There is Power in the Blood (Heb. 10:16-25)
Power in the Blood
INTRODUCTION:
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 to win?
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
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
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
“Blood” is used 408 times in the Bible. Three-fourths of those uses are in the OT.
In the NT, the word is found 97 times. The use of the word in the NT is largely scattered across the 27 books, but it is concentrated in two books: Hebrews (23 times) and Revelation (19 times).
Spiderman, my favorite comic book hero as a kid, got his power from a radioactive spider. The incredible Hulk got his power from exposure to gamma radiation. Captain America got his power from a serum. Superman gets his power from the sun. The Green Lantern gets his power from a ring. The Black Panther gets his power from a plant.
You and I get our power from blood, from the blood of a lamb. Jehovah God poured that blood over us and immersed us in the blood of His Son! That power is superior to the power man get devise.
THE POWER OF THE BLOOD:
The power of the blood that flows over us on a daily basis shatters the fear of death. The Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 2:14-15: “since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
The blood of Christ poured out over us epitomizes the love of God and “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:18–19).
“God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7) - though the power of the blood that works in us!
The power of the blood that flows over us on a daily basis shatters the debilitating effects of doubt. We have peace with God through the blood fo the cross of His Son (Col. 1:20). We are reconciled to God! Where is the doubt in that? The power of the blood gives us confidence in the relationship we have with Christ.
When you doubt the power of God - look at the cross! He has the ability to bring sinful man to the throne of His grace through the power of the blood of the cross!
When you doubt the love of God - look at the cross! “God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed” (Rom. 3:25). The love of God is viewed in the power of that blood.
When you doubt the wisdom of God - look at the cross! He has the ability to confound the wisdom of men by God becoming man and offering Himself on that cross for the sins of man! “Since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Cor 1:21–23). The wisdom of God stands in stark contrast to the wisdom of man as we view the power of the blood flowing from the cross!
The power of the blood that flows over us on a daily basis shatters the effects of sin. We are released from our sins by the blood of Christ: Revelation 1:5. If you are using the Old or NKJV, the manuscript reads “washed by His blood.” The difference between “washed” and “released” is one little “u.” Either way - the power that separates us from sin is the power of the blood. It is so powerful that when God poured out that blood on us when we were baptized, it shattered sin so strongly that it blew the sin so far away, as far as the east is from the west (Psa. 103:12). The prophet Micah says in 7:19 that God has dumped our sins into the depths of the sea! That’s the power of the blood!
THE EFFECTS OF THAT BLOOD:
I mentioned earlier that the word “blood” is found 23 times in the 13 chapters of Hebrews; that’s once per chapter, although the word is really concentrated in chapter 9 with 12 uses of the word, just over half of the occurrences of “blood” are found in Hebrews 9.
But let’s open our Bibles to Hebrews 10…
The book of Hebrews focuses on the idea of perseverance in Christ. The book of Hebrews answers these questions: How do I draw near to God? How do I endure in difficult times? How do I face death and judgment? From one perspective, the answer to each of those questions is one word: blood!
The passage we will consider - Hebrews 10:16-25 - encourages us to draw strength from the power of the blood of Christ to persevere in our faith. The call for perseverance is actually in verse 23. But we’ll see what the writer says about perseverance in this passage. Let’s take a look…
THE MOTIVATION OF OUR PERSEVERANCE - FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE BLOOD (10:16-18):
The Hebrew writer quotes from the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34) to the effect that God planned to established a covenant with His people that would provide forgiveness of sins. Since we are living under that covenant today, the covenant of Jesus Christ, we do not need other, perpetual, sacrifices for sin. What is the power of that covenant to take away sins? Jesus held up the cup at the Last Supper and said, “This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28).
When our sins are forgiven in Christ, we know that we can stand before God and that we are avoiding the horrors of hell. There’s power in the blood!
THE SPHERE OF OUR PERSEVERANCE - THE BLOOD OF CHRIST JESUS (10:19-22):
The “therefore” at the beginning of verse 19 points back to what he has said before. We have forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ. Then, he sets out two items that are important to remember in order for us to persevere in His blood.
Item #1 - (vs 19) “Since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus…” That’s the first item. We can persevere because we know we can have confidence to come into God’s presence because of the blood of Christ.
The writer also elaborates on this entrance into God’s presence in verse 20 - the blood of Jesus is the “new and living way”, that is, through His flesh, through His physical sacrifice of His body, through the pouring out of His blood, we have access into God’s presence.
