The Power of the Blood Covenant

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 11:54pm

By Tonie Campbell.

We as believers have a blood Covenant with God. It's important to understand just what that is and what makes it so important. When God created Adam and Eve He was in the process of creating a family for Himself. He has always called Himself Father and that is exactly what He wants to be. He told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of Good and Evil or they would die. We know the story and what happened. Now that they have eaten the fruit they must die spiritually and be disconnected from God for eternity. satan (I never capatalize his name even at the beginning of a sentence; he's not worth it) now has legal grounds to destroy every human created because God spoke they must die and what God speaks He keeps. He is bound to His Word and will not break it. So what is God to do now. God institutes the "substitution sacrifice" in order to keep His children from spiritual death until He can send His promise which He spoke of in Genesis 3:15 "I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel". This is the promise of Jesus' defeat of satan. satan knew this and for centuries after tried to kill each prophet of God to stop this from happening. You have to understand an important truth about why satan hates you so much. satan wanted to be like God. he said he would be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14). God said No you won't . What does God do? He makes man like Him in His image. God made man what satan wanted to be. Not only did God make man in His image but He also gave them dominion and authority which included authority over satan himself. This stirred up the hatred satan already had for us and he set out his plan to cause God's beloved creation to fall and to take that authority from man. His plan worked for a season until Jesus came. Jesus had to come as a man to take back what satan stole from man for this was the only way to do it legally.

What God did for Adam and Eve after they sinned was an act of love not anger as most think. He made the first sacrifice when He killed an animal to clothe them (Ge 3:21). God knew something they didn't. He knew that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). No matter how sorry they were or how good they tried to be from then on without a blood sacrifice there would be no forgiveness of sin. God had to make them leave the garden for two important reasons. He didn't want them to eat from the tree of life and live forever. (Ge 3:22) Why? Because if they ate from that tree in the state they were now in they would live forever in a fallen state with no hope of redemption. It was an act of mercy to make them leave. Also He was "protecting man because sin could not exist in His presence. That's why God couldn't gather Adam and Eve in His arms to comfort them after they had sinned. That would be the natural instinct for any loving father. But if God had done that, He would have killed them with His goodness because sin is destroyed in the presence of His Glory. That was the reason for the blood sacrifice" (Kellie Copeland Swisher). When God killed an animal, clothed them with it and sent them out of the garden, He was sending them with a promise that He would send the ultimate sacrifice to allow His people back into His presence.

What followed was centuries of God's people offering sacrifices. To the ordinary person this seems heinous that God would require blood to satisfy Him when in fact it is the opposite. The blood sacrifice was to keep the enemy from destroying God's people and to allow the people access to God on legal grounds. "The Hebrew word for sacrifice is from the same root as (to come near, to approach, to become closely involved in a relationship with someone)The blood of the sacrificial animal enabled the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies and draw near to the mercy seat of God. If he hadn't brought the blood of that sacrifice, the sin in his life would have killed him before he ever reached the mercy seat. He had to follow the instructions exactly as they were given to him. It wasn't that God needed a gift from the people or wanted them to do something for Him. Man needs the blood to atone for his sin so he could draw near to God. God was protecting man.." (Kellie Copeland Swisher) The Old Testament is full of blood and you have to understand God's mercy to understand all the sacrifices and penalties concerning blood. Whenever a lamb was sacrificed the penalty for sin was placed upon the "innocent" lamb and the guilty party was pardoned until he sinned again. There was even a penalty for eating blood~Lev 7:26-27,17:10 "Why did God make strict commands about not eating or shedding blood? Because blood was the instrument for redemption. It was holy, it was set apart. God literally had to say that He would kill anyone that eats blood. He sanctified blood and made blood so off limits that everyone would treat it with reverance. Blood could not be handled in any other context except sacrifice. God set blood apart as a holy thing." (bible-history.com) This is the reason for Jesus telling Mary "touch me not for I have not ascended". He didn't say this because she was a woman, He said it because He had to take His blood to the mercy seat in Heaven so that even the Temple in Heaven would be free from the contaminating effects of satan. A mere human could not touch Him until after He took that Holy and untainted blood to heaven and then He came back and appeared to the disciples and allowed everyone to touch Him.

