“The Power of Christ’s Blood” – The Calvary Road
Romans 5:1-11
March 28, 2004
Purpose: This sermon answers three questions: What gives Christ’s blood the power? How may we experience this power in our lives? Are we willing to accept this power? Adapted from Hession’s book entitled, “The Calvary Road.”
INTRODUCTION
In our day and age, most of us are uncomfortable when we begin talking about blood.
In fact, when we did our first blood drive here at the church, Cozy Cupboard was still open in Marcellus. We were instructed by the Red Cross to give little table tent reminder cards to local restaurants to invite the community to the drive, and the owner of Cozy’s, Clara, had no problem helping us out…at least…at first.
When I walked into Cozy’s a week after dropping these little cards off to her, I found the cards stacked neatly by the register. Claire quickly apologized, “I’m sorry pastor, but I was getting complaints. People didn’t want to eat their food and think about blood at the same time.”
Paul Brand wrote in “Christianity Today” (March 4, 1983) that…
“In early history, blood assumed a mysterious, almost sacred, aura in human relations. An oath held more power than a person’s word, but blood made a contract nearly sacred.
We moderns inherit quaint symbolic tokens of the intrinsic mystery of blood: a wedding ring on the "leech finger," which was believed to contain a vein that led directly to the heart, or perhaps a child’s game of "blood brothers" in which two participants solemnly and unhygienically act out their undying loyalty. We echo misconceptions, too, when we use such terms as "pure blood," "mixed blood," "blood relations," harking back to the days when blood was assumed to be the substance of heredity.”
“He continued to say that…”
Although (today, as Christian) worshipers (,we) feel increasingly uncomfortable with the thought, Christianity too is inescapably blood based. Old Testament writers describe blood sacrifices in painstaking detail and their New Testament counterparts layer those symbols with theological meanings. The word "blood" occurs three times as often as the "cross" of Christ, five times as frequently as "death." And (in the service of communion), we commemorate Christ’s death with a ceremony based on his blood.”
All one has to do is look in the back of our hymnals (United Methodist) and see the 28 listings under the topic reference of the blood of Christ.
Those hymns come with some familiar lines for many…(let the congregation finish them)
“What can wash away my sin…nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
“Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee; let the water and the blood from thy
wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.”
“Alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head for
sinners such as I?”
or some from our heritage like,
“Are you washed in the blood?” or one of my favorites Andrea Crouch’s “The blood will never loose it’s power.”
There is no mistaking it. Christianity and the blood of Christ are unmistakingly inter-linked.
In the Strongs concordance it reads that “Christ and the believer have the same life. They are not separate persons linked together by some temporary bond of friendship, they are united by a tie as close and inseparable as if the same blood ran in their veins.”
We are inter-linked by the power of the blood. And this is the message from this 5th Chapter of Romans.
Paul said we are justified…not by our works, but by the blood of Christ.
Paul said we have access to God…by the blood of Christ.
He said we can experience the love of God…by the blood of Christ.
Paul said that this grace in which we stand and rejoice in, came by the blood of Christ.
To repeat v. 9, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
Though we were once enemies, we have become reconciled…
And because of that blood-bought, grace-filled reconciliation… we can glory in our tribulations (we can be content even in the midst of our trials) because we know that the tough times produce perseverance which inturn produces character, and character produces hope.
In short, as Christians, we are tapped into a power greater than any earthly power source, and it all stems from this, sometime stomach-churning, aspect of the power of Christ’s blood.
Which leads us naturally to three important questions…
I. What gives Christ’s blood the power?
II. How may we experience this power in our lives?
III. Are we willing to accept this power in our lives?
I. What gives Christ’s blood the power?
It’s interesting to note the many times in Scripture we see the power of Christ’s blood making a difference.
In Colossians 1:20, we read that peace is made between humankind and God by the blood.
In John 6:54 and Colossians 1:14, we hear that by its power, there is forgiveness of sins and
eternal life for all who put their faith in the Lord Jesus.
In Revelation 12:11, we read that by the power of Christ’s blood, Satan is overcome.
In I John 1:7, we’re told that there is a continual cleansing from all sin, by its power.
In Hebrews 9:14, we are told that we are set free from the tyranny of an evil conscience to serve
the living God.
And in Hebrews 10:19, we are told that, by the blood’s infinite power, the most unworthy have
liberty to enter God’s presence and live there all the day.
There is no doubt in my mind, that the Bible speaks to the tremendous power of Christ’s blood and therefore gives it validity.
II. How may we experience this power in our lives?
Which leads us to the next question, if we understand that it has power, how may we experience that power for ourselves?
One way of searching that question out is to consider Christ’s passion.
If you’ve seen Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” you probably remember the scene of Jesus’ scourging.
There is a part of that scene that is perplexing at first glance. Pilate’s wife approaches Jesus’ mother Mary and very humbly offers her a stack of white towels. Is the family of the punished responsible to clean up this public, government building? Hardly.
On the contrary, Pilot’s wife understands that Mary has no way to gather and protect the precious blood of her son. His blood is spilled on the ground waiting for someone to walk through. His life is poured out on the ground, on the dirty tile, waiting for some unwitting servant to come and wash it up with filthy mop water and pour it into the gutter.
(source: “The Passion of the Christ,” Icon Productions, 2004)
Mary knew that blood is precious, especially the blood of Jesus, God in the flesh, whose death takes away our sin. I Peter 1:18-19 tells us…For we “were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold…but with precious blood, as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
Mary was experiencing the power of the blood of her son and our Saviour.
