JESUS CHRIST: THE SURETY TO THE EVERLASTING COVENANT
Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 17-19; Mark 14:1-25
“And he said unto them. This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many” Mark 14:24 (KJV)
The blood is the life of the flesh, so when you drain the blood of a man you have drained his life and that means death. God has given the blood for the atonement of our sins. Leviticus 17:11(KJV), “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Two things happened when Jesus died at the cross.
First, for a testament to come into effect the testator must die. Testaments come into effect after the death of the testator and that must take place in the new testament Jesus came to establish. Jesus, as the testator of the testament, must die to give effect to the testament. “For where a testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” Hebrews 9:16-17 (KJV).
The second thing that happened was that God, at the cross by the Blood of Jesus Christ that was shed, sealed the everlasting covenant with man. Hebrews 7:22 (KJV), “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” By His death He gave effect and force to the new testament and by His blood He became a surety to the everlasting covenant God established with man. His blood sealed the redemption of humanity. The blood of Jesus goes beyond atonement to cleansing, hence Hebrews 9:14 (KJV) says, “How much more shall the blood Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” The bible went further to say, “And for this because he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
In addition to the purging of our soul, the blood of Jesus also shields us from death and destruction initiated by the enemy. The blood of Jesus is also the blood of sprinkling and what the blood of sprinkling does is to shied us from any evil attack from the enemy. “And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” Exodus 12:7&13(KJV). In the same vein the book of Hebrews revealed that Jesus, being the mediator of the new covenant, His blood is also the blood of sprinkling and as in Egypt it fortifies and protect us from all plague or destruction. “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” The blood of Abel is the voice of vengeance, while the Blood of Jesus fortifies and protects us from evil.
My dear reader, the blood of Jesus is God’s final and last card against the powers of evil to rescue humanity from the crushing hold of Satan. No force in creation can resist it and it has been given to guarantee our liberty. Make haste to come under the power of the blood for your freedom and protection.
Prayer: Father, I thank you for providing me with the blood of Jesus for my eternal rescue.
Pastor Joel Ezeugo