The whole plan of God from the beginning has been to draw people to Him. How religion has twisted that! It had to be done this way because both God and satan knew something most of us have missed. God is bound by His Word. What He says will happen. When He said "the soul that sins, it shall die ~Ezek 18:20" He meant it and satan knows if there isn't a sacrifice offered then he can keep that person from God. he does this by telling people lies such as God must be cruel to require blood and how atrocious to kill His own Son and the ever popular lie that you don't need to accept Jesus' sacrifice when you can be good enough or work your way to heaven. So many people believe his lies without realizing the Love God has for us. But God patiently waited for someone to believe Him and He found that someone in the person of Abraham. Why did God show such favor to Abraham? The scripture says that "God is no respector of persons"(Romans 2:11) meaning that what He does for one He does for any. The difference was "Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him as righteousness and he was called the Friend of God"(Gal 3:6; James 2:23). Abraham believed God would do what He said He would do. Abraham believed God so much so that when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham was willing. He told his servants to stay there while he and Isaac went up to the mountain to worship and then they would both return. He told Isaac that God Himself would provide the lamb to sacrifice. It is said of him in Hebrews 11:19 that he "accounted that God was able to raise him (Isaac) up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." He did receive Isaac back from the dead in "a figure" in the fact that even though God stopped him from sacrificing Isaac God allowed Abraham to see the plan of redemption ahead of time on that very mountain. Jesus said of him that "Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad"(Jn 8:56) "Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place Jehovah Jireh--The Lord will provide. And to this day, it is said 'on the mount of the Lord, it shall be seen'"(Gen 22:13-14)

Because of Abraham's trust in God and his willingness to sacrifice his own son Isaac, God allowed Him to be a part of His Covenant. God caused a deep sleep to come over Abraham and He sacrificed animals and made a Covenant with Abraham. The Word of God says that since God could swear by no one greater He swore by Himself. God made a promise to Abraham that He would destroy Himself if He ever broke His Word. That promise is sealed in blood and the fact that God cannot lie.The beautiful thing about covenants is that during that time when two people entered covenant they were bound to each other. What one person had became the others. They swore by blood oaths to protect each other,and provide for each other and family. Usually when people entered covenant they would mark their arms and put them together mixing the blood indicating my blood is in you and yours in me. They also had little bags of salt by their side and one person would put a grain of salt into the other persons bag and vice versa. This was to say "I can't reach my hand in your bag and get my grain of salt back and you can't reach your hand in my bag and get your grain of salt back". This signified the binding of the covenant. The marks on the arm represented protection. If you were out alone and an enemy came against you they would see the mark or marks depending on how many you had made covenant with and they would know that if they came against you whoever you had a covenant with would come against them. The more marks you had the more you had assurance of protection. The amazing thing in all of this is the fact that God told Abraham not to make a covenant with any other nation or people at all. He was not to mark his body at all. Abraham's covenant was with God alone. God's mark of the covenant would be circumcision which is powerful in that any seed that came through man came through that mark stating that seed was part of the covenant! So when Abraham was out alone he had no marks on his arm to show protection when an enemy came against him. What faith he had in God to believe that God would protect him! God's Covenant with Abraham was greater in that God instituted it while Abraham was asleep. God didn't need Abraham's protection or provision but God promised Abraham all of His protection and provision!

Why was this Covenant not enough? Why did we need a better Covenant established with better promises? The reason is that man had to still offer continual sacrifices. Abraham had to be in a deep sleep for God to institute that Covenant and swear by Himself. Abraham could offer nothing to God to satisfy the blood sacrifice. He could not be a mediator between God and man because it was still the blood of animals that made that Covenant. The value of the blood corresponds to the value of the life that is in it. Animal sacrifices are just that, animal sacrifices. They cannot atone once and for all for sin because man is greater than animals so the sacrifice must be continual. Why animals? The value of people is far greater. God would not have His own children sacrifice themselves. He condemned that in the Bible! Religions who do that are sacrificing to satan. satan is the muslim god who requires you to sacrifice yourself and others to appease an angry god and assure yourself a place in heaven. What an atrocity that so many believe that lie. So if God condemned sacrificing yourself or children then why Jesus? Why sacrifice His own Son? It makes no sense unless you understand Who He is and the value of the blood He carries. "Blod is life, life is blood. When blood is shed a life is shed. Blood becomes the vehicle of redemption throughout the entire Bible. If you can't understand blood, you can't understand Jesus. Jesus didn't come to heal the sick, He did it in route. He came and set His face to go to Jerusalem and die. Jesus said 'For this reason I have come.' Jesus came for one reason, to shed His blood. Remeber, Jesus came to restore what Adam and Eve had forfeited." (bible-history.com)

If you think of Him as a man that came to earth and died then it's insane but if you realize He's God in the flesh then it makes perfect sense. What sacrifice could end all other sacrifices but God Himself! What sacrifice could stop satan in his tracks from destroying God's children anymore but God Himself!

