(1)And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. (2) And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. (3) And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. (4) And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: (5) But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. (6) And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? (7) If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. (8)And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. (9)And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? (10)And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
I am always amazed out how God speaks to us, especially when He speaks to us in every day moments. Today’s sermon came from a very unlikely source, I was flipping through the magazine “Popular Science” which if you ever read one is full of interesting information but also does it’s best to defend science against God. This particular copy I was looking at had a two page spread with the title “Your History in a Drop of Blood”. The article described a new breakthrough in blood work that could take a sample of your blood and reveal a record of every virus you’ve had throughout your life.
This one article confirms what the Bible has been saying for years; that your blood will tell on you. That reminded me of some statistics that I read recently. Here in US 83% of Americans call themselves Christian, yet 25% are Homosexuals, over 50% have some form of substance abuse problems, an estimated 50% have some form of mental disorder, Anywhere from 50 to 70% of Americans have viewed or are addicted to pornography, It is reported that we have more reported cases of rape, murders, and total crimes in the world.
Which begs me to ask the question what would happen if those that proclaim to be Christians took a “spiritual blood test”. If 83% of Americans are Christian these numbers are not adding up. Either these numbers are wrong, or we have a nation of people that do not understand what it means to be a Christian or they do not understand that if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. With numbers like that no wonder people call Christians fakes and phonies. Christians struggle sometimes but we are free, we don’t get overcome; we overcome, we don’t stay bound; we break free.
The Church needs to act the Church, we should be victorious, conquerors, and we should be walking in the fullness of the Spirit and operating in the power and the anointing to where we see the miraculous take place. The church house should not be a bomb shelter to protect you from the attacks of the enemy but a war room where we strategize and equip ourselves to take back territories and souls from the enemy for the Kingdom of God. The Church needs to act like born again people from another Kingdom instead of trying to remain connected to this world.
Today I am going to show you why God chose to use being born again as the only means of salvation. I know you have heard it all before but today I will show you through the natural that has taken science 100’s of years to come up with and apply it to the Spiritual. Today the blood is going to speak to you and remind you of who you are and whose you are!
I. In John chapter 3 we are given the instructions on what we must do to become citizens of the Kingdom of God. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
A. The process of a natural birth starts at conception when the sperm fertilizes the egg. It is within this process that everything is exchanged to form and make a unique individual. The father and mother each contribute 23 chromosomes for a total of 46 with each chromosome containing 100’s of genetic codes of information that help write a DNA blueprint of everything about our makeup from the good to the bad; from your hair to the hair on your toes… (ex.), as David said, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
1. Once the code is written it cannot be changed; you become a walking representation of your family tree. So ladies if you are looking for certain traits in your man, you better ask for a picture of his mommas parents. That will let you know if you will always be able to run your fingers through his hair later on in life or wind up just polishing his head or parking those fingers on the cul-de-sac. Hey men same goes for you take a look at momma to see your future. Despite what science says I didn’t come from no monkey, there is not one DNA test that can prove me and Curious George are related. My little girl loves him but one day I will have to explain that Curious George will not be joining us for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
2. The spiritual side of birth or being born again means we gain a heavenly Father that shares with us in essence a spiritual genetic code. This code allows us to start over, whereby we can proclaim the verse 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new, I now share in God’s spiritual DNA, I now share holiness, righteousness, grace, mercy, healing, deliverance, the miraculous, the super natural, and the blessings and favor God.
B. By Biblical standards a father is an originator, someone who starts something. A father of nations, like Abraham, the Bible says there are fathers in music and instruments, metal working, and so forth. A father is a seed bed, someone with the capacity and potential to take what he has and reproduce it for the next generation. A geneticist at UNC – Chapel Hill has recently discovered that we use and show more of our genetic traits and characteristics of our dad than our mother. It was stated that “It’s not only what you inherit, but from whom you inherit”; if the father’s genes have variations in them, those variations (positive or negative) could have a bigger-than-expected effect on a child’s makeup.
1. From here it can get a little complex with a lot words and terminology, the best way to explain all of this without saturating you in a genetic lecture on DNA and RNA, is to say that as the cells that are making you up are being built from those provided by your parents; there is a give and take since you represent 50% of each parent. What happens is as these genes are introduced they are turned on or off, what they discovered is that more of the father’s genes are turned on, so the genes from dad carry more weight.
2. So when we are born again the traits of our old sinful self are turned off and traits from our Heavenly Father are turned on.
a. I am alive with Christ, I am free from the law of sin and death, I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me, I am holy and without blame before Him in love, I have the mind of Christ, I have the peace of God that passes all understanding , I have the Greater One living in me; greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world ,I have received the power of the Holy Spirit to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out demons, to speak with new tongues. I have power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm me , I can do all things through Christ Jesus , I am God’s child for I am born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, which lives and abides forever ,I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loves me , I am the head and not the tail; I am above only and not beneath , I am forgiven of all my sins and washed in the Blood ,I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into God’s kingdom , I am redeemed from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty , I am healed by the stripes of Jesus , I am raised up with Christ and seated in heavenly places , I am submitted to God, and the devil flees from me because I resist him in the Name of Jesus ,For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind, It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me.
