Ephesians 2:13
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”
We were brought near through the blood of Christ. Some may feel ill by the talk of blood, but our redemption was messy business. The jews were familiar with this as their sacrificial system was based on blood. The sacrificed animals temporarily covered the sins of the people.
The people could have a level of peace with God through the blood of lambs. We can look at all the Old Testament saints that were close to God, Moses, David, Samuel and so on. This relationship was possible because of the blood sacrifices.
Then the prophets spoke of the Messiah that would suffer. There were many references to the Messiah being sacrificed. The first one was at the fall. In Genesis 3:15 God was talking to Satan, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Then again in Genesis, we find Abraham on the way to sacrifice his son and Isaac asks where the lamb is. In 22:8 'Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.' The meaning was that God the father would eventually allow His son to go to the same hill much later. He provided Jesus, the lamb of God.
Jesus' blood was a costly payment. He gave His life for us. Romans 5:7 says, "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die." We hear of examples of warriors dying for their fellow soldiers. That is the highest sacrifice. Then verse 8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." In other places it says that we were enemies of God, yet He was willing to sacrifice Himself.
This kind of self sacrifice causes us to go speechless. Jesus stepped up and willingly went to the cross. If this were fiction we would have kept waiting for an out for Him. Jesus even asked that of the Father. "Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will”', (Matthew 26:39). There wasn't an out. It was the only possible way for us to be saved.
What are we to do with such a great sacrifice? We can honor this by accepting it, being grateful and sharing this message with others. Many don't accept it. There is much misunderstanding, but they would rather be in control of their own live and do what they want. Others are ignorant and try to earn God's favor by good deeds or religious means.
We are to be grateful for such an enormous price paid. That's the intent of communion. To do it in memory of Him. It's to be celebrated forever. Because of it we will be with Him forever, if we accept it. Our short attention spans and our selfish natures make it easy to over look. This is exemplified in Luke 17:17, '“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine?"' Jesus healed ten lepers and only one returned to give thanks. We need to get better with being grateful.
We need to honor Him by sharing this message. It's His great commission to share this story that we can be forgiven and brought near through the blood of Christ.
This sacrifice covered the sins we've committed, but also the ones we will commit. I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins." We will need to come to Him for the rest of our lives to access that forgiveness. If we are open and honest, we will never forget this great sacrifice.
Lord, thank You for Your great sacrifice. The story never gets old. It's played out for us for the rest of our days. Thank You, Lord.