“Redemption Through His Blood”

Ephesians 1:5-9

5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

8) Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

9) Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

W

e hear words and use phrases that are part of what one might call "religious jargon" but often times the true spiritual meaning and/or application of these words is missed. For example, many of us quote "blood scriptures," one of the more popular ones being, "I've been redeemed by the blood." Yet, do we really understand what this means?

When we see the word "blood" it means death and the purpose of death, means the end—or the burial of an old life and the resurrection—rebirth of a new one. Farming is perhaps a good example of how God demonstrates death—burial of the old and the resurrection of something new.

Once a seed of any kind is planted and buried, the end product bears no resemblance to the seed from which it came. In addition, no seed can produce any fruit until it dies. So when we are put to death with Jesus, the seed of sin dies and we our reborn to live a new life in the Spirit. With our new life form comes new concerns and dedication to a new master. However, one cannot be devoted to a new master when the "old man" is in mastery. Where is the change?

Jesus has taken great care to illustrate through nature and through His death, the perfect transformation. Therefore, why would one dare think, that once He makes contact with anything or anything comes in contact with Him, either can remain unchanged?

Once we extend a sign to Jesus that He 'is invited into our lives and He accepts, are we free to pick and choose the course of our relationship? Remember, the Word states that "two can walk together. . . " only. if they agree. How is the redemptive power of God supposed to operate within us if there are aspects of our relationship with God with which we disagree? And if we disagree, are we dead?

Again, the purpose of death is so that we may be able to be born again. This means as new beings, there is no occasion that allows one to agree to disagree, which is part of the old man's way of thinking. Remember, the operation of God or the Spirit is totally converse to the mind set of the world—our flesh.

And what is more contrary to the flesh than the action of obedience. Once we ask God to come into our lives, His first requirement is that we act upon what He

asks of us and that is that we belong to Him. Remember, death means transformation so it would be impossible for us to belong to God, yet believe what we conjure up becomes true for and to us. Our new truth and reality should be based on what God says is true for and to us.

God's reality for us is that we call things as not as though they were. The word "were" is a past tense verb meaning something has already taken place or has been done. But only a person who is dead can accept that which is opposite/beyond of his own beliefs personal feelings and/or bird's eye view.

God cannot even allow us to think it is possible to mix the old with the new or the flesh with the Spirit. He cannot permit us to "brag" on Him and then offer no legitimate response to the world as to why we call ourselves Saints/Christians. We are to show and tell everyone who He is to us and what He has done for us; this is what moves God and ultimately will move the world.

Humanity needs to witness the redemptive power of God through His Blood or through the death of the old man and the resurrection of a new one. Remember, what's "natural" or fleshy in nature, produces nothing but sin. Only by birthing that which is spiritual, can we produce life. When we submit ourselves to God, we are born anew as spiritual beings and introduced into eternal life. n