beautiful painting of Christ's cross in Norway
THE
BLOOD OF CHRIST:
MANKIND'S ONLY HOPE!
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“For Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel: not with wisdom of
words, lest the
CROSS OF CHRIST should
be made of none effect. For the
PREACHING OF THE CROSS is
to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is
the power of God. But we preach
CHRIST CRUCIFIED,
unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God.”
(1 Cor. 1: 17, 18, 23,
24)
For many years, the Christian Church has presented
the claims of Jesus Christ to be able to save lost souls, heal the
sick and liberate the suffering and wounded and granting Eternal
Life, on the basis of His shed blood, vicarious death and glorious
resurrection.
With gusto and great fervour, saints of God have
preached the Word and written songs, proclaiming the power of the
shed blood of Jesus Christ to break every fetter and to set the
captives free. Hallelujah!
In his book, ‘The
Cruciality of the Cross’
Dr. Henry Mabie writes: “The
Greek word used by Paul in 1 Cor.1: 18, is Logos...” not preaching
but “the subject matter of preaching; with the very essence of that
which was to be preached; with the Logos of the Cross, which
constituted a rationale, it’s Divine reason, a reason which…he
declares to be the wisdom of God. This ‘Logos of the Cross’ is
conceived by Paul to be the key which unlocks the riddle of the
universe, solves all mysteries and reconciles all things.”
A
SUBJECT MATTER SO MAGNANIMOUS!
The sacrificial death of the incarnated (God in
human flesh) Son of God to redeem the world, is a subject matter so
powerful, so magnanimous and so incomprehensible that mortal man can
only stand in holy awe at its immensity, enormity and grandiose love
that we are left speechless!
The blood of Jesus Christ which He freely gave for
sinful, rebellious and hell-bound, guilty sinners, purges our
consciences from all guilt, delivers us from the power of sin and
liberates us from Satan and his evil kingdom, for time and eternity!
And as Dr. Henry Mabie states: “This
Logos of the Cross is conceived by Paul to be the key which unlocks
the riddle of the universe, solves all mysteries and reconciles all
things.”
I agree one
hundred per cent with that analysis and commentary - which is the
greatest I have ever heard - but still doesn’t even begin to cover
the eternal consequences of the incarnation, passion, death and
resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord, Creator and God!
St. Paul came closer when He wrote: “But
as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love Him.”
(1 Cor.2: 9)
How
helpless we are without His indwelling presence and yet how strong
when He is moving within us by His awesome power. How amazing that
the God of Heaven and Ruler of the Universe would deign to identify
Himself with mere earthlings and to dwell within us.
It has been said that truth is stranger than
fiction.
It is difficult to understand why so many have been blinded by Satan
and coerced into rejecting Jesus Christ, Who gives Eternal Life
freely to all who humble themselves and receive Him as Lord and
Saviour!
That men and women endowed with a free will would
choose to follow a murderous Liar, manipulating Deceiver and the
despicable Enemy of God down the broad road that leads to perdition
and Hell is an enigma of the very worst kind! How is it possible that
thinking individuals made in the image of God, could become so
deceived?
GOD'S ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY!
And yet, Almighty God in His absolute integrity and
fairness and knowing the wickedness and cunning of the defrocked and
fallen Lucifer, still created our first parents Adam and Eve and
placed them in Eden's Garden with a free will to follow good and
reject evil!
After their disastrous fall by committing high
treason against their Creator and God, the love of our Heavenly
Father drove them out of Eden so they would not partake of the fruit
on the Tree of Life and live forever in their sins!
In His great mercy, God made a way of escape from
their sins and the snare of the Devil, through the sacrificial system
which pointed to Christ. In passing judgment on the serpent as an
accomplice of Satan, He laid out His great plan of salvation which
had been hidden in His heart from before the foundation of the world.
He said: "I
will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and
her SEED
(Christ); It shall bruise (crush) thy head, and thou bruise His
heel."
(Gen 3:15)
This is what we call in theology, the 'Law
of the First Mention'!
The first mention is of the Deliverer
Whom
God would send to crush Satan's head. The second is the Virgin
Birth
of
the Deliverer.
