I came across a passage recently that caused me pause. I know I had read it before but the words raised a question I couldn’t shake. “Is it possible?” I asked myself. But as I stared at the words in Hebrews 12, the words couldn’t be more plain: blood speaks.
The book of Hebrews is a tremendous book. The writer gives example after example how Jesus (New Covenant) has become all that the Old Covenant looked forward to (i.e.: Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, the true High Priest, the mediator between God and humanity, etc). As you read the first four verses of chapter one, you can’t help but be overcome by the reality of who Jesus is and what God has done.
As you get into chapter twelve (following on the heels of the great “faith chapter” – Hebrews 11) you find this passage:
. . . to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12.24)
Read that last phrase again: blood speaks. Having been one to always assume blood was that which came out when you cut your finger, I never realized it talks. But it does. And there are two times recorded in Scripture in which blood speaks – the blood of Abel and the blood of Jesus.
If you remember back in Genesis, Cain and Abel (the sons of Adam and Eve) both offered God a sacrifice. Cain offered fruit from the ground and Abel offered the firstborn from amongst his sheep. It says that God accepted the sacrifice of Abel but rejected that of Cain’s. Not long after, Cain and Abel were in the field talking when Cain, in his anger, killed Abel. When Cain was confronted, God said: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4.10).
What was the blood of Abel crying out? It was crying out for vengeance, revenge, cursing, retribution, and recompense against Cain. “Murder!” it declared.
But this speaking blood is contrasted with that of the blood of Jesus. Hebrews tells us that the blood of Christ speaks better than the blood of Abel. What does the blood of Jesus speak? Oh it declares love, hope, peace, and forgiveness! Found in the death and blood of Jesus is everything you need for the removal of sin and the access for deep intimacy with Almighty God.
As odd as it may sound, the blood of Christ is crying out on your behalf. You, a sinner who deserves all that Abel’s blood cries for, receives that which Christ’s blood offers. You don’t have to live in condemnation, defeat, and despair. You can have hope, His Name is Jesus! You can have victory, it is found in Him! You can live like you’re suppose to live, as He lives His life in and through you! You can be filled with His love! You can have unwavering peace in every situation! The blood of Jesus has purchased your freedom and given you forgiveness!
Oh why would you not embrace Him tighter today? The blood of Jesus is speaking. Will you listen and respond?
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