Saturday, March 22, 2014

DEVOTION + REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD



SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2013
30 Days to Resurrection Sunday

1 Peter 1:18  “Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ…”

SCRIPTURE READING: 1 PETER 1:16-24
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

REFLECTION:  Writing to Christians who were enduring “the trial of their faith,” the Apostle Peter urges, “Be ye holy!”  Anything less would not suffice.  “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”  Only the “pure in heart shall see God.”

Throughout both of his letters, and here in our selected reading, the Apostle defines what he means.  “Be ye holy” includes “obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 
“Be ye holy” implies “unfeigned love of the brethren.” 
“Be ye holy means, “loving one another with a pure heart fervently.” 
“Be ye holy,” induces us to “purify our souls.” 
“Be ye holy” reminds us that we will one day stand before an impartial Judge.
“Be ye holy” moves us to “spend the time of our sojourning here with fear”—literally with the deepest respect and reverence of the Holy God we serve.

Lest we become disheartened along the way, Peter reminds us, “you were not redeemed with corruptible things.”  Our souls were not rescued and redeemed from our old life, that “vain conversation,” by the coin of this world.  It was not silver that saved us.  It was not gold that redeemed us.  It was not anything that is corruptible, or temporary, or of changing value in the markets of men, that has redeemed us.

No, we are redeemed with the “precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and spot!”  Hallelujah!  So then, honor His blood, honor the Lamb of God, honor the Holy One by loving Him and living for Him.

At the first Passover, as Moses led God’s people out of Egyptian slavery, God’s people were instructed to sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the posts and the lintel of the doors to their homes.  When the death angel passed over the land those who had obeyed would be spared, those who had not would suffer the death of their firstborn.

Why was it that the blood was required at the top and on the sides of the doors, but not on the threshold? The writer to the Hebrews answers, “how much sorer punishment, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing?” (Hebrews 10:29)

May God grant that we would never despise, disrespect, or dishonor the “precious blood of Christ.”  God help us to live our lives honoring the sacrifice Christ has made for us, by sacrificing our lives for Him.


PRAYER:  Our Heavenly Father, We thank you for your infinite love and the powerful, life-changing truth of your Word.  What a mighty God we serve.  We pray that today, and every day, we would honor the precious blood of Jesus.  Remind us of the blood that dripped from your forehead in Gethsemane, of the blood that you gave as the soldier’s whipped your precious body, of the blood that trickled down your face as the crown of thorns was pressed into your head, of the blood that poured from your hands and your feet as you hung on the cross in our place.  May we never get over that scene.  And may we always live our lives in honor of that precious blood—the blood of our wonderful Lord, who loved us, and gave himself for us, and in whose name we pray, Amen.  “Our Father &c.”

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