He is called the SEED
of the woman! God's only begotten Son would be incarnated (God in
human flesh) to emancipate Adam's fallen race through the sacrifice
of Himself, to meet the demands of divine justice in payment for our
sins!
How could anyone with a natural mind, if not inspired
by the Holy Spirit, be able to digest these amazing truths? The Bible
clearly states: “But
the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for
they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned.”
(1 Cor.2: 14)
There is a vast difference between the carnal and
the spiritual man. And because we have not allowed the Liar any place
in us, we can truthfully and boldly declare that God is omnipotent
(all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (everywhere
present at once).
We know that God's Word is incomprehensible
(unknowable) and that Jesus Christ is TRUE GOD from eternity and TRUE
MAN through His incarnation (born of a virgin) and the Only Saviour
of the world.
A
NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST JESUS!
St.
Paul was not a believer in Jesus Christ at first. He was a blatant
blasphemer, injurious and a hater of believers in Christ. That all
changed when he met JESUS on the Damascus Road. (Acts 9, 22 and 26).
He
stated: "Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all
things are become new. And all things are of God, Who hath RECONCILED
us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation.
"That
is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation. Now
then we are AMBASSADORS for Christ, as though God did beseech you by
us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (2
Cor.5:17-20)
Again
he stated: "But we speak the wisdom of
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before
the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world
knew for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
Glory." (1 Cor. 2: 7, 8)
Here is the real reason so many reject the Saviour
Jesus Christ: "For
God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life.
"For God sent not His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He
that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.
"And this is the condemnation, that light is
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hates the
light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in
God."
(John 3: 16-21)
THE CASE FOR CHRIST OUR LORD!
Loudly and triumphantly, I make the case for
Christ! There is no-one like Him. He is the One and Only Saviour of
the world. He is the Great Physician Who heals us from all our
sorrows, problems, sins and diseases! He baptizes believers with the
Holy Spirit and Fire!
The Bible says:
"He came unto His own and His own received Him not. But as many
as received, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on His name." (John
1: 11, 12)
Believe on Him today and He will give you the power
to become His ADOPTED CHILD: "Grace
be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in
Christ.
"According as He hath chosen us in Him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love:
"Having predestinated us unto the ADOPTION
of
children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath
made us ACCEPTED
in
the Beloved."
(Eph.1:2-11)
JESUS
OUR HIGH PRIEST & INTERCESSOR!
"But this Man, because He continues ever, hath
an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to SAVE them to
the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make
intercession for them." (Heb. 7: 25)
JESUS
OUR SUBSTITUTE:
"For such an high priest became us, Who is Holy, Harmless,
Undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher hat the heavens.
Who needs not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice,
first for His own sins, and then for the people: for this He did
once, when He offered up Himself." (/Heb.7: 26, 27)
JESUS'
ENDLESS LIFE: "For that after the
similitude of Melchisedec there arises another priest, Who is made,
not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an
ENDLESS LIFE. For He testifies, Thou art a priest forever after the
order of Melchisedec." (Heb. 7: 15-17)
Jesus
Christ declared: "I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which
was, and which is to come, the Almighty. And when I saw Him, I fell
at His feet as dead.
"And
He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the
First and the Last: I am He that Lives and was dead; and behold, I
AM ALIVE forevermore, Amen; and have the keys
of Hell and of Death." (Rev. 1: 8, 17,
18)
JESUS
IS MY LIFE: He
said: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine,
no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the
branches:
"He
that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: For
without Me, ye can do NOTHING.
If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
will, and it shall be done unto you."
(John 15: 4-7)
Again
our Lord promised: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you. At that day ye shall know that I
am in My Father, and YE
in ME, and I
in YOU. He that
hath My commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he
that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and
will manifest Myself to him.
"Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words:
and My Father will love him and we (My
Father and I) will come unto him,
and make our abode with him." (John 14:
18-20, 21, 23).
"I
am the LIVING BREAD
which came down from Heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall
live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I
will give for the life of the world.
"Then
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat
the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in
you. Whoso eats My flesh and drinks my blood, hath eternal life; and
I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and
My blood is drink indeed.
