Dearly beloved in Christ,
I express my loving greetings to you in the name of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Today we find around us many people ending their lives confronted by various problems and being discouraged. Some live in sorrows with no peace. To some, life has become bitter as they have no deliverance from sins and difficulties. For some, sufferings and tears have become the way of life with no hope in near future and in such a situation they lose sleep and health. They have doubts about the existence of God and, they question, ‘if there is One, why should He take pleasure in the sufferings of men?’ Thus, they blaspheme against the Lord of lords who is full of steadfast love.
Dear Friend, are you not tormented by problems in life? You have sought solutions from various sources and yet remain baffled as to what to do. Brother/ Sister, the Lord Jesus Christ came to restore you from destruction and brokenness.
God created man in a good state and made a covenant with him. But man from the beginning has broken this covenant and disregarded His word. As a result, man is in this terrible state.
A covenant stipulates certain conditions for fulfilment of a blessed state. This is between two persons. One has the land for cultivation and the other has the money needed for cultivation. So, they come into a contract. One promises certain amount of money for a piece of land. Both of them agree on conditions to lend something to the other.
Thus, there was a covenant between God and Man. The Lord promised health, peace, and blessing in return for a holy righteous living, worshiping and praising God. But Man broke this covenant, and, as a result, lost health, strength, peace, joy, prosperity, success and blessings.
Jesus Christ came to restore these blessings upon mankind. Because of the blood He shed on the cross He has paid the price for breaking the covenant.
A new covenant has come into force through the bloodshed by the Lord Jesus Christ, and through it we are blessed.
BLESSING OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS
1) Sins Cleansed
“...the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Man does various kinds of sins according to one’s age, circumstances and opportunities, and, as a result, suffers. The soul of the man who does sin dies and sin pursues him. The Bible warns us so. But we continue to sin knowingly or unknowingly, and openly or concealed. This sin leads us to eternal destruction from which there is no escape. Everything begins with a small sin and ends in a terrible situation.
Some of the sins commonly found in an abundant measure amongst us are lying, stealing, lust, drunkenness, gambling, brawl, jealousy, haughtiness, irritation, anger, biased nature, forsaking trust, beguiling, betrayal, wicked thoughts against others and the like.
Once I was staying in a room and doing my work. In that room I saw a spider in its cobweb. Then all of a sudden, a beetle got stuck in the cobweb and I observed that it made every possible effort with its might to escape from it. But it could not. Then the spider came rushing and began to bind it with a thread-like substance from its mouth. The beetle seemed to let out its inability to escape in producing a screeching sound. Then the spider began to suck out its blood and portions it would eat. After some time, I observed that all that was left of it was its outer shell. It was dead.
Then I realized that the life of man is also like that of the beetle. Its life was quite free, happy, peaceful and enjoyable as long as it was not stuck in a cobweb. Man was also destined to live a free, happy, and peaceful life and to glorify the Lord God. But once he gets stuck up in sin, he loses his freedom, peace, and his blessings in entirety. Satan has a similar cobweb of sins to catch the unwary by its designs. Sins that seem to be powerless over us easily catch us. Once we get into it, Satan works on it and it is impossible to come out of it by all our might. We are bound and kept in darkness. We simply yield to it and lack the power to get out of it.
We sometimes deceive ourselves in convincing ourselves that the things we do are not sin. But it has dire consequences when we get entangled in any of them. Jesus Christ came to this earth only to deliver such people and to cleanse us. He died on the cross, shedding blood as a propitiation for our sins and to redeem us from the power of sin and Satan. He became the offering for sin. If we accept His blood as having been shed for our sake to redeem us from our sins, we would have deliverance from sin, and curse and would have blessings in Him. He will not set aside any sinner, but would accept anyone who confesses and gives up sin and He would extend His redemption and blessings.
2) Emboldens
“...having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus...” (Hebrews 10:19)
In the midst of varied trials and tribulations, it has become impossible to live with boldness. I had a friend whose business was facing loss. In the midst of his mounting debts, he wrote a letter to his young wife and committed suicide. His family was in distress.
A Headmaster of a school was faced with charges from the management. He feared it and committed suicide by taking poison.
When a man thus loses boldness to face situations, he is so distressed and frustrated as to do anything. Once in the school where I worked, a Physical Education Teacher training student came to take classes. She had prepared very well. But on seeing the students, her boldness vanished. Fear took over. She couldn’t express herself. She could not reveal her talents.
Before I was cleansed with the blood of Jesus, I had different assignments to serve as Secretary, or Treasurer of Sports Clubs. But if I were to propose the vote of thanks or to speak anything, I would be terribly afraid. I won’t accept such assignments. But the day I was cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ and came under the new covenant, I had new boldness. I had the boldness to address any thousands of people. This is not just a habit formation. It came as a blessing of the new covenant blood.
Dear Brother/ Sister, are you living in the midst of disappointments, frustration, loss, betrayals and tribulations? Are you disenchanted with life? Have you got no hope of your future? Do not be dismayed. The Lord who says, ‘Do not fear; I am your God,’ will transform all your fears and embolden you with the blood of the new covenant to overcome all opposition with a new heart and bless you.
3) Peace
“...having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossisians 1:20).
Jesus Christ who is the Lord of Peace has made peace with the covenant bloodshed on the cross. He shed His blood to reconcile you to your God and give you peace in your life as you need it. He alone can remove the guilty conscience through forgiveness.
