The Power of the Blood

Without a doubt, the blood of Jesus Christ is the most precious gift our heavenly Father has given to his church. Yet, few Christians understand its value and virtue. They sing about the power of the blood. In fact, the anthem of the Pentecostal church is, “There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb” (Lewis E. Jones). And we constantly “plead the blood” as some sort of mystical formula of protection. But few Christians can explain its great glory and benefits, and seldom enter into its power.

When Christ lifted the cup at the last Passover, he said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). We memorialize his sacrifice every time we have communion. But that is the limit of most Christians’ knowledge of Jesus’ blood. We know about the blood being shed but not about its being sprinkled!

The first biblical reference to the sprinkling of the blood is in Exodus 12:22: “You shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin.” As long as the blood was left in the basin, it was of no effect; it had no power against the death angel. It had to be lifted out of the basin and sprinkled on the door to fulfill its purpose of protection.

The blood in Exodus 12 is a type of the blood of Christ that flowed from Calvary. If Christ is Lord of your life, then your door posts — your heart — have been sprinkled by his blood. And this sprinkling is not for forgiveness only but also for our protection.

Jesus sprinkles his own blood on us when, by faith, we receive his finished work at Calvary. And until we truly believe in the power of his sacrifice at Calvary, the blood of Jesus cannot produce any effect upon our souls! “Whom God set forth as a propitiation [reconciliation] by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:25).

Praise God with high praises for the precious blood of Jesus: “We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11).