GodReflection: Power Words

“. . . because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation”.

There is a song taught to me as a child.

I can still remember the words and the catchy melody.

It was simple yet profound.  I was too young to understand the depth of its theology as a little blond head lad.  Even today, I still fail to grasp the full extent of its words.

This is the song as I remember it:

Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. For you and me, at Calvary, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.

The lesson as a child was that Jesus loved me and Jesus could save me. His love was deep and his love was wide.

I am no longer a child. I live in the final third of my walk on earth—not the final third of my life eternal.

I suppose it was a tad gory for a child to sing of blood as the liquid flowing from the fountain.

What flowed from Mt. Calvary was blood.

What flowed from Mt. Calvary was love.

What flowed from Mt. Calvary was life.

Life was in the blood. The blood came from God’s only son. There was no other way.

Jesus tells me he poured out his blood for the forgiveness of sins. It is by his blood that God offers to me a new covenant. His spilt blood—through Jesus—was for me.

Jesus makes me a promise. If I will participate with him daily to the point that his flesh and blood becomes my sustenance, he will raise me up at the last day.

The blood of Jesus purchases, atones, justifies, and saves me from God’s wrath. His blood redeems me, forgives me, and provides the riches of God’s grace.

His blood brings me near to God, brings peace, and makes possible the restoration of heaven and earth tarnished by Satan’s Eden encounter.

His blood covers not only my walk on earth but also my future walk in God’s new creation. It saves for eternity.

His blood cleanses my conscience from acts that lead to death and makes it possible for me to serve the God of heaven and earth. His blood makes me holy. His blood is in cleansing mode moment by moment. His blood stamps me as pure.

I have two quick reflections:

The first reflection is I never want to take his spilt blood lightly. I remember the warning written to Hebrew Christians:

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

All of God’s good promises are void to the person who treats the gift of blood as anything less than holy.

My second reflection is in the form of prayer.

Dear God, forgive me when I take it upon myself to put limits upon the blood of Jesus. The fountain is deep and it is wide. May I not judge those with whom I disagree as less worthy of your grace.  May I not judge as to the depth and width of the stream of blood to cover the actions and opinions of other believers.  May I allow the blood of Jesus to cover other’s wrong beliefs just as it covers my wrong beliefs.  May I never judge anyone to be beyond the reach of Jesus’ blood.  I pray through the blood of Jesus. Amen.

I want the blood of Jesus to power my walk.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on Blood as a Power Word.

Gary@GodReflection.org