Many seek peace through money, job, good spouse, good education, good house or garden and the like. They strive hard to achieve them; but, in reality, they are saddened to end in failure. I was invited to pray in the house of a rich man. I asked him the purpose for which I should pray. He said that he had no peace and began to weep as a small child.
Peace is targeted by nations, cities and communities. It is needed in families, in congregations and clubs, In your personal life, the Lord Jesus Christ can give peace for which He has shed His blood on the cross. When you accept the fact that His blood was shed as propitiation for your sins, for your sake, you do have a share in this covenant blood. You will be filled with peace.
4) Victory
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11).
Today we have struggles with the enemy. The Bible tells us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Evil and unclean spirits lead us into wicked and horrible deeds just as the Spirit of the Lord or the Holy Spirit leads us into divine qualities and holiness.
We read about different sorts of spirits in the Bible. The spirit of lie, spirit of divination, unclean spirit, evil spirit, spirit of adultery, spirit of infirmity, spirit of deep sleep, and deaf and dumb spirit are some of them. Such spirits wreak disastrous results in us to destroy us and take away a victorious life.
A child with the spirit of deep sleep would not be able to study. As soon as it starts studying this spirit induces sleep and prevents it from studying. So, it meets with failure in studies.
In the synagogue, there was a woman with the spirit of infirmity that had bound her for 18 long years. So, she could not stand erect; she was bent. When Jesus Christ rebuked that spirit, it left her, enabling her to stand erect. She began to praise the Lord. There are such cases in our churches too. People may come to church regularly, pay offerings, read the Bible daily and yet may suffer from some infirmity because of the devil. Dear Brother/ Sister, if you do not accept the blood of Jesus Christ, you have no portion with Christ. The evil spirit will have its sway over you, cripple you and take away the blessings from you. No traditional practices can be of any help to you. You should be cleansed with the blood of Jesus, acknowledging what He has done for you on the cross. Then only you can have victory over the acts of the devil. Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil.
I was once invited to a house in Chennai. There was the work of the devil. It caused fire now and then in the house. They could have victory over the devil only after they were cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ and the house came under the control of the Lord.
Once a minister of the Lord was staying in a lodge. He wanted to proclaim the gospel to a sooth-sayer who came at night times. He called him and began to share the gospel. But he was offended and wanted to teach him a lesson. He went away and sent an evil spirit to disturb him. It knocked at his door and he could not pray. But he was a gifted servant of the Lord. He invited the spirit to come to him, but it said that it could not come near him as there was the blood of Jesus Christ on his heart. So, it could do him no harm and returned.
Yes, dear Brother, no harm will be done to you through evil spirits to your business or job, by the enemy out of jealousy or in competition to you through evil spirits as the blood of Jesus Christ protects you. It can transform your business or job and lead you to success. Believe in the blood of Jesus to cleanse you; then it will protect you.
5) Cleanses the Dead Conscience
“how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).
Conscience in an individual does caution a person when he sins. When he continues with his sin in spite of the conscience speaking to him, it is silenced and blunted. It is put to death. As a result, he fails to distinguish between right and wrong. He continues to sin and err. What began as experimentation with friends for just once begins to haunt, and captivate him. Thus many have been enslaved by the habit of drinking and smoking. It becomes an addiction that has a permanent hold on the person.
Once I heard the testimony of an American. He was living in sin. He did not know his parents. His financial needs kept rising. Then a person came forward to give him the money he needed if he would kill a particular person. He told him that he would tell him his mind the next day. His conscience told him that it was wrong. But his needs induced him to commit the crime. Then he decided to do it for money just once to settle his problem. But he did not stop there, as his conscience was dead. It became his profession. One day he accepted Jesus Christ in his life and committed to live for Christ realizing His love for him. As he meditated on the love of Christ shedding His very blood for his sake, his conscience was revived. When he was set free from prison, he committed to do the ministry of the Lord and went to do ministry in China. Thus, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses the conscience and revives it to make one serve the Lord.
6) Wipes Away Tears
“...Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
“And I said to him, ”Sir, you know.” So he said to me, ”These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
“for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:13, 14, 17).
All the tribulations that we experience on earth Jesus Christ experienced for our sake on the cross. This is to wipe away our tears. You who shed tears, dear Brother/ Sister, today commit to be cleansed with the blood of Jesus on the Calvary. You will have a new life in Christ without tears. Dear Brother/ Sister, you may be shedding tears on your pillows, almost orphaned, because of the way of life led by your spouse or children and the barriers to progress or hope in life. The blood of Christ can transform your life into one of happiness, by doing away with your sickness and tears. Do not be dismayed. Only to wipe away your tear, He shed His blood on the cross.
I too came to a situation where my death was imminent. I was shedding tears, sobbing and sighing. I had no hope of recovery. At that time, I saw the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross for my sake shedding His blood. I confessed my sins. I had a miraculous healing. My tears of sorrows became rejoicing in the love of Christ.
Dear Brother/ Sister, in your life too you may be experiencing lack of peace, failure, and sin overpowering you. Are you shedding tears with no way out? To redeem you from this state, Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. Will you come to Jesus Christ to be cleansed by this new covenant blood? He will bless you.
Let us all be thus blessed!
In the service of Christ,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul