Cleansing Blood
- Details
- Category: Religion
- Published: Saturday, 20 September 2014 02:19
- Written by Rev. Dr. Henry Vernon
by Rev. Dr. Henry Vernon
This teaching of the Lord's message begins in 1 John, chapter 1, but before beginning the message, I want to share something with you.
This teaching that explains a simple experiment you can perform to "…grasp the function of the blood as a cleansing agent. Find a blood pressure test kit and wrap the cuff around your arm. When it is in position, have a friend pump it up to 200 mm. of mercury, a sufficient pressure to stop the flow of blood in your arm. Initially your arm will feel an uncomfortable tightness beneath the cuff.
Now comes the revealing part of the experiment: perform any easy task with your cuffed arm. [Remember it is pumped-up to 200 millimeters of mercury pressure.] Merely flex your fingers and make a fist about ten times in succession, or cut paper with scissors or drive a nail into wood with a hammer.
The first few movements will seem quite normal as the muscles obediently contract and relax. Then you will feel a slight weakness. Almost without warning, a hot flash of pain will strike, after about ten movements. Your muscles will cramp. If you force yourself to continue the simple task, you will likely cry out in absolute agony. Finally, you cannot will yourself to continue. The pain overwhelms you.
When you release the tourniquet and the air escapes from the cuff, blood will rush into your aching arm and a wonderful sense of relief will sooth your muscles. The pain is worth enduring just to experience the acute relief. Your muscles move freely, the pain vanishes, and life feels good again. Physiologically, you just experienced the cleansing power of blood.
While the blood supply to your arm was shut off, you forced your muscles to keep working. As they converted oxygen to energy, they produced certain waste products…that are normally flushed away instantly in the bloodstream. Due to the constricted blood flow, however, these [waste products] accumulated in your cells. They were not 'cleansed' by the swirling stream of blood, and therefore, in a few minutes you felt the agony of retained toxins.
Blood sustains life by carrying away the chemical by-products that would interfere with [the body's healthy process].
Forgiveness [through Jesus Christ's shed blood] cleanses [our] wasteful products…."
Although this teaching describes the physical sense of it, there is the spiritual side to this as well. If
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you really think about it, the blood that He shed on that cross, that Stavros (Sta????), cleansed our spiritually diseased waste products that were toxic to our physical body and spiritual being. What Jesus Christ did for us is as real in the spiritual world as in the physical world. If you are squeamish, I do not recommend doing this experiment, but with this simple experiment, you can see once the blood supply was cut-off, simple activities will cause pain. You will feel agony if you continue the activities because your body is not able to wash away the toxins that build up during activity. In the end, your arm would probably die! This principle applies in the spiritual world; eventually you will suffer an eternal death if you do not come to realize how important the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ truly is for our spiritual wellbeing. In the Bible, we see that John knew this.
1st John 1:5 reads, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declared unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." The Greek is very clear. This light is a light that is never kindled and never quenched. The Greek also describes a darkness that leads to a ruined situation and a decaying process that happens because of the darkness.
John goes on to write in verse 6 and 7, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
We need the cleansing agent of Jesus Christ because of the spiritually ruined decay of wasted life from the toxic pollution of sin, so if we are in Christ and Christ is in us, the spirit dwells in us and we have been cleansed. The Greek word for 'cleanseth' is 'katharizo' and means 'to purify from pollution and guilt,' in relation to what the toxins of pollution and guilt does to our spiritual wellbeing. Once we come to recognize that, we are no longer cut off; He has rescued us. His blood rushes into our spiritual being, bringing our being back to life.
We may think we are living now, yet we are all dying, even though, some of us have our eternal hope, or 'elpis' in Greek, that we will continue to live even when this flesh dies. Eventually, we will be given a new body that our spirit and soul will meet up with, and we will live forever more ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ, who has commissioned us, throughout eternity with all the rewards He will bestow on us for our faithfulness forever. And forever does not end.
On the other hand, John writes in verse 8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Some people think that just because they are good they have no sin, or their sin is so little that Jesus Christ will overlook it in the Day of Judgment. But I tell you right now, I sinned. I sinned at least five times driving today to the west side of Kissimmee, FL in traffic, and I sinned at least ten times coming back. I had to ask for forgiveness for what I thought of some drivers. Believe me; I needed that rush of Christ's cleansing blood to remove the toxins that built up during that trip.
Verse 9 continues, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just [because He paid the price] to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse [or to purify us from the pollution and guilt of sin] us from all unrighteousness."
Some may not think I am righteous, and sometimes I might not seem like I am, but thank God, my righteousness is not on my merit, it is on His! It is His covering and His blood cleansing that I continue to trust in with confidence and faith in Jesus Christ on a daily basis.
John writes in verse 10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." I am not planning to do that, and hopefully, you are not either. I believe His word is in me, and let it be in you too. All He has asked us to do, besides faithing and trusting in Him, is to keep remembering what He did.
In I Corinthians 11:23 Paul writes:
"For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night which he was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body [the bread], which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood [that cleansing blood]: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."
In other words, every time you sit down to eat and drink, do this as often as you do that. It is a simple act to keep your physical body alive, and remember what Christ did for you, in the spiritual sense, to give you that 'elpis,' that hope of eternal existence with Him forever more. And all He is asking us to do is remember Him and His powerful cleansing blood that cannot even be compare to the experiment I shared with you at the beginning of this teaching. His blood covered us! His blood cleansed us! His blood gave us eternal life! And all He is asking us to do is remember Him.
So now, as you take the bread, as you take the wine, remember and thank Him for going to that 'stavros,' that cross, and shedding His blood for you and for me.
Say, "Thank you Jesus," as you partake. Amen!!
Live Inspired!
Keep Believing,
Dr. "V"
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