The Precious Blood of Christ
And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as temporary residents. For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these days he has been revealed for your sake.1
Bloodshed is essential to the Christian faith: without a sacrifice, no one can come to the Heavenly Father. For that reason, God wove together the story of death, renewal, and reconciliation from Genesis to Revelation.
The Lord designed redemption in a way that demonstrated the connection between the shedding of blood and deliverance from sin. In the Old Testament, He gave instructions that only flawless animal sacrifices be offered. God wanted everyone to understand that sin brought terrible consequences and resulted in death. The first death recorded in the Bible was that of the animal whose skin became the covering of Adam and Eve after they sinned (Genesis 3:11-13, 21). Later, the Israelites had to make sacrifices to be absolved of their sins, whenever they brought a lamb or a pair of doves to the priest, they recognized that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God, out of His goodness, sent His Son to pay the price for our sins once and for all.
The passage above says that we were ransomed, not with perishable things... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish. Let us always remember to be thankful for His sacrificial gift.
Suggested Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank You for the precious blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your sacrificial gift on the cross. Thank You, Beloved Father, that out of Your goodness and love for mankind, You sent Your Son to pay for our sins once and for all! In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
1. 1 Peter 1:17-21 (NLT).
The Encounter for today was written by: Rosina N.
All articles on this website are written by
Richard (Dick) Innes unless otherwise stated.