It All Began In Heaven Series

There Is Power In The Blood – Part 1

It All Began In Heaven

One of my favorite old hymns found in our hymnals is the one we sang this morning, There Is Power In The Blood. It’s an incredible song with life giving, heart pounding, and awe-inspiring lyrics. It’s got an upbeat tempo, and it just seems like it compels you to worship. Not matter how I’m feeling, when I come to church, when I hear this hymn, I can’t help being uplifted and renewed.

The wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb. To a Christian these words have such great meaning. But to a nonbeliever, they can be confusing, and maybe even a little bit disturbing.

I mean let’s face it. Talking about blood isn’t really something that stirs warm fuzzy feelings inside. Instead, it brings to mind pictures of operating rooms, or tragic accidents, or maybe even religious rituals and sacrifices. Blood is not usually considered something to get excited about. Most of our lives, when we see blood we try to stop-up the source. A cut finger or a scrapped knee sends most of us running to the medicine cabinet in search of Band-Aids or gauze.

We understand intellectually that we all need blood in order to live. We know a little about blood types, and blood transfusions. Some people even try to donate blood whenever they can. We’ve heard about diseases of the blood and there have even been times when we’ve felt like giving someone a bloody nose.

But what is there about blood that is so powerful? Why do Christians put so much emphasis on blood? And not just any blood, but the blood of Jesus Christ? What was so special about His blood, anyway?

Some of you may already know the answers to these questions. You’ve been a Christian for years and have sat under some wonderful teachers. But others of you have never heard of some of the things we are going to be talking about in the next few weeks.

So, let’s look at an opening verse, which shows us the power the blood of our Savior can give to His children. Revelation 12:11, And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

This verse is telling us that any believer in Christ can overcome the devil and any accusations, lies, disease, guilt, or anything else he tries to lay on us in two ways – by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. By this one verse alone we see that having knowledge about the power of the blood of Christ is vital for a Christian to live a victorious life over Satan.

That is what I hope you will have by the end of this study – a greater knowledge and better understanding of the power of the blood of Christ.

I. The Original Tabernacle

So let’s start laying some groundwork for our study.

Many of you know that the Jewish people, under the direction of Moses, built a Tabernacle in the wilderness as a place for God to dwell among His people on earth. It was also a place to worship God and receive forgiveness of sin. The tabernacle was later replaced by the permanent Temple once the Israelites reached the Promised Land. But did you know that the tabernacle and Temples built on earth were not the originals? Did you know that there was actually a Temple before the ones the Jews built?

Let’s look at Exodus 25:8-9, and I’ll try to explain. God is speaking to Moses on Mt. Sinai. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”

Have you ever wondered how Moses knew how to build the tabernacle in the wilderness? If you read the Exodus passages that describe the exact measurements and placement of the tabernacle – the specific materials that had to be used, the construction and use of the instruments and even the dress of the priests, it’s amazing. Where did Moses get his instructions? Did he just come up with them himself?

The passage that we just read explains. The Lord is speaking to Moses and tells him that I will give you the pattern. But He says something else. He says the blueprints, are AFTER the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof. That little word AFTER has a whole lot of meaning behind it.

For if the pattern that God is giving to Moses is AFTER the pattern of the tabernacle, that leads us to the conclusion that there must have been a tabernacle BEFORE that acted as the pattern. Are you following me?