NO OTHER FOUNT!

Do you recognize this old hymn of the Christian Faith that is one of my favorites?

"What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus! For my pardon this I see, Nothing but the blood of Jesus! For my

cleansing this my plea; Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Naught of good that I have done, 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!

Refrain/Chorus: O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

This hymn was composed by Rev. Robert Lowry in 1876.

My topic for this week's blog is THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, and is a sequel to last week's, focusing on THE CROSS. (If you haven't yet, I encourage you to stop right here and go back to read last week's, for continuity.) The BLOOD is not a happy subject for many people, as we pointed out last time. Many avoid the topic competely. Some churches have even removed it from their hymn books or their church services!

BUT, The Blood of Jesus Christ was spilt on the Cross and my prayer is that you will NEVER be ashamed or embarrassed by it. His blood ALONE provides for:

• Redemption - His blood is the only means by which mankind is redeemed (purchased from sin and satan's control) and forgiven of their sins.

• Grace - His blood speaks of God's favor . . . unmerited by us, and mercy . . . underserved by us, and by which people are saved through faith and brought into God's family..

• Faith - His blood gives life to our faith, strengthens and emboldens our faith in Jesus, and allows us to have His abiding presence, peace and joy.

• Salvation - The blood of Jesus purchased salvation for sinful humanity and purifies their hearts when they accept Jesus as Savior and Lord!

• Forgiveness - His blood makes forgiveness of our sins by God a real possibility along with the cleansing of our sin nature.

• Eternal Life - (once we are born, we have eternal life; we never cease to exist. Our eternity will be spent in only one of two places - Heaven or Hell.) We can only have eternal life in heaven through the Blood of Jesus!

Wow! "Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus!" Jesus died on the Cross, spilt His blood to provide all the above "benefits", but we must repent (turn from sin and to God) and accept Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord in order for us to experience these "benefits"!

Before His crucifixion, the humanity of Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." (Matthew 26:39) But, we then see the divinity of Jesus clearly, when He, God's only begotten Son, accepted that cup and went on to Calvary's Hill and shed His blood! The spotless Lamb of God took upon Himself the sins of the entire world of mankind, our own personal sin and punishment, and was made to be sin for us. "For our sake God made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (II Corinthians 5:21) He was judged so that we would not be judged. He suffered for and satisfied God's justified wrath against sin in our behalf so that we would not be subject to that wrath.

The blood of Jesus accomplished what we could not accomplish for ourselves. We could not extract ourselves from bondage to sin and its resulting punishment. That is not at all possible apart from the blood of Jesus, but because of His blood it is an absolute possibility! Whether or not it remains a possibility or becomes REALITY depends totally on our response to His blood sacrifice!

With His last breath, Jesus uttered, "It is finished!" His head sank to His chest, and the penalty for sin was finally and completely satisfied. Before Jesus' death on the Cross, we stood guilty in God's sight. We were doomed - condemned and headed for eternity in hell. We were without hope. But that ALL changed when Jesus' blood was poured out. And that blood now speaks loudly on our behalf. Before the Cross, we were on the outside looking in, but when we accept Jesus as our Savior, His blood avails for our sinfulness and we then enter into personal relationship with God through Jesus! "The Holy Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:16-17) And Jesus' blood says we are fully given the promises of God!

Do you notice that Scripture states that the BLOOD OF JESUS SPEAKS? "And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to His . . .blood that speaks. . . ." (Hebrews 12:24) It speaks out love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, peace , hope, salvation, eternal life, etc. Found in the death and blood of Jesus is everything we need for the removal of sin, and the access to a deep and lasting intimacy with Amighty God! Isn't that just mind blowing and amazing? As odd as it may sound, the blood of Jesus is crying out on our behalf! We don't have to live in condemnation, despair, worry and defeat due to personal sin. We have hope, victory, and spiritual freedom only available in Jesus. We can therefore live as God intended us to live, as He lives His life in and through us, ALL because Jesus' blood speaks! His blood speaks of who we now are and what we now have. It speaks of righteousness and holiness that Jesus obtained for us on the Cross.

Because blood flowed from Jesus' head, hands, feet and side, and we accept Him as our Savior, our past sinfulnesss no longer exists. The old nature is gone and the new nature has come. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold all things have become new."

