Bible League: Living His Word (9/04/21)

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.

— I Peter 1:18-19 NLT

The fact that Jesus Christ shed His blood for us means a lot.

First of all, it means that Christ has paid the penalty for our sins in full and we do not have to pay the penalty. Isaiah said, “All we, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Our sin and guilt before God has been washed away by the blood.

Second, it means that we are cleansed from any further sins we may commit after we become Christians. The Apostle John said that if we continue “living in the light,” then it means that “the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7). The blood not only cleanses us from our past and present sins, but also from any future sins we may commit.

Third, as our verse for today teaches, it means that we have been ransomed with the blood from the sinful way of life we inherited from our ancestors. The Apostle Paul said, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). The blood of Christ is our ticket into the new life of the Kingdom.

Fourth, it means that we are able to defeat Satan, the roaring lion who seeks to devour us and who accuses us before the LORD. The Apostle John said that we “have defeated him by the blood of the lamb” (Revelation 12:11). Since the blood has washed away our sin and guilt, Satan’s power has been undermined and his accusations fall flat.

Finally, it means that our consciences have been purified by the blood so that we may come before God in worship (Hebrews 9:14) and prayer (Hebrews 10:19). We are no longer alienated from God and we have, as a result, access to Him.

The precious blood of Jesus Christ has radically transformed the lives of everyone who believes in what He did ? and we should be eternally grateful.