To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, In
As we have seen
from Genesis 1:1 Christ is the sacrifice laid from the foundation of the world
that we might be redeemed from the curse.
Adam’s fall did not
surprise God. It is the price He paid for our free will that through Grace some
might love Him freely. There is no
compulsion in grace. We are free to
come. We are free to not come. The
choice has always been ours.
The fall did not surprise God, nor was He left
scrambling for ways & means of redemption.
What’s more I discover God is very precise. There are 7 things brought
about by the curse & seven ways the cross redeems them. There are 7 times
that Jesus’ blood is shed & 7 ways the blood brings redemption.
I want you to
consider these things carefully, meditate on them, & give praise for them
as we come to communion because communion is all about the cross & the
blood.
The 1st
thing is the curse itself. Once the curse was activated a number of other sins
followed in its wake ~ all of which then required a sacrifice but Galatians
3:13 says But
Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on
the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written
in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
The
second & third things are sweat & thorns. They go together.
Adam was
given custodianship over the Garden of Eden. It would not have been onerous
work because the land gave freely of its bounty & there were neither
thistles nor thorns to hinder the work. This was no longer true after the fall. Adam was required to work hard [by the sweat
of his brow] without guarantee of provision from the land, all his efforts
hindered by thistles & thorns. Sin makes life hard.
Jesus
took the hardship our sin had brought upon us at Gethsemane: And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly,
and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the
ground.…Luke 22:43 What’s more he bore our harvest of thorns.
Galatians 6:7~8 Do not be deceived, God
is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh
reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap
eternal life.
The 4th
thing is death. But the LORD God warned
him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to
die." Genesis 2:16~17
Adam
suffered a twofold death. Firstly he
suffered immediate spiritual death ie separation from God the Father. Only
later did he also suffer the physical effects of decay followed by physical
death but For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made
alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21~22
Then there is Nakedness. As Adam & Eve were naked in the garden &
knew shame, so too was Christ naked on the cross. There was no *modesty
loincloth*. Every article of clothing Jesus
owned was gambled for by the soldiers at the foot of the cross yet He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him. Throughout scripture you will find
righteousness referred to as a garment.
On the cross Christ exchanged our self~righteousness for His
righteousness that we might once again become children of God.
This is what happened on the cross: Psalm 22 … I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads…
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads…
Jesus has been here with us.
Any time we are mocked for the gospel we need never feel that an
almighty God does not understand the depths of our hurt. When our children turn
on us & throw our years of love & care back in our faces, Jesus
understands. That is what we did to Him
but… Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured
the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour
beside God's throne. Hebrews 12:2
Ever
since the fall there was a veil between God & man. It took physical form in the temple as a
curtain between the priests & the Holy of Holies but on the cross that veil
was torn. Access to the very throne of
God was once again made possible but there is only one way to access that &
that is by the blood of Jesus!
So we
have the cross & then we have the blood.
Seven
times Jesus blood is mentioned as He goes to the cross:
· When He prayed in Gethsemane
& His sweat fell like drops of blood.
· When His face was struck as
the soldiers mocked Him.
· When His beard was pulled
out.
· When He was scourged.
· When the crown of thorns
was pushed down on his head.
· When He was nailed to the
cross.
· And when the spear was
thrust into His side.
Both the cross & the blood can be found in the Old Testament. The Passover was prophetic of the cross &
the blood.
As you read through the account in Exodus you will note that the blood
was applied to the top of the doors, but not the threshold; the blood was not
to be trodden underfoot; It was applied
to the windows in a fashion that formed a cross & It only covered those who stayed within doors
as instructed. In other words the blood does not cover the disobedient.
Why Jesus blood? Because according to the law there is no redemption
without the shedding of blood. Hebrews 9:22 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is
the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 17:11
The trouble with animal sacrifices was that they were not
perfect & so they were repeated over & over. Jesus is perfect & His
life is in His blood. When it was shed
for us it made atonement for He poured
out His soul unto death~ Isaiah 53:12 & according to Hebrews 12:24 His blood speaks of forgiveness rather than
crying out for vengeance as does the blood of Able.
Now there are 7 main things the blood of Jesus does for us
but first we need to understand something. We defeat satan by the
blood of the Lamb and by [our] testimony according
to Revelation 12:11
Psalm 107:2 says ~ Let the redeemed of the
Lord say so. The NLT puts it this way: Has
the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from
your enemies. That is very
clear.
Hebrews 3:1 says: Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. The word profession, confession,
testimony, witness, means to say the same as God says. Literally we agree with
God. Thus when we talk about how to apply the blood of Jesus in our lives we
have to open our mouths & agree verbally with what God has said.
So the blood redeems us.
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he
purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Ephesians 1:7
Say: I have been
redeemed out of the hand of satan by the blood of Jesus & forgiven all my
sins.
· It cleanses
us. 1 John 1:7 But if we are living in
the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and
the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Say: While I
walk in the light the blood of Jesus cleanses me now & continues to cleanse
me.
· Justifies.
Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now
been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath
of God.
Say: I am made righteous
through the blood of Jesus just as if I had never sinned.
· It sanctifies us. Hebrews
13:13 Therefore
Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by
the own blood.
Say: I am sanctified, that is, made holy, separated from sin, set apart to God & made holy with God’s holiness
· Life. John 14:6 Jesus told him,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father
except through me.
In communion we
come to Jesus, to eat His flesh, to drink His blood & to remember His death
until He comes again.
Say: Jesus, you are the way,
the Truth & the Life. We proclaim your death, until you come again.
·
Intercession. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what
he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all
who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews
4:8~10
Romans 8:34 Who then will
condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us,
and he is sitting in the place of honour at God's right hand, pleading for us.
Say: Thank you, Jesus, that your blood pleads forgiveness for
me before the throne of Grace.
· Access . Hebrews 10:19
And
so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place
because of the blood of Jesus.
Say: Thank You Father that the Sprinkled Blood of Jesus provides access into your Presence, Almighty God, & into heaven’s most Holy Place.
Acknowledgements: Derek Prince
Mike Beecham
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