The Power of the Blood of Christ

There is immense power in the blood of Christ, but many among us don't have a complete understanding of the significance of this power and its application in our lives. To be able to gain this understanding, however, we first need to understand the two ways in which Scripture speaks of blood. There is blood that has been shed and blood that has been sprinkled.

Christians participating in the Holy Eucharist will be familiar with the former. When the priest raises the chalice, he speaks for Jesus as he quotes him in Luke 22:20, saying, "Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you ...." But many are unfamiliar with the latter. We need to go into the Old Testament to discover the power of blood being sprinkled.

Protection (see Exodus 12)
The first reference we come across about sprinking of blood can be found in Exodus 11. God has struck Egypt with 9 plagues, one after another, but a hard hearted Pharoah refuses to give the Israelites their freedom. God is about to unleash the 10th and final plague, this one striking down the first born of all in Egypt, both men and animals. He would, however, spare the Israelites provided they did what he told them to do, which was to take the blood of a lamb and sprinkle it on the doorposts of their houses. That night the angel of death moved through Egypt. Every firstborn child of the Egyptians died, but the Israelite children were spared because the blood of the lamb had been sprinkled on their doorframes.

Covenant (see Exodus 24)
After redeeming Israel with the blood of the Passover Lamb, God initiates a covenant with the newborn nation through Moses, saying, "If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, I will be your God and you will be my people" (cf. Exodus 19:4; see also Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4). Moses takes a bowl containing the blood of a bull and sprinkles half of it on an altar he has built at the foot of the mountain. He then takes the other half to the people. He reads the laws of the covenant to the people and asks them what they have to say about it. In unison, they respond, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." Moses then took the blood, and sealed the covenant by sprinkling on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you."

Communion (see Exodus 24)
Immediately after this, "Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, along with seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God the Israel". In Exodus 3, we see Moses going up the mountain but turning his face away from God because he was afraid of looking upon the face of God, because it meant death (cf. Exodus 33:20), "but God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank". Moses and 73 others not only looked upon the face of God, but they ate and drank with him, because they had been sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificial offering and made clean.

Forgiveness (see Leviticus 16)
And finally we come to sprinking of blood that had the most significance. The Day of Atonement was the greatest day of the year for Israel. On this day, the people confessed their sins as a nation, and the high priest went into the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, to make atonement for their sins. He would take with him a censer full of burning coals, two handfuls of incence, and a basin containing the blood of a bull. Within the Holy of Holies was a piece of furniture comprising two parts: the Ark of the Convenant and the atonement cover which rested on top of it. The atonement cover, or the mercy seat, was God's dwelling place in the tabernacle. (cf. Exodus 25.22). The high prest would put the incense on the burning coals and as the smoke ascended upwards, he would dip his finger into the basin of blood and with his finger, sprinkle it on the mercy seat seven times. When he came out, the people would rejoice because they all believed, without a shadow of doubt, that their sins had been forgiven.

Jesus, the Lamb of God
2,000 years ago, a new sacrifice was offered: God's own son, Jesus. His blood was shed for us on the cross of Calvary. Let these words from Hebrews 9:11-15 sum up all the conclusions I wish to make:

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle ... He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Let us sprinkle the blood of Christ upon ourselves every day, and be secure and confident in the knowledge that we are forgiven (cf. Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7), we are protected (cf. Revelation 12:11), we are under a new and everlasting covenant of love that nothing can separate us from (cf. Romans 8:35-39), and that we can dare approach the great throne room and not only stand face to face with God, but also dare to call him Father (cf. Ephesians 2:13-14, 1 John 3:1, Hebrews 10:19).