"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
- Hebrews 13:20-21
Lately, the Spirit of God has been stirring my heart over the revelation of the Blood. There are things contained within the Blood that is far more reaching than we could ever imagine. When you begin to look back to the days when the early revivalists started preaching ardently on the subject of holiness and Pentecost, you find woven within the very fabric of their message the power of the Blood. The stronger their message became, the more they emphasized it. It seemed as if the deeper they dipped themselves into the things of the Spirit, the more their spirits took hold of the value they came to see in the Blood.
In Luke chapter twenty-two, on the night of Judas' betrayal, Jesus sat down with his disciples, and the Bible says, "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, this is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22: 19-20). The reality of what he spoke is undoubtedly the most outstanding truth ever told. It holds the key to everything we have in Christ. Notice again what he said: "This cup is the New Testament (in my blood)!" In other words, everything contained in the work of redemption, all the promises of God, His grace, His sacrifice, His anointing, His blessings; they all find their substance and origin in the blood! Most folks only think of the blood as a means to an end. As if, all the blood represents is Jesus giving his life to purge us from our sins so that we could have eternal life. But oh my friend, it is so much more than that!
Notice our text in Hebrews thirteen. Here we discover that God brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus by means of the blood of the everlasting covenant. If you didn't know what he was talking about you could become confused. After all, how could Jesus shed his blood and then have that very blood turn around three days later and raise him from the dead? The key to understanding this mystery is knowing that the blood of Jesus Christ was far more than just what flowed through his veins. It was the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant! When he hung there dying on the cross, his last words were, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost" (Luke 23:46). It wouldn't have been any different than if he had said, "Father, I deliver now into safe keeping all that is of my spirit into the hands of the Holy Spirit." Isn't it true that the hand of God is the Holy Ghost?
We find from the teachings of the law that, "The life of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11). And so, it is therefore established that the blood "is" the life of man. In the same respect, we know that the life of God is Spirit, and it is the Spirit of God who gives us eternal life (Rom. 8:2). Since Jesus was both God and man, the life of his flesh and the life of his spirit were united as one. John said, "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth" (I John 5:6). Tie this together with the statement made in Hebrews nine, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" In other words, when Jesus released his spirit into the hands of the Holy Spirit, he received the very life contained in the blood.
No where do we ever read where Jesus came back to Golgotha's hill, after his resurrection, and gathered up his blood now mingled in the soil of the earth, so that he could present it before God in the heavenly holy of holies. Yet, we know that he did offer his blood for our eternal redemption. Verse eleven and twelve state: "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb 9:11-12). So, how could he take his blood into heaven, when it obviously was absorbed into the earth? If all we see are the physical droplets of blood from his flesh as the means of your redemption, then you have missed everything. It was the Spirit life that was in his blood that was lifted up to glory, and it was offered through the Eternal Spirit as a witness of the sacrifice he paid in full. Andrew Murray once said, "...the shedding of Christ's blood was brought about by the Eternal Spirit, and that the Spirit lived and worked in that blood."
This same Blood that raised Christ from the dead holds all the powers of life! By it, we have access into the very presence of Almighty God (Heb. 10:19). By it, we have a voice in heaven speaking on our behalf (Heb. 12:24). It brought us redemption (Col. 1:14), and enables us to overcome our enemies (Rev. 12:11). It is the key that unlocks the secrets to the covenant in making us perfect to do his will, working in us what is well-pleasing in his sight (Heb. 13:21).