3. While I am talking fathers, and since I covered biological and Heavenly Father roles I might as well address spiritual fathers, those who are pastors, leaders, teachers, or those that were instrumental in someone’s conversion. I am concerned for these churches that have these men over them that are not preaching the word of God but a diluted gimmick gospel. These pastors as spiritual fathers are birthing a generation of believers that do not believe, but are clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; a generation of believers that say there are many roads that lead to that street of gold.
a. You better be careful with who you claim to be your spiritual father, I love to be modern but I am still old fashion when it comes to the anointing I don’t care if Pastor Primetime got the biggest church in town, has his books featured on Operas reading list, offers valet parking when I pull up to the church, and got a stage that looks like American Idol. If there is no anointing in the house high ho high ho I the doe I go. Being on TV and popular does not make you anointed, you still got to live right and follow Mic 6:8 to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.
b. They can smile all they want and put on a good show but at the end of it all they better be preaching the B-I-B-L-E, not some watered down, self-help, Dr. Phil Kool-aid Gospel. They better understand that they are responsible for every person that comes their way and if they preach anything other than Jesus Christ and Him Crucified that those peoples are not sons and daughters of God but bastards.
C. Where you are born determines your citizenship. Here in the US if you are born here you have citizenship, if someone from another country travels and has a child here they are automatically granted citizenship and can carry dual citizenship through what is called “right of soil”, a lot of countries do not allow “citizenship through right of soil” only about 30 of the 194 do. Which is the reason why so many risk traveling late in their pregnancy to the US so that their child will be granted citizenship, they call this an “anchor baby” which is a planned pregnancy in the states where the child could evidently sponsor their parent’s citizenship. I was about to say we are “anchor babies” since Christ stepped out of Heaven and visited earth to have us, we would have dual citizenship, but then I read that the only time a child is not granted dual citizenship is when a diplomat has a child in the states, they only retain citizenship to their parent’s country.
1. When the King of Kings had me here, Jesus said this is not your home; He said in John 18:36, My kingdom is not of this world. Jesus had prayed, "I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” in Phil. 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; that means I belong to another Kingdom, I am only here temporary, and I am here as an Ambassador 2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…
a. An ambassador is an official envoy who represents a foreign sovereign, providing a link between his host country and the country he represents. Ambassadors work to build relations and develop policies that favor both the host and the home of the ambassador. An ambassador is appointed by the leadership of those he represents and is given authority to speak on their behalf. An Ambassador spends so much time with the one he represents that he knows them and knows how to act and speak on his behalf.
b. As an ambassador for Christ I am not only spreading the message of the Kingdom to this world but I am entitled to diplomatic immunity against the ruler of this world. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
c. The enemy may subject us to the laws of this world but he can’t enforce them on us, as a diplomat wherever I go I can enjoy sovereignty. The law of death does not apply, the law of sin does not apply, O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? the laws of sickness does not apply, by whose stripes ye were healed. the laws of hell do not apply; Jesus said [I am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
d. You see God’s plan was to have children and the only way to have them after Adam messed up generations of children with sin was to make a way for us to be born again, so that we could be sons and daughters of God once again, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
II. Which brings me to the blood. George Washington our first President after retiring would become deathly ill and while waiting for the family physician to arrive would be treated by 3 doctors using a common practice at that time called “bloodletting” which was a method of cutting and draining blood from the body of those that had ailments believing that by removing the “bad blood” would allow a person to feel better. He would have over 32 oz or about a liter of blood drained from his body before he died. When his physician finally arrived to the news of his death he insisted on trying a procedure he heard about from a French physician of transfusing “lambs blood” in to the body, he believed that the transfusion of the blood of a lamb which was considered to be pure would bring Washington back to life. They were in the right pasture just the wrong Lamb!
A. In the Book of Genesis and Leviticus it says that life lies in the blood. The average adult has about 5 liters of blood in them; making up for about 7% of your body weight. Those numbers alone can preach, 5 means grace and 7 is the number of completion. You can live without certain organs and functions but you can’t live without blood.
1. Your blood is living tissue made up of liquid and solids and there is no substitute for it. The liquid part, called plasma, is made of water, salts, and protein. Over half of your blood is plasma. The solid part of your blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Red blood cells are your transporters they deliver oxygen from your lungs to your tissues and organs. White blood cells are your defenders and fight infection and are part of your body's defense system as well as carry DNA markers. Platelets help blood to clot when you have a cut or wound. Bone marrow, the spongy material inside your bones, makes new blood cells.
a. So properties of the blood of Jesus are that it gives you life by circulating the breath of God through you, it defends you from the attacks of the enemy, and if an attack should happen He is quick to heal the damage.
