Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of the Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they do not love their lives to the death. Revelations 12:10-11
The Bible is very clear that there is life and power in the blood. Leviticus 17:8 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of life that makes atonement for the soul.” In the Garden of Eden, after the Adam and Eve sinned, God sacrificed an animal to make a covering for them. “Also, for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them.” An animal was sacrificed so that Adam’s and Eve’s vulnerability would be covered. Adam and Eve walked around naked in the garden and was not ashamed until sin entered into them, then they tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves and God covered them with tunics made of an animal skin that was sacrificed for their sins. The dispute between Cain and Abel was over the type of sacrifice that was acceptable to God and it was Abel’s sacrifice of a lamb that pleased God. Leviticus 17:8 clarifies and says, “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Atonement comes for the Hebrew word “kapher” which means “to cover.” The blood of an animal sacrificed covered the sins of mankind. Atonement was to pay a debt and to purify. When God made a covenant with man in the Bible, it was often sealed with a blood oath. God sacrificed the animal in the Garden for Adam and Eve. He also made a blood sacrifice, killing a heifer, a ram, a goat , a dove and a pigeon, then walking between the carcasses of the sacrificed animals when He made the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15:9-10) that Abraham would be a father of many nations and through his heirs the whole earth would be blessed. In the Mosaic covenant, lambs were to be sacrificed and their blood sprinkled on the tabernacle to cover the sins of the people. Hebrews 9:21-22 explains, “This is he blood of the covenant which God has commanded you. Then likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” The blood speaks of a covering and a covenant initiated by God through the shedding of blood. The final plague that would bring the deliverance of the Israelite people out of Egypt was the death angel going through out all of Egypt and killing the first-born child. Some of the plagues, God made a distinction and He did not allow the devastation to affect Goshen, the place where the Israelites lived. On the tenth plague, in order to be spared from the final plague and lose the first born in every household, blood had to be applied to the top and the sided of the door post and the death angel would not enter into that home. Even the Egyptians and people from other nations were protected if they applied the blood of a lamb to the door posts. God clearly instructed each family to sacrifice a lamb without blemish, apply its blood to the door, roast and eat the meat, and be ready to exodus Egypt and captivity once and for all. The blood signified to the death angel that the people in the house were in covenant with God and that death would not come to that home that night. The blood was so powerful that people who were not part of the Abrahamic covenant was spared the destruction the death angel brought when they applied the blood to the door. According to Exodus 12:38 “A mixed multitude went up with them also.”
The blood of the animals that were sacrificed, had no power to forgive sin, their blood only made atonement until sin could be taken away. There was no forgiveness of sin, it was covered until the true sacrifice was made. God gave mankind a free will and He allows us to chose how we live. There are consequences of wrong, sinful choices. Just like God told Adam and Eve they could eat of the any fruit in the garden except from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” When they ate of the forbidden fruit, their eyes no longer just saw good, they understood evil as well. God banished from the Garden of Eden where the tree of life was and their bodies began to grow old and they eventually died. The shed blood of the animal sacrificed for their covering, could not forgive their sins, it only covered the sins until the true sacrifice was made. Revelation 13:8 tells us that Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundations of the world. God knew that mankind would choose to sin and a sacrifice would have to be made that could bring true forgiveness and restoration of the relationship between God and mankind. Genesis 1:27-28 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created him. Both male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Mankind was to take dominion and authority over everything God created including the angels. Psalm 8 tells us that God created man a little lower than Himself and mankind was crowned with glory and honor. We were given authority over every part of God’s creation including angels until Eve was deceived and Adam sinned in the garden and the fallen angel Lucifer (the devil) was able to take man’s dominion and place man under angels. When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness, “Then the devil, taking Him upon a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All authority I will give You, and their glory, for this has been delivered to men and I give to whomever I wish.” Jesus did not call him out for lying, he rebuked him “saying, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.” Man gave away the God given authority and it would take a man to legally take back that authority. God already had a plan in place before the foundations of the world were laid. According to Revelations 13:8 Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundations of the world. Jesus dais aside His deity and being born of a virgin when the Holy Spirit over shadowed her, He became a man that had the legal right to take back the authority Adam relinquished to the devil when he sinned.
John the Baptist knew that Jesus was God’s only begotten Son and referred to Him as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:28. When Jesus served the Passover meal to the disciples before His death, He told them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” I love how 1 Peter 1”18-19 states, “For you now that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood if Christ the Lamb without blemish or defect.” The blood of Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law! Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God’s grace.” Romans 3:25 “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood to be received by faith.” The blood of Jesus not only makes atonement (covering) for our sins, His blood has the power to forgive sins. Jesus bought us with His blood according to Acts 20:28. His blood sets us fee, “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.” Revelations 1:5.”The blood of Jesus, His Son purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 We are also justified by the blood of Jesus, Romans 5:9. “And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or things in heaven by making peace with His blood shed on the cross.” Colossians 1:20. Through His blood we are able to go boldly to the throne of grace. Hebrews 10:19 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.” Isaiah gives us more insight on what all the sacrifice of the Lamb of God has done for us. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken. Smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquities of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He openeth not His mouth, He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,” Isaiah 53:5-7. No wonder Revelations tells us that we overcame the devil, by the Blood of the Lamb. The blood of Jesus is powerful! I love the hymn “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.” “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Andre Crouch said it well when he wrote, “The blood that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary. The blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never loose its power. It reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valley, the blood that gives me strength from day to day will never lose its power.” We must never forget the significance and the power of the blood of Jesus. If you have never asked Jesus to forgive your sins and wash you in the blood of Jesus, there is not a better time than now. He died and rose agon so you can be forgiven and have a relationship with God the Father. All you have to do is admit your sins and ask Jesus to forgive you and then spend time every Dy talking to Him and listening for His voice. If you have already mad Jesus the Lord of your life, we need to be like the Israelites and apply the blood of Jesus over the door post of our hearts and our homes. His blood is a more excellent sacrifice than the lambs that were slain that night. Thank Jesus for the blood that allows us to overcome the devil.
Cathy Nesmith