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Hebrews 12:24
“And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”
(Emphasis added).
The first time we heard about blood in the Bible, it was heard speaking or rather, crying: “He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground...’” (Genesis 4:10. Emphasis added). Now, Adam, with his wife, had sinned and were sent out of the garden of Eden. He then had relations with his wife, gave birth to Cain and afterwards, Abel. In the process of time, these brothers brought each an offering unto the Lord as they had been taught by their father. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain’s countenance fell and became very angry: committing a terrible sin of judging God, and stirring up wrath at His just dealings. However, God would not abandon the sinner to his fate. He reasoned with Cain, trying to show him his evil condition; how sin was crouching at his door and desiring him. God also promised that if an offender repents and acts rightly, he also should be accepted. But this gracious remonstration was a waste. The seed of sin which had been planted in Adam ripened into murder in his eldest son. The Lord was now asking Cain the whereabouts of Abel, although He had full understanding but to give the sinner an opportunity of judging himself and confessing his sin. Cain rather labelled himself a second time with the mark of the serpent by adding lying to murder. “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain replied. So hardened has his heart become that he would deny the truth even before the omniscient God. But the cry of the blood of Abel, voluming up from the ground, was already heard by God and Cain was instantly dragged forth to judgment. Not being able to offer any defence or excuse, God went on to pronounce sentence. A righteous man may be successfully silenced here on earth, but the voice of his blood cannot be repressed in the spiritual realm. It will continue to speak until judgment is meted out just as in the case of Abel. There are a lot of righteous men in the Bible whose blood was spilled and their blood will be charged against this generation says the Lord Himself. Matthew 23:35
“So that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”
Among all the righteous men that were killed and whose blood was spilled, Jesus was the most righteous. And if the blood of Abel, the son of Adam, could speak so vengefully, how much more the blood of Jesus, the Son of God? And if it speaks so vengefully, then we all, by now, should be under God’s curse because He was killed by us. Matthew 27:25 clearly says that “the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and on our children!’” But all thanks to God, it is not so as with the blood of Jesus! Instead of His blood seeking vengeance, it is seeking forgiveness for us. He rather atoned for the lives of His murderers and their entire generation by offering His blood. Atonement cannot be made without an exchange of lives. With His blood, He literally gave His life for ours. We are told expressly in Leviticus 17:11 that the life of all flesh is in the blood and to make atonement for a soul, a life, that is, its blood must be substituted for the soul.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” This blood is speaking better than the blood of Abel: being the blood of the most righteous Son of God, and speaking forgiveness and not vengeance! There is a part of our heart that speaks to us when an accusation is brought against us in the spiritual realm. And that is our conscience. When this happens, we become unsettled and incapacitated in rendering any spiritual service, and, in most cases, unable to engage in any physical work. The only way out of this is to sprinkle the blood of Jesus. Paul, listing the people we can encounter now that we have come to mount Zion, mentioned the blood as a personal thing to meet, aside the Person of Jesus. Hebrews 12:22,24
“But you have come to mount Zion…and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Unfortunately, there are many Christians who do not know or come specially to the sprinkled blood and are therefore incapable of living the life God has destined for them. And there are some who know about the blood but do not sprinkle it. Because it is a sprinkled blood, it must be sprinkled to receive its benefit of purging. In our walk with God, as long as we are still in this world with mortality on us, there will always be the need to sprinkle the blood to have our conscience cleansed. Below are a few of the needs of sprinkling the blood:
To speak for and not against us when any accusation is brought against us thereby releasing us from every condemnation (Hebrews 12:24).
To cleanse our heart from a bad conscience so we can boldly draw near to God for fellowship (Hebrews 10:22).
To purge our conscience from dead works so we can comfortably serve the Lord (Hebrews 9:14,15).
To purify and clear our spiritual atmosphere so we can successfully reach up to our Father in heaven (Hebrews 9:23).
To keep us from the destroyer (Hebrews 11:28).
The potency of this blood lies in two facts: it is the blood of the most righteous Man and it is the blood of the Son God. And since it is loudly speaking better things for us, let us always sprinkle it to experience its power and efficacy in our lives!
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