2. Since the early 1600’s Doctors were working on ways to transfuse blood, between then and now we have made great strides in blood transfusion, we now have whole blood transfusions which contains all blood’s components, we have plasma, red blood (the most common you would receive), and palette transfusions. Blood has been described as “Red Gold” and despite advances in medicine with bio-engineers trying to create a “synthetic blood” source for “red blood transfusion” which is still years away, they will never be able to create whole blood.
a. That means that there is no other alternative to the blood of Jesus, man can try to create other means but they will never work because you can’t replace the real and genuine blood of Jesus. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. It can only be Jesus that can change the corruptible and the mortal.
3. With DNA testing becoming the norm in criminal cases many have asked and worried that having a blood transfusion would alter your DNA. A blood transfusion could never alter your DNA, even if it were a large transfusion of whole blood which does contain the donors DNA, you would have nothing to worry about. On the other hand if you were to receive a bone marrow transplant you would be given the necessary component to produce another’s DNA, Back in 2005, the BBC reported on an Alaskan man that was linked to a sexual assault attack, but he couldn't have been guilty or even present at the time — he was in jail. It turns out that the crime was actually committed by the man's brother, who had received a bone marrow transplant from the jailed man a few years earlier. Don’t worry there are other tests now that they can check against for DNA.
B. God already knew this and it is already documented and recorded in scripture. When we are born again we receive God’s spiritual DNA, now here is where I take everything I just shared with you about the biological and show you why without shedding of blood is no remission, that redemption is only possible through blood.
1. I used to say that at Calvary’s Cross a blood transfusion took place that changed me, but now I know it was not just a transfusion but a transplant. To change a person’s DNA you would have to alter everything about them which is why In Joh 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. It was there I was transplanted and grafted into the family of God. It is there we can be a part of the body of Christ, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone. "A joint heir". Eph 5:30: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
2. At that moment everything about me changed, Jesus supplied the necessary components to alter my DNA; all that is in Him is now in me every time His heart beats blessings, healing, miracle, etc. flow to me. Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; … , For we are also his offspring.
III. God went through great lengths to get you back in to the family. He saved us so that we could be “about the Father’s business” and His business is being a world changer, a life changer, making an impact where ever we go. If 83% of Americans are truly Christian we would not be in the mess we are in right now. I can’t change every American but I can start here.
A. A child of God doesn't look and act like everyone else. There is a distinction about us, there are traits from our Father that are to set us apart. I am a a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1. I told you earlier that the sermon came from an article that described a new test that shows that our blood is a road map of our past, every disease is there. I wonder if a spiritual blood test was giving to some of you today what it would say, would it still say you cuss, drinking, etc..
2. A Christian’s blood work should come back as blank sheet of paper, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool; so when the enemy starts reminding you of your past tell him that he has a copy of the old blood test, you can wave a new copy in his face that says nothing was found. As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Isa 43:25 I, [even] I, [am] he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
B. We are different, I know I gave you a lot of information today but I want you to see that you are different and that there is no reason we should ever hold our heads down, we are not to walk in and live in fear but in power and might. We are not bound, we are free! When we are born into the family of God, we "participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires". We walk as Jesus walked, and He was out of step with this world's system, to say the least. This world relies on what it can see, but we walk by faith, not by sight.
1. We have a perspective not of this world. We, like Moses, endure because we see the unseen. Like faithful Abraham, the Christian lives "as in a foreign land … looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God". Like Jesus, we can be shown "all the kingdoms of the world and their glory," and, like Jesus, we can refuse it all.
2. We have treasures not of this world. We seek "a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys". Our riches are not material but eternal, "kept in heaven". The world wants it all now; we can wait for it.
3. We have weapons not of this world. Our enemy is spiritual, as are our weapons and tactics of battle. "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds".
4. We have power not of this world. We place our trust not in our own strength or earthly might but in the Spirit of God. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God". We live with a paradox: "When I am weak, then I am strong" because "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5. We have peace not of this world. Our peace in any situation comes straight from our Lord, the Prince of Peace: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you". Nothing can take that away.
6. We have a home not of this world. "Our citizenship is in heaven". Those who have lived and died in faith "acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth". This world was not their home, nor ours. We look forward to the Father's house, where there are "many rooms". "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come". Being "not of this world" means we have a higher that is, a heavenly calling, purpose, and destination. This world and its priorities are fading away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. "What counts is the new creation".
C. I am calling all Children of God to stand and be accounted for and say enough is enough we are taking it back, I am a child of God, and it all belongs to me. I am on official duty today to proclaim that you have access to power from on high; to make a difference. 2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. The healing of the land starts at your house, then it should spread to your neighbor, your block, your street, your city, and continue to spread like wild fire reaching across state lines, borders, boundaries, oceans.
1. Jesus’ blood speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. His blood speaks louder than your guilt and condemnation, louder then your sickness, …your pain, your depression. The blood is calling out to you, that you can find rest from your labors, peace in the midst of your storm, you are healed, are an overcomer, … YOU ARE ROYALITY!