Item #2 - (vs 21) “and since we have a great priest over the house of God.” Now, the “house of God” here is the church of Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 3:15), pictured here as a temple, which the church is, through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16). Over the house of God, the spiritual temple, is a great high priest, who is Jesus Christ. Now, turn to 7:26-28 to see what type of high priest we have: He is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens, who offered Himself once for all for the sins of His people, the church. He, our great high priest, is exalted forever.
So, because of Who Jesus is, and because we have been washed, released from our sins, through His blood, then what Jesus is, WE ARE! - Holy. Innocent. Undefiled. Separated from sin. Exalted above the heavens! Where is the power for that status in the eyes of God? In the power of the blood!
So, our “sphere” of perseverance is the blood of Jesus Christ. We can enter the presence of God through the blood of Jesus Christ who is our great high priest. That means, then, that we can draw near to God - vs 22. To do that, we need:
1. A sincere heart
2. Full assurance of faith
3. Our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience - Here, the Hebrew writer uses imagery from the OT where the blood of bulls or goats were sprinkled on the altar to sanctify them for worship to God (9:18-21).
4. Here, our hearts are sprinkled with the blood of Christ when our bodies are washed with pure water, which is a reference to baptism. Paul explains that more fully in Romans 6:1-7; Eph. 5:26.
Look at the noun, “washing:” Titus 3:5 / Ephesians 5:26
Look at the verb, “washing:” 1 Cor. 6:11 / Acts 22:16
When does this “washing” by the blood of Christ happen? When we are immersed in baptism, into the death of Christ! Incidentally, this verb translated “wash” in Hebrews 10:22 is the verb found in that manuscript variant at Revelation 1:5.
So, our “sphere” of perseverance is in the blood of Jesus Christ, our great high priest who has made access into the presence of God possible.
THE CALL TO PERSEVERANCE - HOLD FAST TO THAT BLOOD (10:23):
It is a great paradox, isn’t it? “Hold” to a liquid! You can hold a liquid; it flows through your fingers. But not the power of the blood. It can be held. It can be embraced. Hold to the power of that blood.
Here is the call to persevere in Hebrews. Here is the call that, when you find yourself immersed in the pail of sin, that you keep kicking until you can find yourself in the safety of the arms of Jesus. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope.”
The call here is to hold tightly to the confession of your hope in Christ, without wavering, just as Abraham kept his confidence in God, without wavering. How can we do that? Because, He who called us is faithful. Even when we doubt and we struggle, Paul promises us in 2 Timothy 2:13 that “if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” God can be trusted. In all of the ups and downs of life, God is faithful. He can be trusted. That’s why we need to persevere in our Christian life, the confession of our hope. Hold firm to the blood of Christ.
THE ATMOSPHERE OF PERSEVERANCE - THE CHURCH WASHED IN THE BLOOD (10:24-25):
As the Hebrew writer calls us to persevere, he also shows us that it is not possible to do it alone. He does not call us to be “Lone Rangers.” Not even “Batman and Robin.” It’s not just one of us. It’s not just two of us. It’s not even the “Avengers” - there’s no pride here, no self-promotion. It’s really a family, a spiritual family. That’s what the church is and it calls on us to be in the middle of the family, involved with each other, involved in each other’s lives.
“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
So, the key verb here in this sentence is “Let us consider” one another. Then, there are reasons for this “considering:” for the stimulating of love and stimulating of good works and while we are considering one another, the writer says, we should not be neglecting the gathering-together of ourselves. Some were doing that, he says, but in the overall context of Hebrews, neglecting worship services is detrimental to our overall determination to persevere in the blood of Christ.
Rather than neglecting the gathering-together of ourselves, we should be comforting, exhorting, and encouraging one another. That’s the atmosphere of perseverance. It is much easier to keep the faith, to remain faithful, when we are in the middle of other people who have the same goal and the same desires.
CONCLUSION:
When Jesus comes back, will He find you faithful? Will you be able to stand in the presence of God? Forgiveness of all your sins is available. The path to heaven is the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood washes us of our sins through baptism. That puts us into Christ. But, we have to hold tight to our confession. If we struggle still, no murmur utter, Jesus Christ will present us to the Father, holy and blameless. But, holding tight to our confession also means being involved in the worship and work of the church. Stimulating one another to love and good works, encouraging, exhorting, and comforting one another.
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
For my pardon, this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my cleansing this my plea
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
Nothing can for sin atone
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Not of good that I have done
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
There is power in the blood.
Take home message: Persevere faithfully in the blood of Christ, remaining active in the church, washed by the blood. Ultimate salvation through the blood will be yours.