Covered by the Blood

Where Do We Begin?

“Have you ever gotten woozy at the sight of blood when you or someone else was cut or hurt?”

There is something very disconcerting about the sight of blood. While this may be especially true of seeing our own blood, the sight of blood in general makes many people queasy. We feel ourselves go pale, and we fight the urge to panic.

Yet, as gruesome as it is, the shedding of blood can also be beautiful in one special way: that is, the precious blood Jesus shed for our salvation.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Jesus Loves the Sinner

Jesus has a deep love for sinners. So much, that He will continually reach for us. He will go to great lengths to save us.

In the Old Testament, we read that the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. And they started to cry out to God for a deliverer.

God then sends Moses as His representative. He confronts Pharaoh, and demands that the people are set free. Pharaoh refuses, so God sends a series of 10 plagues to bring Egypt to its knees.

And that last plague out of all of them involved the death angel passing through all of Egypt. But Israel was captive there, and God didn’t want the curse brought on them. He was trying to deliver them. So He made a way of escape for them…

Exodus 12:21–23 KJV 1900

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

And the blood of that lamb protected Israel from death. When the angel came to the house of someone who had spread blood on the doorposts, the angel knew it was the home of someone who was under God’s protection. They were covered by the blood!

And that is an amazing symbol of what Jesus would one day do for us!

We’ve all made decisions in life we wish we could take back. We all have found ourselves in situation where we needed God to deliver us.

And thankfully, He’s in the delivering business! Just like the blood was applied to their home then, it can be applied to us now! And because Jesus has shed His blood for us, we can have peace knowing that there is no situation we face that is beyond His power.

Just like the children of Israel were physically bound and held captive, so we were at one time (spiritually bound). We were captive in slavery to sin - but Jesus brought us deliverance!

Romans 6:17–18 KJV 1900

17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

We demonstrate our thanks to Jesus by walking in righteousness, rather than flirting with sin. When we flirt with sin after we’ve been delivered of it, it’s almost like making fun of what Jesus did. We shouldn’t stay in sin!

Check out this awesome scripture… one of the most poetic and beautiful scriptures in our Bible:

Romans 6:1–2 KJV 1900

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

It goes on to say more…

Romans 6:3–14 KJV 1900

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Just powerful stuff right there!

Jesus is calling us to a higher way of life, free from sin!

And to do this, we have to believe His Word. We also have to rely on good friends and leaders along the way. And confessing our sins to our spiritual leaders (as hard as that sounds) will keep us accountable.

Jesus’ Blood Produces Freedom in My Life

Unfortunately, those 400 years Israel spent in Egypt would not be the last time they experienced slavery. In the OT, we see over and over again that they were taken captive and later set free.

Interestingly, when Israel was in bondage to Persia, they were allowed to have many freedoms (unlike Egypt). They were even allowed to rebuild Jerusalem and reestablish worship. It’s like in many ways they were free, but they were still under Persian rule. They were not completely free.

When Jesus sets us free from sin, He doesn not intend for us to be partially free. He intends for us to find total freedom in Him.

John 8:36 KJV 1900

36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

There are things that we have access to once we have given our life to God that will help:

Confession - “He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us from our sin.”

The Holy Ghost - Power to overcome; He’s always near.

Prayer - Relationship

Immersion in the Word - Guidance manual

This all frees us from the practice of sin. Because people often don’t take advantage of these things, they find themselves right back where they started.

So here’s the main point today; here’s the deal: Because we have been set free from sin, we are called to live like we are free from sin.

I’ll read this one again:

Romans 6:1–2 KJV 1900

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Release

Sometimes we forget that God doesn’t measure sin by size, and we think “big” sins separate us from God.

All sin separates us from God until we ask for forgiveness. Take stock of your day. Replay the events of your day, like a movie in your mind.

Consider if there were actions or words that may have offended God. It could be something simple like teasing your sibling or ignoring a direction from your parents.

Ask God to forgive you and, if necessary, ask the person you offended to forgive you.

When you do, picture that sin being put under the blood of Jesus and being washed away. When the sin is washed away, you are no longer separated from God.

Prayer