Fall
1994
The Blood of the Lamb
(El-Bethel)
During these last days, even among those who have experienced
its power, there is a lack in a true conception of the value
of the Blood of Jesus.
The blood of all the Old Testament sacrifices which were
offered in the Jewish temple, pointed forward to the shed
Blood of "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world." Many times we fail to understand this
most precious truth that supports the entire structure of
the work of Salvation in Jesus Christ.
There is power in the precious Blood of Jesus; and God is
grieved when we take lightly the Blood of His Son.
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they
loved not their lives unto the death" Rev 12:11.
"They overcame ... by the Blood of the Lamb." Not
the Blood as it flowed through the veins of Jesus while He
walked upon this earth in His spotless manhood. While living
on earth, even His sinlessness could not make His Blood efficacious
to atone for sin. It was only as His Blood flowed from His
pierced hands, His feet, and His side upon the cross that
His Blood availed for our sin.
When we speak of the Blood of Jesus Christ, it is synonymous
with His death upon the cross. And yet, the Lamb slain and
the Blood shed avails nothing to those who have not come to
God by faith, thereby making it efficacious in their lives.
Only as we approach God by a living faith in the work of Christ
in our behalf do we become united with Him in His death, burial,
and resurrection. And it is only as we believe that He was
made sin and died in our stead that we become a new creature
in Christ Jesus.
This is the first step in our "uttermost salvation"
which God has provided in Christ. Now we will enter into battles
with the enemy which we never before faced. When we were yet
unsaved and in the ranks of the enemy, he did not fight against
us, though he is a hard taskmaster. But from the time we become
a new creation in Christ Jesus and are translated out of the
kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God's dear Son, Satan
and his hosts hate us with a bitter hatred and oppose us with
all the powers of darkness.
When we plead the Blood of Jesus against Satan, we are saying
in effect, "I am dead. I have died in Jesus Christ to
all condemnation; I am redeemed from your hand and from all
the power you once had over me. You can no longer touch me."