him, including the blood. If we can get past our societal hang-ups about the one, then we can accept the other, after all, when Jesus walked the earth, He often taught against the traditions of society without fully understanding the reasons behind them.

Have you freely accepted the blood of Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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