The Precious Blood Of Jesus

I Peter 1:17-23

Blood is a vitally important part of life.  Without enough blood in our bodies we will die very quickly.  Remove the blood and you remove life.  When someone is very sick or has had a bad accident, often they will need a blood transfusion, where the blood of someone else is given to them.  This is done in order to save their life.  Naturally one would be very grateful to the person or people who donated their blood, especially if this was a very critical, life-or-death circumstance.  In the Scripture passage today, the Apostle Peter reminds us believers of Someone else’s Blood which gave something more important than a temporary physical life, but eternal life.  Let’s take a look.

What do you consider precious in your life?  Perhaps your family members.  Maybe a valuable heirloom that has been passed down from generation to generation.  In verse 19 of our passage we see what Peter considered precious to him, and that was the Blood of Jesus.  Some people might bristle at that, finding the mention of shed blood distasteful and not suitable to be talked about in polite company.  That type of thinking has even moved into the Christian Church, as in today’s Christian culture the Blood of Jesus is not mentioned much.  Many Christians and churches want a sanitized version of salvation.  They talk about grace, forgiveness, and love, but do not mention the Blood of Jesus.  Blood is considered offensive.  However, do we not realize that without the shedding of the Blood of Jesus Christ there would be no salvation?

How many churches today won’t sing the great hymns that tell of Jesus’ Precious Blood, such as “Nothing But the Blood”, “Power in the Blood”, and others?  They are ashamed of them.  They feel that such hymns are too offensive and not appropriate in today’s “seeker sensitive” type ministries.  If we remove all of the blood from a body, all we have remaining is a lifeless corpse.  If we remove the Blood of Jesus from the Bible, it is just nothing more than historical literature.  If we remove the Blood of Jesus from Christianity, there is no salvation for anyone, and we, each one of us, are lost for eternity.  How can we forget that Jesus shed His blood for us!

Jesus gave His life, a high price to pay, to make us part of His family.  Our blood can be used to help others if our blood type matches.  That help is only temporary, till one dies, which we all do eventually.  However, Jesus’ Blood is the only one who can save sinful souls.  The price of our redemption was the precious Blood of Jesus.

Peter continues on describing Jesus as a lamb without blemish or spot (vs. 19). John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36).  In the Old Testament there were specific requirements as to the type of lamb that would be acceptable for sacrifices.  The lambs needed to be as perfect as possible, without any faults.  The lamb could not have any broken or damaged limbs, no scars, or any fault in its fleece.  Just as the sacrificial lambs were to be without any flaws, Jesus was perfect and without sin.  He was the true Lamb of God, who poured out His Blood, His precious Blood as Peter said, for our salvation.

Jesus’ death upon the cross was no accident, no bad chance of fate.  His death was foreordained from eternity past, before the foundation of the world (vs. 20).  It was not something that God thought up as a plan B, after Adam and Eve ate the fruit.  Jesus planned from all eternity past to shed His Blood for you and me.

If someone sacrificed their life to save us, wouldn’t we be thankful and be grateful?  Of course we would!  The life they gave for us, the blood they shed, would be precious in our eyes.  We would not be ashamed of it, would we?  The Blood of Jesus should always and forever be precious in our sight!  Without that Blood, we are lost.  It is, indeed, Precious Blood!