Nothing But The Blood

Alba 2-12-2023

NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

Ephesians 2:11-13

Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. At this time you see a lot of hearts because the heart, in our culture, represents love. But the heart also has a very important responsibility. It pumps the blood that we need to keep us alive.

A Reader’s Digest article once told of a 67-year-old man named Bill who had donated over 100 pints of blood over the years. No doubt many people owe their lives to this man’s kindness.

When asked if his good deeds would get him into heaven he replied “When that final whistle blows, and St. Peter asks, ‘What did you do?’ I’ll just say, ‘Well, I gave 100 pints of blood. That ought to get me in.”

Sorry Bill, your 100 pints of blood aren’t going to cut it. In fact, you could give all your blood to Red Cross, you could give all your possessions to the poor, you could give your life to save the life of someone else… and you still couldn’t pay off the sins of your past.

The Bible tells us that there’s only one thing that can cover our sins, and that’s the blood of Jesus. Let's read Ephesians 2:11-13.

11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

These verses tell us that the only hope we have is in the blood of Jesus Christ that He shed on the cross for our sins. It is like the hymn we sing:

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Praise God that in spite of our sins, Jesus came into this world, and willingly became the sacrifice so that our sins could be removed.

In the Old Testament, in order for person to have some access to the mercy of God an innocent animal had to die. For the wages of sin is death; and without the shedding of blood there is no removal of sin.

But notice that even that did not apply to us, because it applied to the Jews, not Gentiles. Gentiles were not included in those sacrifices. It was only for the Jews.

So Ephesians 2:12 tells us “That at that time we were without Christ, (because we were) aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise.”

So that means that prior to the coming of Jesus, Gentiles did not belong to the community where the covenants of promise were enjoyed. And they were strangers to the privileges of the people of God.

An alien and stranger has no knowledge of the ways that things are to be done. Guy McGraw tells how he went backpacking in Australia with a friend over a college break.

They rented a car and immediately began driving on the wrong side of the road. There were shouts and honks to which his friend yelled back at them, “Be quiet, we’re tourists”!

Speaking of aliens and foreigners, we have a lot of them coming illegally into our country. Just because they are able to put their feet on the land of the United States of America does not change the fact that they are illegal.

In spite of what our government plans to do with these many people who are coming, their citizenship is in another country. And without Christ, we will not have citizenship in heaven. We will remain aliens and strangers to the promises of God.

A person may have been raised in a religious home, have the best of manners, be highly intelligent or artistic, be very educated, be an enjoyable person.

But if that person is ‘without Christ’ then, even though quite high on the scale as humans go, he or she is still without the life that only God can give.

Without Jesus' shed blood, we have no way to cover our sins. We have no one to carry our sins and make us whole. We have no hope.

A South American Indian told a missionary who had led him to Christ, “When I was living in the jungle, we never knew a day without fear. When we woke up in the morning we were afraid. When we went out of our houses we were afraid. When we walked along the river, we were afraid. We saw an evil spirit in every stone and tree and waterfall. And when night fell, fear came into our huts and slept with us all night long.” He described a hopeless situation.