Blood Everywhere

What the world calls virtue, without Christ, is a name and a dream. The foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the Redeemer’s cross and in the power of his resurrection.
~Frederick William Robertson (1816-1853) avd

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
~paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 1 Corinthians 10

Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Here is the blood which seals the promise that the Lord has made to you based on everything you have just heard.
~Moses, who spoke to Our King, face to face – and who had all the Goodness of G_d pass before him – in Exodus 24

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
~The Encourager, writing in Hebrews 9

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold. But with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
~Peter, The rock upon which The Rock of Ages built His Church, in 1 Peter 1

Oh beloved, it is true.

There is blood everywhere. Blood is what brings life to all things, and the loss of it brings death.

Often, we shy away, or cringe at the sight of blood. But, like all of the things that G_d has both made and called good, the evil one wants to take and pervert the beauty of the very liquid of life. So, as this writer goes on below, perhaps it would be a good moment to consider what you think about when you think of blood. Is blood just the gore that accompanies some sort of wretched horror movie? Or, is blood something more valuable than we can even begin to describe.

Stay with me on this short trek. It may help some of us to see the profound beauty of blood – especially the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the physical, blood is an astoundingly versatile substance. It is the machinery that carries vital oxygen to the entire body. It also picks up the carbon dioxide “exhaust” produced by the body at the same time. This carbon dioxide is then breathed out, and made available to bring life to plants, who trade back oxygen that our blood might be revived again.

Beyond this, blood carries nutrients and fuel throughout the body, and provides a nearly impenetrable line of defense against infection by disease-causing bacteria and viruses. It also has its own protection mechanisms that keep blood flowing properly in vessels ranging from over an inch in diameter, to capillaries that can be as narrow as 8 microns – but somehow knows how to clot if a vessel is exposed by a cut or injury.

If you want to have your “mind blown,” just pick up a 200-level college textbook on the study of blood (Hematology)… The uniform response of any student who begins to understand blood is: WOW!!!!!!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then they start their 300-400 level courses, and are usually driven to silence and awe. Blood is just too crazy-amazing to have just emerged from the chaos of unguided organic chemistry. Way. Too. Amazing.

It is almost like blood is alive. Almost like it carries the force of life. Almost like it is so profound that it touches upon something that is much more real than its astounding material composition.

Exactly.

I t is no mistake that the Satan wants to distort our view of things like sex, music, art, and blood. For evil is a privation of the good. Evil cannot create. Evil can only destroy. And so, because evil is limited; its on a tight budget. So, if the devil can get us distracted by perverted images of horror and grossness, he may be able to distract us from the Source of the beauty.

Can we see it?

Have you ever wondered why Jesus instituted the sacrament of communion the way He did? Why didn’t he take the bitter herbs of the Passover meal and comment on them? Why not take the roasted lamb, and break it; telling us to see the strength of Christ through the nourishment of the protein?

I am not trying cause confusion, I am making a point. Jesus was purposeful in every breath that he breathed in obedience to The Father. And so, that Jesus chose to share His blood with us through the wine, and His Body through the bread has to be meaningful beyond just picking two random symbols from the Passover meal’s menu.

Feast on this for a moment. The One Who Designed and created blood, picked up a cup of it to tell us to remember Him as He poured out His precious blood for us. And, as the physical always points us to the ultimate spiritual reality of things, if blood is so jaw-droppingly amazing in the material world, imagine what unfathomable riches and beauty and power it points us to in the heavenly realms. And, try for a moment to catch just how valuable the spilling of God’s very own blood, on our behalf, really is!

Beloved, when we begin to consider all the blood that went into making us into human beings, AND His Blood poured out to make us into new creations, we cannot but help to see its profound beauty. It strengthens us. It brings us into very life of God in our remembering.

But, just as importantly, the blood He spilled for us is a seal we dare not break. Look over your shoulder dear ones. See the path behind you. See the prison door He opened with His blood. See it now locked and sealed behind you with the blood of Christ. Behind it lay the fetid and wretched pools of our former existence. There is no need to return. Life Himself has sealed of death itself by His blood.

Tonight is your night. Remember and relish the Blood.

Blood is an inheritance; virtue an acquisition.
~Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)