Thursday, August 9, 2007

It Will Come

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the richness of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:7-8 CSB)

People don’t talk much about blood these days. In many circles it is referred to as just another “body fluid.” In the Bible, though, blood is a big deal. In the Bible it represents life itself. Leviticus 17:11 reads, “The life of the creature is in the blood.” In their understanding, when blood was drained from a sacrificial animal, the animal died. Therefore, the life is in the blood. Thus, when the New Testament writers speak about the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross, they are referring to the life of Jesus.

Through, or by means of, the blood of Jesus, that is, His life given for us, we have redemption. We were slaves to sin, dominated by it, and condemned for all eternity. Because of our sins, the righteousness and holiness of God demanded our lives. Jesus, the Son of God, took the penalty that was due us upon Himself and gave His life in our stead. He paid the price of redemption in order to purchase our freedom from slavery to sin with its consequences. This redemption yields forgiveness.

Forgiveness of sins is one of the products of God’s grace, but that is just the beginning. His grace further takes us to wisdom and understanding. Before grace came, we were not much different from a sacrificial animal in terms of our understanding of God, but grace turned on the lights, so to speak. Grace brought us into a personal relationship with the God who created us, and that produced wisdom and understanding. And that process continues day after day as our relationship with the Lord deepens. We have only begun to explore the depths of God’s grace. We can only imagine what is yet to come. But come it will.

Father, We thank You for the blood of Christ, His life that was given for us on the cross. We thank You for the grace that has set us free, and for the wisdom and understanding that You have brought to us. Today, may we live in that grace, and may we share it with a lost world. Amen.

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