1 Peter 01 : 18,19 “ 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
Here God is making it very clear without any doubt that whatever we inherited from our forefathers is the futile way of life and we desperately require redemption from that. We may be ready to pay or do anything to achieve this but nothing or no one can redeem our life. “No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him”. Here the Holy Spirit is showing us our inability to redeem anyone by any means, however great or rich he is. God proved this by the 4000 years history of man after his fall.
We know very well that all of us are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The value of any item is determined when that item is redeemed or purchased or sold. God gave the holy blood of Lord Jesus Christ as a ransom to redeem us. So we should know the value of the precious blood by which we are redeemed. This will encourage us to know our value and live in the way God wants us.
1. The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 01:07)
“but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 01:07) The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins, if we walk in the light as God Himself is in the light, then we will have fellowship with one another. So if we have a thirst to be pure as God is pure and if we seek for it by all means then Christ’s blood can cleanse us from all sins.
2. The blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 09:14)
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 09:11-14). The Holy Spirit is encouraging us to repent about all dead works and press on to maturity (Heb 06:01). Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse our conscience from dead works and enable us to serve the living God.
3. He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb 10:14)
“but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb 10:12-14). We cannot become perfect on our own at any cost but Jesus has perfected us by His perfect offering of blood and fulfilled all the righteousness of law.
4. We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus (Heb 10:19) God gave the holy blood of Lord Jesus Christ as a ransom to redeem us
“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb. 10:19-22). Under the old covenant, the holy place was separated with a thick veil and none could enter or see the holy place other than the high priest who was allowed to enter only once a year and it was with trembling and fear. But Jesus inaugurated a new and living way and we can enter with confidence to the holy place i.e.; the presence of God by the blood of Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great promise to us and our God is faithful to make this promise a reality in our life. 23 “So let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful”. (Heb 10:23)
Dear brothers and sisters, God invited all of us to eat the bread and drink the cup by His grace. We are joyfully obeying the commandment that Lord Jesus Christ gave to His disciples. When we are obeying this commandment meaningfully with faith, it will bring a great blessing to our life. But we have to examine ourselves and rightly discern the body of Christ. Otherwise it will only bring judgment to our life (1 Cor 11:28,29) We are proclaiming the death of Lord Jesus Christ when we are eating the bread and drinking the cup (1 Cor 11:26). It was through the death of Jesus Christ who died for us while we were still sinners that God demonstrated His love for us (Rom 05:08).
“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” (2 Cor 05:14,15).
So dear brothers and sisters, today when God has given us once again the opportunity to eat the bread and drink the cup, let us do it by surrendering ourselves to the love of God. We should prove this by living for Christ, who died for us and should no longer live for ourselves. May God help all of us to live for Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us by His death.
