Life-giving blood

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

As my thoughts have been on Dick a lot the last few days, I began meditating on “blood” and how vital it is to our bodies. Incorporating my understanding of anatomy and physiology with scripture I have been meditating on the following: -Blood functions to transport oxygen from the lungs to the cells of the body and carbon dioxide from the cells to the lungs. It also carries nutrients, heat and waste products as well as hormones. The blood also regulates pH and water content of the cells. Lastly, specialized cells (ie: white blood cells, antibodies) in the blood protect the body against foreign microbes and toxins. -A blood test is often the first type of testing a doctor will order to screen or make a diagnosis on a patient. It is amazing how many different things can now be measured in a blood sample as an indication of what is going on in the body as a whole. -The Red Cross slogan is “Give Blood. Give life.” -The Bible stresses the intimate relationship between blood and life:

Gen 9:4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”

Ex 12: 7, 13 “Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs…The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

Lev. 17:11 “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

Matt. 26: 27-28 “Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

John 6:56-57 “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”

Heb 9:22 “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

I Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

I John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Mike writes:

In our culture today when we think of death and dying we think of the brain and the heart...one of them stopped working. In the days of Moses they had a different perspective. Life was based on blood and breathing. When God created Adam, he "breathed" life into him (Gen.2:7) and Jesus on the cross "breathed" His last breath (Mark 15:37). Leviticus 19:17 tells us that we are not to do anything which endangers our neighbor's life (NIV). A more direct translation from Hebrew would be to not do anything which endangers our neighbor's blood...showing how much Moses connected blood with life. John in his Gospel tells us at the crucifixion and death of Jesus was a loss of blood (19:34). So, in the Bible blood was often equated with life as seen in Creation, Levitical Laws, all the way through Jesus and Paul. Remember this the next time you take communion...when Jesus says, "This is my blood" (Mark 14:24) it is so much more than that. It is a representation of what sustained Him, now sustains us!