THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

Matthew 26:26-29
26.While they were eating, Jesus took bread , gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27.The he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28.This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29.I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

The bread reminds Jesus' followers of His body, being the sacrifice for our sin. The wine reminds His followers of the Blood of Christ and its saving effects.

The question that comes to mind is, "why would Jesus say He would not drink again? The reason is, Jesus knew that He was going to die. That the food and drink He was partaking in would be His last. But when He returns, He will be in perfect fellowship with His followers. Even now, we as Christians, celebrate the Last Supper not only to remember the crucifixion but also the return of our savior Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:11-28
11.When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12.He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13.The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14.How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
15.For this reason Christ is mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16.In the case of a will, it is necessary t o prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18.This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19.When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll of all the people. 20.He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." 21.In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22.In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23.It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24.For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25.Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place with blood that is not his own. 26.Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27.Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28.so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

A "greater and more perfect tabernacle" is the tabernacle in heaven. The difference between an earthly and heaven tabernacle could be compared to a picture of a house and the real house.

To fully understand how blood can wash away sin you would have to be familiar with rituals from the Old Testament. In Jewish rituals and sacrifices blood was seen as a divine transaction. Life was exchanged for death and purity was exchanged for sin.

The new covenant was like a will. A will is a contractual arrangement that goes into effect upon the death of the will-maker. Christ made a new covenant with his people, like a will, went into effect upon is death. The teaching of The New Testament is based on the fulfillment of the new covenant. Christians now benefit from his covenant through intimacy with God and permanent forgiveness.

Sin was an irreversible affront to God's holiness. The only solution to sin was the death penalty. When blood, signifying life, was poured out, it signified that a life was given up. In The Old Testament the deaths of animals fulfilled this standard of justice. In The New Testament, Jesus' blood fulfilled the requirement of sin, satisfying God's justice so we could be forgiven.

Although Jesus has done everything necessary to do away with sin, we as sinners still must allow his work to take effect in our lives. Because our human nature is infected with sin and because we live in a sinful world, we will have to deal with our sin throughout our lives. The tyranny of sin is broken when we confess, repent and find forgiveness through faith in Jesus.

We are at war daily with evil in the world and trying to fight our own sinful natures. We must, as Christians, arm ourselves daily with the weapons the Lord has given us. We can fight satan and his temptations with scripture. He will flee at the mention of the name Jesus. Jesus sacrificed himself for us so that we may be forgiven for the wrongs we commit. His blood will wash us if we have faith. We must sacrifice ourselves daily to become holy. Holy is to be sanctified, set apart from the evil desires of the world. The question I leave you with today is, Jesus gave His blood for us to be saved, What will you give to Jesus to be saved?

I love you all and hope something today helped. God bless you and your families!!