He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. . . For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Colossians 1: 13, 14, 19, 20, NKJV.
Most Gracious God, please help us to live giving You thanks for all the blessings we have received through the blood that Your Son shed on Calvary’s cross on our behalf. In His name we give You thanks. Amen.
Praise God for the blood! Not the blood of rams and goats, but the blood of Jesus, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13: 8)! Where would we be if it were not for the blood? What would we do, if we did not have the blood? To whom would we go if the blood had not been shed? Thank You God for sending Your “only begotten Son” (John 3: 16). Thank You Jesus for laying down Your life to take it up again (10: 17). Hallelujah! Let us look at some of the blessings that are mentioned in our Scripture for today, that are ours – through the blood:
“[W]e have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” The word redemption is so sweet to the sinner’s ear! For sinners lost in sin, nothing but the blood could win us back! The reason being, “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9: 22b). It was the shedding of the blood of the Incarnate God, that brought about the forgiveness of our sins! Not any blood was good enough! Not even the blood of unfallen angels could make peace between the sinner and the God of heaven; only the blood of the Life-Giver had the elements of eternal cleansing and restoration, necessary to perfect our salvation!
“[T]o reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” With the blood that was shed one Friday evening, approximately two thousand years ago, the gulf between heaven and earth was bridged. The Patriarch Jacob had a vision of what the death of the Spotless Lamb of God would bring about. He saw, “angels of God ascending and descending on [a ladder]” (Genesis 28: 12). Jesus would become the human ladder, the only “[W]ay, the [T]ruth, and the [L]ife,” to the Father (John 14: 6)!
No longer would earth be separated from heaven because of the sins of the human race. A God-man would come to earth and live as human beings live, be tempted as they were tempted – without sinning; and die the death that they deserved. Then He would rise from the grave, and return to heaven and make it possible for them to sit, “in heavenly places” (Ephesians 2: 6)! Glory! Hallelujah!
Nothing but the blood could make this possible!