A "bloody" gospel!

In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Hebrews 9:22,26-28

"There is power, power, wonder working power in the Blood of the Lamb"...

So says the old hymn!

The gospel of Jesus is truly a "bloody" one, without His blood sacrifice we would just be left with Jesus' teachings, but without any hope of true forgiveness and cleansing that can only come from His perfect sacrifice.

Those very wounds that hurt Jesus so badly are life giving, healing and transforming:

..."by His stripes we are healed.."

Isaiah 53:5

Lots of us are squeamish at the sight of blood, but the blood that Jesus shed is so very precious, and, without that shed blood, we would be done for - totally, utterly lost!

The Bible tells us that Jesus was so disfigured during His Passion, that it was horrendous to see:

Isaiah 52:14

Just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—

Parts of the movie "Passion of the Christ" are truly gruesome, but even that graphic portrayal didn't tell the full story of Jesus' "bloody" ordeal.

Yet that tortuous, agonising sacrifice is what we are to concentrate on for our own salvation!

Just as when we are physically born, there is plenty of blood and pain involved (our mother's), so when we are spiritually born anew, Jesus' Blood and Passion are the cleansing catalyst for our new eternal life!

So don't look away in horror, but look in awe and wonder that Jesus thought you were worth suffering for!

Here are the full lyrics of that wonderful old hymn - read and affirm the power of the blood of Jesus in your life to overcome all the power of the evil one:

Would you be free from the burden of sin?

There's power in the blood, power in the blood

Would you o'er evil a victory win?

There's wonderful power in the blood

Chorus

There is power, power, wonder working power

In the blood of the Lamb

There is power, power, wonder working power

In the precious blood of the Lamb

Would you be free from passion and pride?

There's power in the blood, power in the blood

Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide

There's wonderful power in the blood

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?

There's power in the blood, power in the blood

Sin stains are lost in the life-giving flow

There's wonderful power in the blood

Treasure Jesus' shed blood as you would the finest of fine wines, for it is truly the elixir of eternal life!

Have you washed in it today?