And isn’t that what John the Baptist was trying to tell us when he saw Jesus for the first time and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)
We talked of Christ being the Lamb a couple of weeks ago. And its when we accept Christ dying for us, and in-turn, begin showing Christ’s “lamb-ness” to those around us, that we begin to feel the power of Christ’s spiritual blood moving within us.
Did you know that the blood coursing through your veins has seven vital functions and those functions are mirrored by the blood of Christ which spiritually flows through us?
1. Our physical blood transports wastes from each cell to organs that excrete them. Just like the blood of Christ that transports out the poisonous waste of sin cleansing our souls and spirits. (I Corinthians 5:17)
2. Our physical blood transports oxygen to the body. Just like the blood of Christ that transports a Spiritual oxygen, the breath of Life, in our lives. (Genesis 2:7)
3. Our physical blood transports nutrients from the digestive system to storage depots in each cell. Just like the blood of Christ which transports our spiritual nutrients so that we may never hunger or thirst again. (John 6:35)
4. Our physical blood transports hormones from glands to tissues. Just like Christ’s blood that gets our Spiritual excitement flowing in the right directions. (Hebrews 1:9)
5. Our physical blood helps to maintain fluid balance in the body. Just like Christ’s blood that helps us to maintain our Spiritual balance. (Ephesians 1:17)
6. Our physical blood helps to distribute heat, helping to maintain body temperature. Just like Christ’s blood that helps us keep spiritually balanced experiencing the warmth and comfort in troubled times. (II Corinthians 1:3,4)
7. Our physical blood helps in the fight against invading micro-organisms. Just like the blood of Christ that that defends us against the invading spiritual enemies, providing spiritual protection and refuge (Psalm 46).
(source: adapted/shortened from Michael McCarntne’s “The Blood” at www.sermoncentral.com)
We experience the power of Christ’s spiritual blood in our lives, when we become willing to accept that what Jesus did, he did for us.
That is why Paul says in our passage read this morning, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:5).
It should come as no shock then that the fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control are the Spiritual by-products of living the full experience of Christ in our lives.
When these things begin to occur then we know that we are living out the full experience of Christ’s spiritual blood within us.
III. Are we willing?
Which leaves us with the last question…are we willing?
Hession in the book says, “We may pray long to be cleansed from some sin and for peace to be restored to our hearts, but unless we are willing to be broken on the point in question and be made a partaker of the Lamb’s humility there, nothing will happen.” (p.98)
Through the blood of Christ, we have been offered a new covenant, a new agreement…
Under the old agreement, it was what we had to do for God.
Under the new agreement, it’s accepting what Christ has done for us.
John Wesley, on a journey from one early American church to another, was stopped by a thief who shouted at Wesley, “Halt, your money or your life.”
Wesley got down from his horse, emptied his pockets to reveal only a handful of coins. He even invited the robber to search his saddlebags - which only carried his books. In disgust, the thief was turning away when John Wesley cried "Stop, I have something more to give you."
Puzzled, the robber turned back. Wesley then leaned towards him and said "My friend, you may live to regret this sort of life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this: ’The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sin.’"
The robber hurried silently away, but Wesley got back on his horse & rode on his way praying in his heart that the word might be fixed in the robber’s conscience.
Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, a stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with John Wesley. Wesley recognized him as the robber who had stolen from him so long before, but now he was a well to do tradesman and better still, a child of God. Raising Wesley’s hand to his lips he affectionately kissed it and said in deep emotion, "To you, dear sir, I owe it all."
Wesley replied softly, "Nay, nay, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin."
If we are willing, by the blood of Christ, God is able.
CONCLUSION
In closing, I’d like to have you remember a song. You heard it this morning during the offering. It’s chorus tells us that "He could have called ten thousand angels to destory the world and set him free. He could have called then thousand angels, but he died alone for you and me."
That is our point this morning. The blood of the lamb, of Jesus Christ, is our source for spiritual life.
1. The Bible speaks to its tremendous power.
2. We experience that full power, when we fully accept what Christ has done for us.
3. And, if we are willing, its power is ours for the asking?
Paul told the Roman church that "we also rejoice in God thorugh our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now received the reconciliation." Make it be so with us this morning!
Will you join me in prayer?
Heavenly Father,
We give you thanks.
We give you thanks for sending your son.
We give you thanks for the life and ministry he shared.
We give you thanks for the heartache you must have felt as he died upon that cross.
Through his blood, you have made a new covenant, a new agreement if with us, if we only accept.
So, this morning we readily acknowledge that there is indeed power in the blood of Christ, and that through your grace and mercy, we have the opportunity to experience that power within our lives if only we ask.
Lord, for those who have never accepted this awesome gift, we pray that your Spirit may sense their need and draw them closer to you.
For those who have fallen away, we pray that your Spirit may guide them back to your promises.
And for those of us who are daily walking with you, help us and forgive us, when we often take this precious gift for granted.
In the name of the One who died for us, before we even accepted Him, Jesus the Christ…Amen.
Closing Song – #622 – There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. (repeat first verse, skip last verse)
Benediction
Grant us, O Lord, that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,
And that what we believe in our hearts, we may practice in our lives;
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
This sermon series is based on Roy Hession’s classic, “The Calvary Road” which can be purchased by calling Christian Literature Crusade (CLC) at 1.800.659.1240.
Note: If for any reason you did not find this sermon helpful or would like to make a comment or ask a question, please feel free to contact me at gb@clergy.net. Your input will help me personally and my congregation as I learn Spiritually and professionally.