It may be difficult to think of Jesus as God but if you search the Scriptures you will see it is so. I spent some time alone with God recently and it became so clear to me that I can't stop thinking on it! As I spent time with Him I was meditating and searching scriptures on the deity of Christ to share with my Jehova's Witness friend when it came to me that it's not all to unreasonable to think of God in 3 when after all we are created in His image. We are a triune (3 part) being with a spirit, soul, and a body. The Word says that the Word of God is sharper than a 2-edged sword which divides asunder the spirit and soul. If they can be divided then they are seperate. The Bible says that our spirit and flesh war against each other; Jesus Himself said that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. God (Spirit) was willing to be crucified but the flesh (Jesus) was weak and sweated drops as of blood. Why is that so hard to think on? The Word says we have to renew our mind so our carnal nature doesn't rule us but they're both still us. "Whoever sows to the flesh will reap of the flesh corruption but whoever sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galations 6:8) When we die, our body goes to the ground but our spirit goes to heaven. It's still us. We have parts of ourselves that war against each other but it's still us. Eve came from Adam's side. That's two beings out of one! Jesus said that when a man and woman get married they become one flesh. That's two in one. Marriage itself is a physical representation of a spiritual covenant which is why there are more divorces in Christian homes; satan hates the Covenant we have with God and doesn't want us to show the world what a relationship with God looks like. We are all a part and member of the body of Christ seperate yet one. Jesus is fully God and fully human at the same time. He promised to never leave us yet He is at the right hand of the Father now so how is He still here? He left the third person of the Trinity here, the Holy Spirit Who is as much God as Jesus is.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, through Him all things were made but without Him nothing was made that has been made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:1-3,14) God made a covenant with Abraham. Since He could swear by noone greater He swore by Himself making a promise to Abraham that He would destroy Himself if He broke His own covenant. God didn't break His covenant because He is bound by His Word. We couldn't keep the covenant and since we broke it God destroyed Himself by sending the very Word He is bound to in the flesh in the form of Jesus to die for us. That is why we have a better covenant established on better promises. This time the covenant has a mediator (Jesus). We do not have a covenant with the blood of bulls and goats, we have a covenant with the blood of God Himself!

It's too great to even think on. Psalm 138:2 says "I will worship toward Your Holy Temple and praise Your Name for Your loving kindness and for Your Truth: for You have magnified Your Word above all Your Name" That Word that is magnified is Jesus! "The virgin will conceive and bear a son and they will call Him Immanuel meaning God with us" (Mt 1:23). I have a notebook that I'm filling up in a seperate study as I write on just the deity of Christ. There is no way I could put all the scriptures in here because there is so many but I want to share some:

God said in Hosea 11:9"For I Am God, not a human being, the Holy One among you" then He says in Hosea 11:1-4 "When Israel was a child, I loved him; and out of Eqypt I called My son. But the more (the prophets) called them, the farther they went from them. They sacrificed to the ba'alim and offered incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk; I took them by their arms. But they did not know that it was I Who ws healing them, Who was guiding them on through human means with reins made of love. With them I was like someone removing the yoke from their jaws and I bent down to feed them." "He sent forth His Word and it healed them" (Psalm 107:20) Jesus healed all Who came to Him, He fed the multitude and was it not Him Who said "Come to Me all who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me because I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Mt 11:28-30)

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."(1 Timothy 3:16.) "Giving thanks to the Father...Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things on earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled. In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight." (Colossians 1:15-22) "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9) These Scriptures were given to me by two new friends Brinda and Charles; thank you.

Jesus Himself said His body was the Temple and that if you destroyed that Temple He would raise it up again in 3 days. Who would raise it up? According to Jesus' own words He did. He said in John 10:17-18 "Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father." Father God Jehovah Himself out of Himself brought forth His Word in the flesh in the form of Jesus to redeem mankind back to Himself. God is bound to that Covenant and will not break it. In Revelation before the scrolls of judgement are opened God allows John to see two important things. He first sees a rainbow at the throne signifying Covenant and then He sees " a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I (John) wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Rood of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and , lo in the midst of the Throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns(dominion) and seven eyes(all knowledge, omnisicience),....He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the Throne. And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and 24 elders fell down before the Lamb...and they sang a new song saying You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain, and have redeemed them to God by Your blood.."