(II Corinthians 5:17) "And now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

We must activate the blood of Jesus in our life on a daily basis to be victorius in Him! "They overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), and by the word of their testimony." (Revelation 12:11) The power in Jesus' blood is activated in our lives when we speak the Word of God (testimony). To walk and live in spiritual victory, our words must agree with what His blood says!

I grew up hearing the expression, "plead the blood" or "I plead the blood", etc. Pleading the blood of Christ is not begging God to do something, and it is not a statement of unbelief or fear. Pleading the blood is activating in our life what happened through the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross! It's trusting God to provide in us what Jesus' blood has already purchased for us. It is a statement of faith and confidence in what Jesus' blood accomplished!

When the devil accuses us, we need to "plead the blood" and say what His blood says, "I am redeemed and forgiven of all my sins and have been received into God's family." This Gospel Song reminds us:

"I am redeemed, bought with a price, Jesus has changed my whole life. If anybody asks you, just who I am, tell them I am redeemed. I'll tell of His favor, I'll tell of His love, I'll tell of His goodness to me. He purchased my redemption with His own precious blood, and from sin I've been set free,"

When the enemy (satan) accuses us of being unrighteous, we need to reply, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ!" (II Corinthians 5:21) When he tries to put us in bondage, we can say, "My deliverance has dawned; I was delivered over 2,000 years ago by Jesus." "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14)

The Blood of Jesus is constantly speaking the Word of God. But, what are WE saying? Are we speaking His authoritative Word or are we expressing fear, doubt, discouragement, failure, depression, confusion, worry, or uncontrolled frustration, etc.? When Jesus said, "It is finished!", He was announcing that His supreme sacrifice paid the debt in full! Satan's hold was now broken and finished. Now the promises and blessings of God are available to anyone who comes to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through the blood He spilt on the Cross.

Was His blood absolutely necessary for our salvation? YES, Indeed! Because the Scripture declares it is! Let's go back to Genesis, Chapter 3 where the sin of the first man and woman is recorded. "There the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." (verse 7) After confronting them about their sin and its consequences, God provided "garments of skins and clothed them." (verse 21) So, in order to make those garments of skins, God killed an animal (probably an unblemished lamb), shedding its blood (first blood sacrifice) for Adam and Eve's redemption. Since then, A BLOOD SACRIFICE IS ALWAYS REQUIRED BY GOD FOR REDEMPTION! Therefore, throughout Jewish history, the Jews were given by God a sacrifcial system involving the shedding of an unblemished, spotless lamb's blood to atone for the sins of the people every year. JESUS CHRIST BECAME THE FINAL SACRIFICIAL, UNBLEMISHED AND SPOTLESS (SINLESS) LAMB AND FULFILLED IN EVERY WAY THAT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM. "He entered into the holy places, not by means of the blood of lambs, goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. . . .how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify. . . ." (Hebrews 9:12 and 14) Let us note here that sinful mankind keeps covering themselves with something like "fig leaves" to no avail; we must be drenched in the shed blood of Jesus for our sin to be forgiven, not merely covered up!

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood (no blood - no life), and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." (Leviticus 17:11) This verse conveys the necessity of blood in sustaining life, and its absolute sacrificial importance! It emphasizes that blood necessitates the essence of life and is vital (no substitute for) in the atonement and in the covenant made with God. ". . .everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Hebrews 9:22)

So, in God's Word (The Bible) we have the truth of the necessity, purpose and extent of the Blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, in light of this truth, why would we not embrace Jesus and hold to Him much tighter today? The Blood of Jesus is speaking to us constantly. The question is for ALL OF US, will we listen and respond? "How much more will the blood of Christ purify our conscience from dead works (fig leaves) to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:14) "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7), ALL OF THE BIBLE IS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST and His blood redemption, and we find that scarlet thread throughout the Bible.

Thus we conclude that there is Power In The Blood of Jesus!

• His blood redeemes us. There was a price against us that we could not pay, but the blood of Christ paid our debt in full. "Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things. . .

  but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot." (I Peter 1:18-19)

• His blood brings us into fellowship with God. "But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off are brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13) Without the blood of Christ, we are a long way from God.

Here are some lyrics to another beloved hymn, written by Lewis E. Jones that sums it all up:

"Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you o'er evil a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood.

Would you do service for Jesus your King? There's power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you live daily His praises to sing? There's wonderful power in the blood.

Refrain: There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the Lamb; There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb."

Question: Have we been to the Fount?