THE AWESOME
POWER OF JESUS’ BLOOD
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.  

      Jesus said: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7: 21-23)

     Any honest person will admit that it’s hard to be good. Man’s natural tendency is toward that which is sinful, immoral and illegal! You don’t need to teach children how to lie. That comes naturally to them, even before they have learned to speak. When asked if he has raided the cookie jar, little Billy will shake his head meaning “no”, even while he is hiding it behind his back!

The questions I pose are: “Where did sin come from? Why are we in this terrible predicament? Is there any hope of being free?”

The Bible – our highest moral authority – gives it to us straight: “Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8: 44)

THERE WAS NO SIN IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, until Satan introduced it to our first parents, Adam and Eve! When they rebelled against the Almighty, disobeying His command, sin entered into the world. With sin came guilt, condemnation, sickness and death; as well as perdition, damnation – Hell!

There was no hope for mankind - until God in His mercy - sent His Son Jesus Christ to bear our punishment and die in our place, shedding His pure and perfect blood as atonement for our sins! Then, He arose from the dead, a Mighty Conqueror over sin, death, hell and the grave!

The Bible says:  “Jesus was delivered for our offences (sins), and raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4: 25)  Justification is an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous, because of the atonement of Christ. Faith is the only means of justification.” (Rom.3: 25)

God’s Word states: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom.3: 23, 24); “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom.6: 23)

The Bible says: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Rom.5: 6-10)

HERE IS THE GREATEST LOVE STORY ever told: “For God so loved the world that He grace His (One and only) begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3: 16-17)

  The Bible says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” (Lev. 17:11,14) “It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.” (Heb. 9:22) “And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sins.” (1John 1:9)

The blood of Jesus, shed for us all on Golgotha, has purchased our salvation! When a sinner comes to Jesus, however, he receives a NEW NATURE - the nature of God! The Bible says: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (1 Peter 1: 4)

I) WE RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, according to the riches of His grace”. (Eph. 1:7)  The heaviest weight to carry is the ‘load of sin’. And the greatest blessing in the world is the removal of that horrible burden!

The Bible says: “There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:1) “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity…” (Ps.32: 1,2)

(II) WE RECEIVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

      “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation 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) “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock…which He hath purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

     To be redeemed means to be bought back, set free, rescued, saved! We were lost in sin, slaves to the devil, the world and self. And then, Jesus the Christ came to our rescue and purchased our freedom, through His sacrificial death on the cross for us!

(III) WE RECEIVE CLEANSING FROM SIN THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sins.” (1 John 1:7)

     To be cleansed means to be made clean, washed, purged! We were unclean  – sinners by birth, nature and choice. The Bible states: “But we were all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags…and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Is. 64: 6) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid upon Him (Messiah Jesus) the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53: 6)

Jesus’ blood makes us clean in the sight of Almighty God. His vicarious death for us satisfied the demands of Divine Justice. God honours Christ’s act of substitution on our behalf – so we are free. He paid our debt! (Col. 2:14,15)

(IV) WE HAVE DELIVERANCE FROM OUR SINS BY HIS BLOOD!

     “And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” (Rev. 1:5)

     To be free from the guilt of sinfulness is wonderful. To walk in victory over sin by the power of Jesus’ blood is a definite reality. Only in the strength of the Holy Spirit is this possible! The text states: “Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”

Our sins are gone forever – they have no more power over us! Past sins are forgiven and forgotten by our Lord. And we receive strength through Jesus’ blood, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to overcome new temptations!

(V) WE ARE JUSTIFIED THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Rom. 5:9) “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare the righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” (Rom. 3:24-25)

To be justified means to be made right and just in the sight of God. Through Jesus’ blood, we are able to stand in God’s presence without fault, fear or condemnation. God looks upon us through the blood of Jesus, His Son and does not see our sins and shortcomings!

The Bible says: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for Thou has cast all my sins behind Thy back.” (Is. 38: 17) The Hebrew word that is used here for back is very specific. Literally, it says: “behind Thy back, between Thy shoulder blades.” It is impossible to see something behind one’s back, between his shoulder blades!

“…He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

(VI) WE RECEIVE PEACE THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “And having made peace through the death of His cross, by Him to receive all things unto Himself.” (Col. 1:20)  Life’s most precious commodity is peace of mind. People spend fortunes seeking peace through vacation, exotic travel, erotic pleasure, new therapies and alternate medicines, often to no avail!

