Your gift: His Blood

Scripture: 1Peter1:18.19

Under the Old Covenant the blood of animals was necessary for Israel's sins to be forgiven. Under the New Covenant, Jesus Himself became the once and for all sacrifice to do away with our sins, thus reconciling us to Him (our relationship with God is restored). (Hebrews 9:26) Jesus' blood is thus man's gift to receive forgiveness and to be freed from the yoke of sin, "For you know, that it was not with perishable things ... that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you...but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (1Petr 1:18, 19).

His blood also brings healing for your entire being, "by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5; 1Petr 2:24).  Jesus' ministry on earth proves the truth of these words: He healed people with physical defects, restored emotionally and mentally ill people, made cast outs part of a family and even raised physically dead people. He gave the same authority to his disciples (you and me included): "Whoever believes in me - the works that I do shall he do also, and he will do greater works than this because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)

In Revelation 12:11 we read that the believer's final victory over the devil also lies in the blood of the Lamb: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony ..." In your own power and from your own 'steady' character and strong personality, we just cannot succeed in overcoming all the attacks of the devil. Because His blood became part of our inheritance when our sins were forgiven, we have the authority to withstand and be victorious in every attack the devil might launch on our lives. To confirm this victory, our witness of the Lord's work in our lives, becomes a final nail in the coffin of the devil's attacks on us.

Maybe we should make more of the power locked up in the blood of Jesus and start living  from the truth that our sins were forgiven, we were reconciled and we can live victorious healthy lives through that precious blood!

Prayer: Thank you for the blood sacrifice of Christ and its constant power in my life. Amen