2014.03.02_The Message of the Cross

God’s Blood

God has shown His blood to mankind. According to common knowledge, a god (spirit) is an intangible being whom no one can see. The substance of God cannot be found by anyone inside and outside the universe. It is not possible for anyone to touch, or find, or know God. The Bible also said that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18). The people of the world think of God as an imaginary being whom they conjure up in their minds and serve, as they are pleased. Every religion has a religious leader and his followers, but they cannot find God even through their philosophy. God cannot be seen by anyone.

Our faith is not in forcing ourselves to call a non-existent God as our Father. We know the God in whom we believe. God made Himself known to man, and He sent His Only Begotten One into the world to shed His blood. We have seen God’s blood. God whom we believe in has shown us His blood, and thus we know that God has blood. We have come to believe in God by seeing His blood; we have been justified through God’s blood; we have hope through God’s blood. Although it is hard to accept from a common-sense perspective, we have the testimony concerning this.

The meaning of the cross is not in its shape but in the fact that the One who was crucified has shed His blood. That blood is not the blood of a young Nazarene, but of God. If anyone sees God’s blood in Him who hung on the tree, he will be saved. A believer does not merely goes to the sanctuary with a Bible and participates in a ritual every Lord’s Day. Faith is neither self-cultivation nor a religion. Since we have seen God’s blood, we have come to where His blood is and participated in His blood. God has sprinkled His blood through His Son, and He is telling anyone who desires to receive eternal life, to take part in His blood. We need to eagerly have the experience of faith in His blood.

What God has given us to believe is not an exaggerated fiction but a true reality. On the cross, Jesus cried out, ‘Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani’, meaning ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46). He shed His blood as He was being tormented on the cursed tree. What we need to do is not to look at and sympathize Him suffering on the cross, rather to see the blood He has shed on the cross. That blood is the blood of the covenant. God’s promise is not temporary but everlasting. Thus, God’s promise never changes. Also, the Holy Spirit is the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33). The precious blood is the blood of the covenant (Heb. 9:20). We have seen and believed in this blood.

The Problem of Sin

A person cannot become a Christian unless he relies on His blood. Most of the people who claim to be believers, strive to be morally righteous. However, nobody is clean, just as the Scripture says, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). Yet, when people are struck with a wall in something they are doing, they naturally think, ‘it must be because I have sinned.’

The Law has taught us that the wages of sin is death. Sin, whether big or small, or any form, results in death. No one is able to survive under the Law’s thousands of rules and regulations. Observing the Sabbath does not simply imply giving a worship service. To observe the Sabbath strictly, one must abstain from labor and any personal activities for 24 hours. Do we find such strict observance of the Holy Day in today’s people, as it was in observing the Sabbath? While people appear to be humble and sincere during the worship service, do not many become busy and distracted in their speech and actions afterwards? How many people leave their Bibles with their family and go off to the world to enjoy leisure activities? How many of the believers today even have the form of the Sabbath? It we were under the Law, most of the believers would probably be stoned to death. Likewise. no sin can be forgiven. Sin is something that cannot be forgiven. Jesus reinforced the Law. He highlighted that even lustful thoughts and hatred toward one’s brother are sins that lead to curse and hell.

For this reason, when things do not work out, people wonder, ‘is it because of my sin?’ and become fixated upon their own sins. Though they go to the prayer room and pray, they are busy trying to resolve the problem of sin saying, ‘Lord, things have not turned out well because I have sinned. Forgive me of my sins.’ They lay out their sins because they believe they have to be forgiven to become prosperous. Yet things become more entangled and their sins from the past become more conspicuous. These people may be smiling outwardly in front of others, but they are in fact condemning themselves in their hearts and being condemned by their own self. Do such people have peace?

Such people believe that God has forgiven all of their sins, as their work prospers. Then, when they are faced with a problem, they automatically think of their sins. When they are sick, when their children cause trouble, or when their prayers are not offered up to God, they think, ‘it’s because of my sin’ and bring up even the sins of the past. Even as they go to the prayer room to pray, these people struggle only to shake off their sins. However such efforts will not come to anything.

The words, ‘I am a sinner’ are always on the lips of the people who have not escaped the influence of the Law. When they are trying to pray deeply, the first thing they say is ‘I am a sinner’; when they begin fasting and prayer they first say ‘I am a sinner’. Such people may not have anything to do with God even if they are calling on God.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). These are fearful words, more than the threat of the Law. The Law has set the wages of sin as death. No one can be freed from sin. However, what is more fearsome than the Law is the rebuke of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said, “Of sin, because they do not believe in Me” (John 16:9). Every sin as described by the Law is a sort of parable. Although, we use many parables in our sermons, man cannot be saved through parables (Matt. 13:10-15). Only the truth from Heaven can save man.