Jesus is the only one worthy to open the scrolls to signify the start of the end times. God allowed John to see that first before John ever saw the judgements pour out on planet earth. He wanted John to understand that even though it looked like all of hell itself was going to break out God was going to still keep His Covenant. He will not end all life on earth even though it looks like it because His Covenant is everlasting. There will still be a multitude that no man can number that come out of this tribulation from every nation that are ransomed to Him!

So to answer the question why Jesus? It's because Jesus is not a mere man and His life holds value beyond any other. Leviticus puts it this way "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul."(Lev 17:11) The life is in the blood and because the blood is offered to God on the altar, it has redemptive power. The value of the blood corresponds to the value of the life that is in it. Andrew Murray puts it so beautifully this way "The life of a sheep or goat is of less value than the life of an ox, and so the blood of a sheep or goat in an offering is of less value than the blood of an ox (Lev 4:13-14,27-28). The life of man is more valuable than that of many sheep or oxen." If the life of man is more valuable then what is the value of the life of God? "Now who can tell the value or the power of the blood of Jesus? The soul of the Holy Son of God dwelt in that blood. The eternal life of the Godhead was carried in that blood (Acts 20:28) The power of that blood in its many effects is nothing less than the eternal power of God Himself. What a glorious thought for everyone who desires to experience the full power of the blood."

Jesus didn't just bear our sins, He took our entire sin nature and nailed it to the cross with Him. "He became the very putrid hated thing within Adam that seperated him from God. When Christ became sin and completely and utterly identified with the condition of fallen man He stood in for us by identifying completely with our condition and became the object of wrath. All the judgment of God was laid upon Him. Every sin, past, present, and future, every sin that ever was or will be was in a moment of time laid upon Him."(bible-history.com)

It's that blood that satan can't come against. It's that blood that ends once and for all sacrificing to God. It's that blood that cried out "It is finished" ringing loud throughout earth, heaven, and hell destroying death, hell and the grave with one fatal swoop. It's that blood that we celebrate every Ressurection, not easter, which is the only means for our relationship with God. It's that blood that purchased us back to God and reinstated us in His family for ever and ever! Take your bible and picture it come into the form of Jesus Himself and then picture it as blood. That's how powerful the Covenant we have with Almighty Jehovah is! That's why it is only through Jesus that we have access to God. He is the Word. It's at His Name every knee in heaven and earth and under the earth will bow because it's the very Word itself we bow to. We are bowing to the Covenant itself!!!! The very Word of God itself!! Can you grasp it! Oh how I love Jesus because He first loved me. It is a Name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth.....that song means so much more to me now. The very word of God wrapped in love in human flesh. God came down to our level all because of love!!!!!!What?!! So incredible and amazing. It's time to get the Word out. Tell others about Jesus now! They need to know this amazing love. They need to know that it's not about an angry god who wants people to appease him or go to hell. It's about a loving Father who wants them to join His family. Yes I believe in sanctification and holiness. Yes I believe that if we love Jesus we will obey Him. I don't believe we will see the miracles, signs, and wonders and the Glory of God poured out on this earth if we are living like the world. I don't believe in effortless Chrisitanity or the abuse of the Gospel of Grace that some are preaching but there is a difference in obedience out of obligation and obedience out of love. If you really knew what God did for you, you would want to obey Him not be forced to like some on the opposite end of the grace doctrine teach. There is a balance and it's found in the Word(Jesus).

Tell people about Jesus please! The time for salvation is now! Jesse Duplantis had an encounter with God where he went to heaven. Whether you believe that or not is not my concern but I urge you to hear what Jesus spoke to him because I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Jesus told him "My worst day has not happened yet? The worst day for Me will be when I have to turn millions away from Me with the words depart from Me I never knew you. And then I will have to wipe away tears from My own eyes. I don't wan't to do that but I have to." You see God doesn't want to turn people away from Him but He's bound by His own Word. Hell was created for satan and his angels not people yet people will go there for rejecting Jesus. There is no other way to God than through His Word, through Jesus. That is the only sacrifice acceptable. There are not many ways to God as satan would have so many deceptively believe. There is only one way and that is Jesus the Word of God. Please tell them before it's too late. The end is near and the time for salvation is now! "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a Name written that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called THE WORD OF GOD" ~Revelation 19:11-13~God bless you! From my heart to yours, your sister in Christ~Tonie Campbell