Choose Life

"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Col. 1:19-20)

Red skies in the morning, sailor's warning, red skies at night, sailor's delight. The day arrives in different hues of coral, and my husband quotes this line from an ancient rhyme, often repeated by mariners over the centuries. The rhyme is a rule of thumb for weather forecasting, dating back over 2000 years. It is based on the reddish glow of the morning or evening sky, caused by haze or clouds related to storms in the region. Due to the rotation of the Earth, storm systems travel from west to east in the earth's temperate zones. A reddish sunrise, caused by particles suspended in the air, often foreshadows an approaching storm, which will arrive from the west, on the same day. On the other hand, a reddish sunset would often mean that a storm system is on the west side, travelling away from our horizon.

I was quite thrilled to discover that Jesus is also quoted in Matthew 16:2-3, as saying: "When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’, and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times". (His apt response to the Pharisees and the Sadducees when they asked Him to give them a "sign").

How often do we also search and look for "signs" to confirm that God is still sovereign, still cares, still has everything under control. But when my eyes burn into the pages of His Word, looking for a magical word or sign from God, for comfort or hope - I keep on coming back to two things - the cross and His blood. What feelings are evoked when you close your eyes and think of blood, bloodstains, blood flowing, blood dripping? Comfort? Confidence? Unlikely. Blood is irrevocably linked to life, but caught up in a world of irrational fear, the connotation is mostly to death and horror.

In the Torah (Leviticus 19-30) a woman in her menstrual cycle is considered ritually unclean - "anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening". Touching her, touching an object she had sat or lain on, makes a person ritually unclean. Yet Jesus allows himself to be touched by a hemorrhaging woman and cured her (Mark 5:25-24).

Another precept from the Old Testament states: "But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat".(Deut. 12:23). But in John 6:53, Jesus is quoted saying to the Jews: “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you". He continues by reiterating this in a few different ways, also saying that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will dwell in Him and Him in them.

Jesus never taught anything in direct contradiction to the Mosaic laws. The Word of God is never contradictory, it serves to point us to the cross where we were set free from living under the law. His sacrifice brought salvation, but unless we "imbibe" the depth of His suffering and are willing to partake in it, we cannot have a living relationship with our Saviour and He cannot dwell in us.

In Leviticus, detailed specifications are given for different sacrifices. As atonement for sin, and restoration of relationship with God, a sacrificial animal had to be slaughtered, the animal bled and the blood sprinkled on the altar. It had to be a perfect specimen without blemish or flaw.The meat was sanctified and burnt as an offering to God. In the process the priests must have got themselves rather blood-splattered as well.

Once again - God no longer requires blood sprinkling and burnt offerings from us. The only perfect man who ever lived has sprinkled his blood over the altar of my heart, offered his body for my sanctification. Our relationship with God is restored for ever and we may therefore walk in His righteousness.

Stepping away from the Bible for a minute to a Shakespearean play of murder and deceit, a picture of a misery and hopelessness is painted as Lady Macbeth laments about a "damned spot" of blood which she could not remove from her hands. Blood does stain. Horribly. Sin stains, deeply, but in Revelations 7:14, I found this amazing verse which says that those "who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb".

No child is brought into the world without blood. The blood that courses through my veins as I type, carries life-giving oxygen, without which life ceases.  Arteries carry the oxygenated blood from the heart to the cells and tissues, whereas veins return the oxygen-depleted blood from the cells and tissues to the heart. Which keeps pumping fresh blood as long as I just keep breathing.

Life is seen to start when we are born, and depart from us when we stop breathing and die. Although, without a deeper understanding of the power, purity and beauty of the blood of the Lamb, we are like the living dead. We have no "life in us" unless we are willing to allow our hearts to stop beating for the world. And as you gasp and reach a desperate hand up to heaven - His hand reaches down from the cross, and the eternal life flows from his hands, his sides, his brow, into your veins. Pure and beautiful, each drop filled with a love and a power which we will never fully comprehend whilst trapped in these fleshy vessels. It is a power that gives us authority over demons, authority over fear, authority over temptation and lies. Over Satan. It is a protective shield, a force field which we can and should call on in times of threat and danger.

As we step out from that cleansing fountain of His blood and love - we are clothed in His purity, power and glory. We are alive in Christ, His spotless bride, fit for the Kingdom of God. No longer do we then live under a covenant of law, but rather covered by a covenant of love. Each page, each word of the Bible points to the cross and the Man who died there. The blood that flowed there. The price that was paid there. Jesus descended to hell itself to reclaim the keys of death which Satan stole. And on the third day the angels rolled back the stone and He stepped out of that tomb with the names of his saved children imprinted on the palm of His hand. When that hand reaches down for you, take it, let the blood flow over you, and taste the joy of knowing that your name is there also.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood

Would you be free from your passion and pride
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide
There's wonderful power in the blood

Would you be whiter,
much whiter than snow?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood
Sin stains are lost in its life-giving flow
There's wonderful power in the blood

There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb

                                                   (Lewis E. Jones, 1889)