The Power of the Blood

God has shown us His blood. To believe in Jesus is to believe in God’s blood. Jesus is the Son of God who was begotten from God’s bosom. We would have no part with God if He had not shed His blood on the cross. We have come to know God because we have seen the blood He shed on the cross. That blood is the blood of the covenant. God deals with man through His blood.

The Holy Spirit also did not come before God’s blood was revealed. The Holy Spirit came after Christ shed His blood, and He came into the hearts that have been sprinkled by that blood. We cannot hear the Word of God without the sprinkling of God’s blood. People mistakenly assume that the Word of the Bible and the words written in a newspaper or a magazine are the same; however, God’s Word is from the eternity past. It is Logos, the Word clothed with a robe dipped in God’s blood (Rev 19:13).

There cannot be holiness or forgiveness without the sprinkling of God’s blood (Heb 9:22). Just as every article in the temple was sanctified through the sprinkling of blood, each member of the church has become holy through the sprinkling of the blood. God accepts those who have been sanctified as His children. Therefore, we must acknowledge that we have become holy by the sprinkling of the blood. We must acknowledge that our families have been sanctified through the sprinkling of the blood. Having a sign put up on the front door with the church name on it does not turn them into a household of believers. God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you” (Ex. 12:13). Unless a person shows the blood to God, there would only be curses.

On looking at the cross, if anyone cannot see God’s blood, he is a hypocrite. To look at the cross is to see God’s blood. A worship or prayer without the blood only makes the saint an enemy of God. If anyone does not acknowledge the power in God’s blood, he is God’s enemy.

Denial of the Blood

What is the church? God purchased the church with His own blood. Acts 20:28 says, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Just as a dish contains many different ingredients, the members of the church have individual characters with different knowledge and backgrounds. However, they have all become members of Jesus’ body through the sprinkling of God’s blood. The church is the body of Jesus Christ that has been purchased with God’s own blood.

What is the reason for people falling into temptation? They despise, hate, feel dissatisfied, and unhappy with the church. Then, what is the reason for feeling just emotions against the body of Christ, which God has purchased with His own blood and sealed as righteous? They view the church through the lens of man’s own righteousness. Once they fall into temptation, they do not want to go to church, join in with the church, or participate in church activities.

Whether a person is rich or poor, or of high or low social status, there is no discrimination in the church. Each of the church members have been purchased with God’s blood and sealed as righteous by God. Who can condemn those whom God has justified? Sadly, some people look through their own lenses and condemn the church.

While you are thinking, ‘that person seems to have a weakness,’ the person concerned has probably repented before the blood of Jesus hundreds of times already. If even you have found a fault to complain about in a person, that person would have already confessed his or her wrongdoings before the Lord hundreds of times. With what right then, do you condemn a person who has been cleansed and justified through the blood of Christ?

On looking at the church, we must put on the lens of the cross flowing with the precious blood, rather than our own righteousness. When we finally do so, we would be able to see everyone as being spiritually holy, perhaps white, if we describe in terms of colors. God does not look upon us without the suffering of Christ on the cross. Yet, why do you still look through your own lens that the church and the members next to you appear dark? If anyone in the church appears dark in your eyes, you are in denial of the blood of Christ and of the merits of the cross; in denial of God and the one He has sealed. Thus, you would become an enemy of God.

Faith in the Blood

A certain person said, “Pastor, there is young man and woman sitting together over there. It doesn’t look right.” But why did that appear to be dark in this person’s eyes? They have a conscience and a spirit sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and in terms of colors they are white, but why do they appear dark? If we have truly come to know the truth, we should not view anyone as dark. Even if people might deceive us, we should not view as dark. Thus, we must see everyone through the lens of the cross. If the church appears white and the people holy in our eyes, it would be a clear evidence that we have faith.

If the flaws of others are still visible in your eyes, you will not be forgiven of your sins. The Bible warns us saying, ‘you will not be forgiven of your sins, unless you forgive the sins of others’ (Matt.18:23-35). By forgiving others, Christians must have the strength to confess that they have already been forgiven. This is the power of the blood.

We believe in the precious blood of the Lord. We must not look at others through the lens of our own righteousness but that of Jesus who was hung on the cursed tree. We must view everyone in the church as the temple articles that have been sprinkled with God’s blood. Only when they and the church appear holy in your eyes, you would be able to testify that that your spirit is holy. This is because the church is Jesus’ body as well as a model of your spirit, which you can confirm with your own eyes.

We ourselves know whether or not we are being condemned. We ourselves know whether or not we are distinguished in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we must not fall from grace and view the church, the members, or anyone who comes to church and prays as dark, but truly be believers of the precious blood and regard them as holy.