THE BLOOD OF CHRIST STILL WORKS

Proclamation:

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  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.  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.  Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.  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.  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 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."  Hebrews 9:22-28 (NIV)

Explanation:

The unknown human author of The Bible Book of Hebrews wrote these words under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9:22)  The author wanted the people of God to know that The Old Testament ritual of annual animal sacrifices by the High Priest for the atonement of human sin was no longer necessary. (Leviticus 14:19)  The blood shed by Jesus, The Christ, on that cross at Calvary as He sacrificed Himself, as The Lamb of God once and for all, was all that was needed to take away the sins of the world. (John 1:29)

Application:

The blood that Christ shed, as He sacrificed Himself in our place, cleansed us from all of our sins.  God, The Father, sees us only through the blood of Jesus.  His blood covers all of our sins.  Our salvation is only possible because Christ paid the price for us with His blood. (Ephesians 1:7)  Jesus, who was without sin, shed His blood for us and for the remission of our sins.  He did for us something that we could not do for ourselves and we should be eternally grateful.