“...This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.” Mark 14:24

Dearly beloved in Christ,

                                       I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They took Jesus Christ to the place called Golgotha which means ‘the place of a skull’.  There they crucified Him along with two other culprits, each on one side. A crown of thorns was made and placed on His head, the thorns piercing Him. He was whipped. In the midst of suffering, He shed blood and died. Jesus Christ knew beforehand that He would have to face all this for this is the covenant of His blood for those who would believe Him. Heb.9:22 says, “... without shedding of blood there is no remission.” In Leviticus 17:14, it is written of blood: “it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’” Blood is also said to bear witness on earth: “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one” (1 John 5:8).

I. THE PURPOSE OF THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT 


 1. To be Remembered “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘this cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ ” 1 Cor. 11:25 In our life in Christ, many blessings would be there whenever we think of the Lord. Proverbs 3:6 counsels: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” He would wonderfully direct us to be blessed. King Hezekiah was foretold of his death in his disease. Then he prayed to the Lord, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” (Isaiah 38:3). The Lord listened to his prayers, saw his tears and extended his life by 15 years. Hannah, who had no child, vowed and prayed, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” The Lord listened to her prayer and gave her the blessing of the womb in Samuel. When we remember the acts and words of the Lord, we are blessed. Peter remembered the word of the Lord Jesus Christ when he denied any connection with Him. He repented and got reconciled to the Lord. Today we should remember His love for us, HIs passion and death for our sake. Then we can also see His acts of grandeur in our lives.

2. Assurance of Eternal Life

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:54

                  When we have our portion with the Lord Jesus Christ in His flesh and blood, we are assured of eternal life. We should accept Him as our shepherd and live according to His guidance. Then we would have eternal life and the verse John 10:28 will be fulfilled in our lives: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”  “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3).  This is the way to  eternal life. Death could not reign over Him. He had victory over death and resurrected. He is faithful to give us extended good life and the eternal life that would follow death.

3. Fellowship

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” 1 Cor. 10:16

                   A life of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ will give us joy and peace in life. Most often we feel dejected as we do not have this relationship with Him. We stumble. But this fellowship with the Lord would benefit us with His blessings and exaltation. When the Lord created man, the Lord realized that it is not good for him to be alone and gave him his partner. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9). But 1 Cor. 10:18 warns us, “. . . .Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?” Further the Bible warns us, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). We should realize the importance of the fellowship that arises out of the blood of Christ in the benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Cor. 13:14). In 1 John 1:7 we read: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” There is the difference between those who live in darkness and those who live in light. If we walk in light, we have fellowship with the Lord. As this relationship abounds, we live in Him and inherit the divine qualities of His very nature. As you depart from this relationship, there would arise sufferings and afflictions. We know the parable Jesus Christ used. The younger son of a rich father demanded his portion of wealth and went away from him to a far off country. He lived a wretched life with no fellowship with his father or his brother. His life became miserable. He lost everything and became miserable like an orphan. Dear Brother/ Sister, if you do not have real fellowship with the Lord in your life, your life too would become miserable. You may have to shed tears unable to achieve your goals in life. You should remain in constant fellowship with the loving Lord to inherit His blessings. Once I met a young man. His parents accepted me lovingly and extended warm hospitality. At the time of prayer, I warned the boy of his fellowship with unwanted friends, spending his time with his friends at night in a particular place chatting. I asked him to give up that practice. I even warned him that he may have to go to prison because of this fellowship. But the boy was not serious about the warning of the Lord and continued his practice. In a few days he was arrested by the police on suspicion as a murder occurred nearby. The parents again came to me for advice. Unwanted fellowships invite unwanted sufferings. King Solomon desired unholy relationship with the women of other faiths and, as a result, went away from the very way of the Lord. But this new covenant of the blood of Jesus Christ brings us to this fellowship with Him.

4. To Abide in Him

“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” John 6:56

                               When we abide in the Lord, we yield a lot of fruit. The Lord warns us: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:6,7). Jesus Christ exhorted his disciples to abide in His love. He said that He loved them as His Father loved Him. When we remain in His words and love, we would yield fruit and our prayers will be answered. As we take part in the Holy Communion, eating His body and His blood, we remain in Him. It works within us to strengthen and establish us and thus be blessed. As I was ministering in a place, I heard a witness. He was a veterinary doctor. In his life an unexpected misfortune happened and gave him trouble. As he treated an animal, the harmful bacteria or viral infection affected him. It gave him pain in joints of bones and made him bedridden. He could not attend to his work. Two years passed in affliction. But there arose a faith in Him that the blood of Jesus Christ would do a miracle in Him. He wanted to go to church to take part in the Holy Communion to remember Christ’s passion and death. But his family members suggested that the priest can be invited home to give him Holy Communion. As he insisted on going to church, they took him to church. At the time of the Holy Communion he wanted to go to the altar and take part in it. The members of the family helped him. The Lord hearing his prayer and knowing his desire restored his health. He walked back to his seat without any assistance. From that day he began to do the Lord’s ministry. Thus the blood of the Lord has the power to restore us and make us stand in a living relationship with Him. Besides, the blood blesses us with eternal life. By the blood He shed on the cross for our sake, there are such glorious blessings for us.