"He
that eats My flesh and drinks My blood, dwells in ME
and I in him. As the
Living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eats
Me shall live by Me. This is the BREAD
which came down from Heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna and
are dead: he that eats of this bread shall live forever."
(John 6: 51-58)
After
stating that to receive Eternal Life we must eat His flesh and drink
His blood, Jesus clearly emphasized that He was speaking about the
spiritual experience of becoming ONE with
Him and the Heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit.
He
was NOT
advocating eating His actual physical flesh and drinking His physical
blood. It was an analogy of the nearness, closeness and oneness of
Jesus Christ to His Children through the new Birth!
It is
drawing strength and life from Him Who purchased our Redemption by
His atoning work through His intense suffering and vicarious death on
the cross. "He
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our
iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him and with His
STRIPES we are
healed." (Is. 53: 4.5)
Our
Lord Jesus said: "It is the spirit that
quickens (makes life); the
FLESH profits
NOTHING; the
words that I speak into you, they are spirit and they are life."
(John 6: 63)
MYSTERY
OF CHRIST IN US!
This is
the great Mystery that was revealed to St. Paul through the Holy
Spirit, namely, Christ entering into the very innermost being of
believers at the time of conversion to Jesus Christ!
He
said: "Even the Mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His
saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this Mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST
IN YOU, the Hope of Glory."
(Col.1: 26, 27)
When
we received Christ as personal Saviour, He took up His abode in our
hearts and lives! By Jesus Christ living within us through the
blessed Holy Spirit we automatically receive His life within our
being! He gives us His life because He is the Creator and the Life
giver! We draw His life into ourselves by becoming a part of Him, as
He enters our lives with His Holy Spirit!
Through
our union with Jesus Christ we are protected from the power of
Darkness which is seeking to envelope the world. The Blood of Jesus
Christ is the only solvent that is able to wash sinners from the
filth, stench and corruption - both spiritually and physically - that
is Satan's signature plan and strategy! Christ's
Victory is Satan's Defeat and our Liberty!
St.
Paul states: "If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are Above,
where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set
your affection on things Above, not on things on the earth.
For ye are dead, and your
LIFE IS HID with
CHRIST IN GOD. When
Christ WHO IS OUR LIFE shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in Glory.
"Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and
covetousness, which is idolatry. For which things' sake the wrath of
God cometh on the children of disobedience."
Jesus
spoke of the 'PROMISE OF THE FATHER'
to His disciples before His departure to Heaven. He was referring to
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His band of followers, who
would comprise the Church (called out ones)
which He would build.
The
HOLY BIBLE says: "In
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that
believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.
"But
this He spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should
receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not
yet glorified." (John 7:37-39)
What an
honour to be filled with God, the Blessed Holy Spirit! To be called
by the Holy Spirit, saved by the precious BLOOD
of Jesus Christ and filled with that Holy Spirit of Promise and be
led by His nail scarred hand!
The
great Apostle to the Gentiles stated: "For
in Him (Christ) we
live, and move, and have our being..."
(Acts 17: 28)
JESUS
IS MY AGAPE LOVE!
Jesus said: "As the
Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love If
ye keep y commandments, ye shall ABIDE IN
MY LOVE; even as I have kept My Father's
commandments, and abide in His love.
"These
things have I spoken unto you, that My JOY
may remain in you, and that your JOY
might be full. This is My commandment, that ye love one another, as I
have loved you." (John 15: 9-12).
St.
Paul testified: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME:
and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal.2:
20)
St John
declared: "Ye are of God little children,
and have overcome them (evil spirits):
because Greater is He that is IN YOU,
than he that is in the world." (1 John
4: 4). Greater is Jesus Christ Who purchased
our forgiveness, peace, joy, healing and abundant life through His
death on the Cross.
He
ABIDES within us
together with the blessed Holy Spirit, Who leads us and gives us the
wisdom, strength and power of the Risen Jesus Christ to show forth
the love, mercy and grace of God to a lost and dying world!
Christ's
Victory is Satan's Defeat and our Liberty! Amen.