Real peace of mind comes only through receiving Christ: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1) “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7)

Here is GOD’S WARNING to the ungodly: “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace sayeth my God to the wicked.” (Is.57: 20,21)

 (VII) WE RECEIVE ACCESS TO THE FATHER THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood

of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through

the veil, that is to say, His flesh.” (Heb. 10:19-20)

     The blood that Jesus shed provides access for us into the very presence of God in Heaven. THE BLOOD OF JESUS DID NOT DIE! David prophesied of Messiah: “Therefore My heart is glad, and My glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Ps.16: 9,10)

In his Pentecostal message, St. Peter quoted David’s prophecy to prove that Jesus was raised from the dead, without His body corrupting! (Acts 2: 25-27) JESUS’ BLOOD IS ALIVE and grants us access into God’s presence! Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of both the ‘Sacrifice Lamb’ and ‘High Priest’, when He gave Himself as our substitute in the “death of the cross”. (Phil.2: 8)

The Bible says: “Seeing then that we have a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedic.” (Heb.4: 14; 6: 19,20)

“But this Man, because He continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

“For such an high priest…Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did ONCE, when He offered up HIMSELF.” (Heb. 7:24-27)

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands…not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, BUT BY HIS OWN BLOOD He entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

“For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purification of the flesh: How much more shall not the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit OFFERED HIMSELF without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? And for this cause He is the mediator of the New Testament, that BY MEANS OF DEATH, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9: 11-15)

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But THIS MAN, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. (Heb.10: 10-12) “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the HOLIEST by the blood of Jesus.” (Heb.10: 19)

When Jesus appeared to Mary at the tomb, He said: “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God and your God.” (John 20: 17)  He had to carry His own blood into the ‘holy of holies’ in heaven, to atone for the sins of the entire world, before anyone was allowed to touch Him!

WHY? The high priest was not allowed contact with anyone on the ‘Day of Atonement’, until he had finished his ministration. He alone could enter the holiest – where God’s presence was - with the sacrificial blood of an innocent animal, to sprinkle on the mercy seat for his sins and that of his nation!

If God accepted the offering, he returned with the good news. If He did not, the high priest would die and had to be ‘pulled out’ by a rope that was tied to his left ankle. No one else could enter God’s AWESOME presence and live!

The great theologian, Dr. Andrew Murray, in his powerful book ‘The Blood of His Cross’ states: “Reconciliation and deliverance from guilt will become the blessed entrance for us into a life in which the blood  - as it was transported into heaven and abides there – will be truly the power of divine abiding life in us.”

(VIII) WE RECEIVE DIVINE HEALING THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our

iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes

we are healed.”(Is. 53:5) “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24) Through His wounds, Jesus purchased divine healing for all who appropriate God’s promises for themselves!

(IX) WE RECEIVE VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Rev. 12:11) There is no one as evil, deceptive and wicked as Satan, the adversary of God and man. The devil, however, is no match for Jesus. In His name, we can overcome Satan’s temptations and onslaughts!

     The Bible says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith…” (1 Peter 5: 8,9)  “Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil and he shall flee from you.” (James 4:7)

(X) WE ARE SANCTIFIED THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify His people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.” (Heb. 13:12) To be sanctified, means to be set apart for God. Sanctification is a holy state in which we are given over wholly to the Lord. We are separated unto the Lord, from the world!

     The Bible says: “…to the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” (1 Pe. 1: 1,2) 

Dr. Andrew Murray stated: “Everything is of the Father, everything is in the Son, everything is through the Spirit. The entire carrying out of the counsel of God is through the Holy Spirit, and the sanctification and the impartation of divine holiness which He works.”

 (XI) WE RECEIVE A CLEAR CONSCIENCE THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

     “How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience (mind) from dead works, to serve the Living God?” (Heb. 9:14)

     No amount of counselling can give a person a clear conscience. That comes only through confession of sin to God and receiving assurance of sins forgiven by the blessed Holy Spirit. Only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Word of God has the power to cleanse, purge and free the conscience!

(XII) WE RECEIVE ETERNAL GLORY THROUGH HIS BLOOD!

“These are they which come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them…

“For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Rev.7:14-17)