The blood of Jesus provides us with the greatest weapon in the Christian’s arsenal.
Recently I heard about a man who saw me on television when I was speaking about the blood of Jesus. He asked his wife what I meant when I said, “the blood.” The concept of Christ’s blood confuses some people, but without a proper understanding of it, believers cannot appropriate its power. Like this man, many people need teaching and revelation regarding the blood of Jesus and what that blood has done for them.
A careful study of the Word of God shows that blood is mentioned throughout the Scriptures. Why is it such an important topic? Because the Bible tells us that life is in the blood. “For the life (the animal soul) is in the blood, and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life [which it represents]” (Lev. 17:11, The Amplified Bible).
Just as light is the only thing that can conquer or overcome darkness, so life is the only thing that can conquer or overcome death. When God created Adam, He formed him out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being (see Gen. 2:7).
Adam already had blood, but there was no life in him until God breathed His own life into him. Life is a spiritual substance, but it must have a physical carrier. Blood carries the life of God, for He is life.
The blood of Jesus is special because His was not a normal birth. He was born of a virgin, with God as His Father. The virgin birth of Jesus is vitally important because of the blood.
Adam, the first man, was created without sin. The life of God was in him, but after he allowed sin in his life, his sin was passed on to every human being born after him. Adam’s sin was passed down through his blood. David acknowledged this truth in Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].”
Jesus came to redeem mankind, to purchase our freedom and to restore us to our original state. How could He possibly do that with sinful blood?
Jesus is referred to as the last Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:45, which states, “The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].” There is life in the blood of Jesus, and when it is properly applied, the life in His blood will conquer and overcome the death that works in us through sin.
After God created Adam in His own image He placed him in the garden with authority over everything else He created. Yet Adam succumbed to temptation and subsequently turned over the authority he received from God to Satan, setting the stage for the redemption that Christ’s blood would provide.
For years I believed that Jesus died for my sins and that when I died I would go to heaven because I believed in Him. But there is more to our redemption than that. There is a life of victory that God wants for you and me now.
God wants to restore us to the place of authority that is ours. He has already made all the arrangements. We might say that He has “sealed the deal.” The purchase price has been paid in full. We have been purchased with a price, the precious blood of Jesus.
As a natural extension to this primary and invaluable purpose, the blood of Jesus provides us with the greatest weapon in the Christian’s arsenal. Satan trembles at the blood of Jesus, because it was by the blood that he was defeated!
Every invocation of the blood by a believer reminds the devil of his utter defeat and his future appointment with the lake of fire (see Rev. 20:10). The shed blood of Jesus Christ swallows up sin, protects the believer, restores our authority, and completely disarms and defeats the devil. Oh, the blood of Jesus, it never loses its power!
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times best-selling author and one of the world’s leading practical Bible teachers. She has written more than 70 books, including the popular Beauty for Ashes and Battlefield of the Mind, and her most recent, Battlefield of the Mind Devotional (all Warner Faith). She is also the founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. and the host of Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. To read past columns in Charisma by Joyce Meyer, log on at www.charismamag.com/meyer.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.