II.  THE POWER IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

1. The Remission of Sins

“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28

                  The blood of Christ is precious and glorious. It is the blood shed because of the love He had for us, and for the remission of our sins. It has the power to cleanse us of all sins. Sin is the reason for most of our sufferings. It is the wall of separation between us and the Lord. We lose our fellowship with the Lord, and subsequently lose all the blessings. Sin brings diseases. It brings death to our precious souls. All evil acts of sin are done away with by the blood of Christ. Today there are so many people living in sin without any deliverance, finding themselves incapable of coming out of the miry clay. Jesus Christ came to offer Himself as a sacrifice of sin. Therefore, it is written: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7). The blood of Christ has the power to cleanse your body, soul and spirit of all uncleanness and struggles in life. In my life, I was filled with worries after I was delivered from the heart disease. As I was a Physical Director, I had to teach by running and playing with others. I did not know what to do. My father was a preacher in the church and an Assistant Headmaster at school. When I had completed B. Sc., he asked me to go to a seminary to pursue theological studies. I told my father that I was unworthy for the ministry and asked him to send my younger brother for it. Now I thought all of that. I prayed to the Lord now to give me either strength to carry on in my job or to give me biblical knowledge. Then there appeared a scroll with all the sins I committed from my early childhood to that date. Then a drop of blood fell on it and the entire page became blank as a white sheet. I could see that with my mind’s eye. All vain words, struggles, and matters of lying became white as snow. Isaiah 1:18 says: “...Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Accordingly, my sins were washed away and joy burgeoned in me. I could experience the power of Christ in cleansing me. Besides, by the blood of Christ my soul could function properly. Bible says: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:11). “...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5,6). Thus the blood of Christ cleanses us and sanctifies us.

2. The Redemption

“...you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18,19

                      Paul says in Col. 1:14. “in whom (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” He has redeemed us from all tribes, languages, peoples and nations by His blood for the Lord God. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:13). He called you out of darkness to marvellous light. The Lord has given this exalted life of redemption by the blood He shed on the cross of Calvary.

3.  Justification by the Blood

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Rom. 5:9

                           The blood of Christ transforms us who were sinners, wanderers, and had no knowledge of the Lord God in such a way that we are filled with good traits to be righteous. Formerly, we were very far off from righteousness. But now we have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are filled with righteousness and peace by His redemption. The blood of Christ has made us righteous and filled us with peace. In the midst of people of unrighteousness, this blood has separated us, and sanctified us. It segregates all unrighteousness from our hearts, feelings and thoughts. I know one brother. He used to drink all the time. He borrowed money from many persons and never returned it. But the day he was washed with the blood of Christ, he began to lead a new life with none of his former traits. His testimony was enough to transform many to Christ. He was blessed as a righteous man.

4. The 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.” Rev. 12:11

          The devil acts in the lives of people and brings about defeats and, as a result, makes them live in fear and sorrows. They meet with failures in family life, financial trust and in the place of work. But the blood of Christ destroys the works of the enemy and blesses us. Once a family was highly disturbed with no peace as they had no children. The man was interested in proclaiming Jesus Christ and lived a witnessing life. But the devil was working against him. But the Lord worked a miracle in their lives – the man aged 53 and the wife aged 48. They had victory over the devil and its works were annihilated by the blood of Christ. The Lord enabled them to give birth to a male child. It is the blood of Christ that made them have victory over the devil.

5.  Cleansing of the 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?” Heb. 9:14

             Today our conscience is so dead that we make accusations against others in spite of the fact that we ourselves are to blame. A woman caught red-handed in adultery was brought before Jesus Christ by people who insisted that she be stoned to death according to the Law of Moses. But Jesus Christ declared that one who is without sin might stone her first. The word of Christ condemned them and one by one left the scene. Many try to have a blameless conscience. The Bible says, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” (1Tim. 1:5). But some have rejected this good conscience and have suffered shipwreck of their faith (1 Tim. 1:19).  But the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from dead works and makes us righteous and worthy to do the ministry. If we understand fully what His blood and flesh have done for us and act accordingly, we would be blessed in the Lord.

                        May the Lord bless us

                  In the service of Christ Jesus,

                     Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.