Easter Bloodlines
How the Blood of Jesus Changes Everything
Christians all over the world are observing the most significant week in all of history, culminating in Easter. This Sunday churches across the globe will gather, often before sunrise, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Believers will exchange declarations like, “He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
Our faith hinges on the truth that Jesus rose from the dead. But the resurrection only matters because of what happened on that Friday.
The backstory to Calvary started in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, their perfect relationship with God was severed. Sin brought along it’s conjoined twin, Death. You can’t have one without the other. Adam’s blood, which he passed down to all his descendants, was now defiled by sin. The payment for sin required the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). But not just any blood. It had to be clean blood, untainted by the sin that contaminated Adam’s bloodline. Adam’s blood could never be pure enough. But Jesus’ blood is different. Jesus’ bloodline wasn’t from Adam. Jesus’ bloodline is from God. Jesus’ blood is pure.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:11-14)
One of the main things we celebrate at Easter is that majestic truth of the Atonement. Through the sacrifice of the shedding of His precious blood, Jesus atoned for (i.e. satisfied the debt of) the sin of mankind. Through His perfect life and sacrificial death, Jesus paid for our sins. The blood of Jesus covers all sin and restores us to an intimate relationship with God the Father. This is the essence of the Gospel. But it’s not the only benefit.
There is something at the end of Hebrews 9:14 that takes the message of Easter to a whole different level, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Do you see that? The efficacy of the blood of Jesus is not just to pay for our sins, but to set us free from the shame of sin and empower us to serve God. The blood doesn’t just rescue us from hell. It makes us fit for Heaven. It transforms the way we live.
This is not the only place we find this.
“Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:19-25)
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:5-9)
Notice the connections: “God, through the blood of the eternal covenant… will equip you in every good thing to do His will”; “since we have confidence to enter the Holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way… having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience… encourage one another in love and good deeds”; “the blood of Jesus His Son (continually) cleanses us from all sin.” The blood of Jesus is the essence and empowerment of our new righteousness in Christ.
Life and death are in the blood. When we were in the bloodline of Adam, Sin and Death ruled us. We had no choice but to obey Sin because we were “dead in our trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1) Death ruled our bloodline. But because of Jesus’ atoning death on the Cross, we received a supernatural blood transfusion so that we now are in Christ’s bloodline, which not only changed our past, but transforms our future, for those of us who have been saved. Therefore, since we were identified with the death of Christ, we are also identified with His resurrection. (c.f. Romans 6:1-14)
The good news of Easter is this: Jesus died when His blood flowed out of Him on the Cross. When we put our faith in Him, His blood pours out over us, washing away our sin. As His blood flows through us, we are empowered to live His life. There truly is transforming power in the blood of Jesus!
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!